To my surprise, Matt and I actually got some sleep the night before surgery.
Thankful for that, since we were up bright and early for his 6:45am check in time.
The night before, my Mother in law, Sally came in to spend the night,
so she could stay with Rhetter the next day.
(Thank you Nanny!)
We gave Case a long, warm bubble bath.
Scrubbed his hands with the special wipes they gave us.
Put him in cozy pajamas, prayed about his surgery, and kissed him Good-night.
After our alarms sounded, we got ready, then scooped Case out of bed
and headed to Shriner's Hospital.
We had been talking to Case daily, leading up to his surgery day.
"Dr. Riley is going to fix your thumbs, Case!"
"You are going to take a nap at the Doctor, and wake up with bandages on your thumbs,
and they'll be all fixed under there!"
After checking in, we were led back to the outpatient area,
where we be spending the next several hours.
What happened throughout the rest of the day,
we can not even begin to explain or express how blessed, and loved on we felt.
First of all, they had TV's right above the beds,
so right away Case was watching Mickey Mouse.
Right across the hall was a play room, fully equipped with all sorts of toys.
We played almost an hour in there, while simultaneously filling out the boring paper work etc.
Every single person we came in contact with,
were such a pleasure to be around.
were such a pleasure to be around.
Everyone made us feel so at home and comfortable.
A couple of hours later, we were walked down the the pre op area.
Again, we were blown away with all the things Case could play with while waiting.
Our wonderful nurse, opened up a cabinet JAM PACKED with toys.
Case crawled down on the floor, so she got out a sheet,
so he didn't have to "play on that ol' floor" she said.
Then, everyone that was going to be in the operating room with Case,
came back and met us, shook our hands and introduced themselves to Case.
As you can imagine, that meant so much to us.
My anxiety started to rise a little, because I knew it was getting that much closer to Case undergoing surgery on his teeny tiny little thumbs.
After answering the last minute questions,and getting his hands marked,
we found out that Case was about to get his driver's license.
Why you ask?
Because he was about to drive his own truck to the O.R.
I mean, seriously.
How stinkin' adorable is that?
Our boy was so flipping excited, it literally took even the thought of being nervous
(for Case OR Mommy & Daddy)
away JUST LIKE THAT.
Waiting for the truck to be pulled around...
and off he went.
...
While Matt and I walked away, hand in hand,
we prayed for our little boy.
Prayed for the Doctor's and the anesthesiologist,
prayed for everyone that would be with our boy.
Prayed that everything would go smoothly,
without any complications,
that he would have a successful surgery.
We wandered back to our room,
quickly grabbed something to eat at the little cafeteria nearby.
While eating my hash browns I started to feel it.
That lump in my throat.
My knees started shaking, heart started racing, and I knew they were coming.
The tears.
We threw our trash away and walked back to the room where we were to wait for the call.
I lost it in the hallway on the way back,
as Matt rubbed my back and soothed my worried mind.
Matt was very confident, but I know my man was nervous as well.
So we get back, I've calmed down a little bit,
texting my sister, and friends updates, when we hear our phone ring.
They were already done!
Matt answered, and announced after hanging up,
"They are already done with one thumb, starting on the next and we can go ahead and go to the waiting room near the O.R."
We just started laughing!
It was so fast!
We had to wait a little while in the separate waiting room.
Nerves set in again, until Dr. Riley swooped in with news that everything went well, and they were all done!
Praise the Lord!
We raced back to our outpatient room,
waiting for our little man to be wheeled back to us.
(and oh by the way, we came back to find a large bag with Case's name on it.
Inside we found, a large puzzle book, play dough, a stuffed animal,
a homemade fleece dinosaur blanket, and a big toy car. My oh my. I know I keep saying it, but we were absolutely blown away. Our nurse revealed that it was all donated by volunteers.)
Matt and I stood shoulder to shoulder,
when we finally saw our sweet baby being rolled in on a hospital bed.
His Bob, and stuffed Chocolate Lab (appropriately named Gunner, given to him by Avery) by his side.
When he saw us, he became so weepy.
Bless his sweet heart.
His little hands were wrapped in bandages, and blue gauze.
He just cried and cried for several minutes.
I crawled up in bed with him, and we got him distracted by watching the Disney Channel.
We cuddled as he slowly came out of the anesthesia fog.
A few hours later he finally ate some crackers and drank some sprite.
It broke our hearts when we tried to feed him crackers,
he would reach for them, but then realize his hands were wrapped up, and would just cry and cry!
I tell you what though, after that fog faded he was one hyper little boy!
I hadn't imagined him coming out of it so well!
He was jumping up and down, ready to go home, ready to play puzzles, ready to see Rhett.
Just ready! Ready for anything!
So they discharged us, we waved Good-Bye and were home by around 1 in the afternoon.
What a trooper.
We came home to Nanny and Rhett who were anxiously awaiting us.
Case wanted to show her his puzzle book right away, and that's his new dinosaur blanket behind him.
Nanny stayed the night, and all day with Rhett. Oh and brought m&ms.
Mimi brought over a Dream Lite puppy, Case named Riley after Dr. Riley.
Case's teacher/director from preschool, Ms. Jennifer brought by a balloon and candy.
Our friend Clair brought over a gift card for dinner and lots of goodies.
Mom and Dad brought dinner and dessert over for that evening.
Blessed.
We were just overwhelmed by all of the prayers, sweet notes, gestures, messages, and posts by all of our sweet & wonderful, family and friends.
We felt so unbelievably loved on.
So unbelievably blessed.
Thanking our loving God for watching over our baby.
Thankful his little thumbs are fixed.
Thankful for an absolutely amazing experience at Shriners Hospital.
Thankful for a wonderful Doctor, and everyone involved in caring for Case.
Thankful for an awesome husband to go through this with.
Thankful for our parents who helped out so much.
Thankful for all the words of encouragement
Thankful for the prayers.
Thankful.
So thankful.
A couple of hours later, we were walked down the the pre op area.
Again, we were blown away with all the things Case could play with while waiting.
Our wonderful nurse, opened up a cabinet JAM PACKED with toys.
Case crawled down on the floor, so she got out a sheet,
so he didn't have to "play on that ol' floor" she said.
 |
| He's showing off his leg muscles...ha! |
Then, everyone that was going to be in the operating room with Case,
came back and met us, shook our hands and introduced themselves to Case.
As you can imagine, that meant so much to us.
My anxiety started to rise a little, because I knew it was getting that much closer to Case undergoing surgery on his teeny tiny little thumbs.
After answering the last minute questions,and getting his hands marked,
we found out that Case was about to get his driver's license.
Why you ask?
Because he was about to drive his own truck to the O.R.
I mean, seriously.
How stinkin' adorable is that?
Our boy was so flipping excited, it literally took even the thought of being nervous
(for Case OR Mommy & Daddy)
away JUST LIKE THAT.
Waiting for the truck to be pulled around...
and off he went.
...
While Matt and I walked away, hand in hand,
we prayed for our little boy.
Prayed for the Doctor's and the anesthesiologist,
prayed for everyone that would be with our boy.
Prayed that everything would go smoothly,
without any complications,
that he would have a successful surgery.
We wandered back to our room,
quickly grabbed something to eat at the little cafeteria nearby.
While eating my hash browns I started to feel it.
That lump in my throat.
My knees started shaking, heart started racing, and I knew they were coming.
The tears.
We threw our trash away and walked back to the room where we were to wait for the call.
I lost it in the hallway on the way back,
as Matt rubbed my back and soothed my worried mind.
Matt was very confident, but I know my man was nervous as well.
So we get back, I've calmed down a little bit,
texting my sister, and friends updates, when we hear our phone ring.
They were already done!
Matt answered, and announced after hanging up,
"They are already done with one thumb, starting on the next and we can go ahead and go to the waiting room near the O.R."
We just started laughing!
It was so fast!
We had to wait a little while in the separate waiting room.
Nerves set in again, until Dr. Riley swooped in with news that everything went well, and they were all done!
Praise the Lord!
We raced back to our outpatient room,
waiting for our little man to be wheeled back to us.
(and oh by the way, we came back to find a large bag with Case's name on it.
Inside we found, a large puzzle book, play dough, a stuffed animal,
a homemade fleece dinosaur blanket, and a big toy car. My oh my. I know I keep saying it, but we were absolutely blown away. Our nurse revealed that it was all donated by volunteers.)
Matt and I stood shoulder to shoulder,
when we finally saw our sweet baby being rolled in on a hospital bed.
His Bob, and stuffed Chocolate Lab (appropriately named Gunner, given to him by Avery) by his side.
When he saw us, he became so weepy.
Bless his sweet heart.
His little hands were wrapped in bandages, and blue gauze.
He just cried and cried for several minutes.
I crawled up in bed with him, and we got him distracted by watching the Disney Channel.
We cuddled as he slowly came out of the anesthesia fog.
A few hours later he finally ate some crackers and drank some sprite.
It broke our hearts when we tried to feed him crackers,
he would reach for them, but then realize his hands were wrapped up, and would just cry and cry!
I tell you what though, after that fog faded he was one hyper little boy!
I hadn't imagined him coming out of it so well!
He was jumping up and down, ready to go home, ready to play puzzles, ready to see Rhett.
Just ready! Ready for anything!
So they discharged us, we waved Good-Bye and were home by around 1 in the afternoon.
What a trooper.
We came home to Nanny and Rhett who were anxiously awaiting us.
Case wanted to show her his puzzle book right away, and that's his new dinosaur blanket behind him.
Nanny stayed the night, and all day with Rhett. Oh and brought m&ms.
Mimi brought over a Dream Lite puppy, Case named Riley after Dr. Riley.
Case's teacher/director from preschool, Ms. Jennifer brought by a balloon and candy.
Our friend Clair brought over a gift card for dinner and lots of goodies.
Mom and Dad brought dinner and dessert over for that evening.
Blessed.
We were just overwhelmed by all of the prayers, sweet notes, gestures, messages, and posts by all of our sweet & wonderful, family and friends.
We felt so unbelievably loved on.
So unbelievably blessed.
Thanking our loving God for watching over our baby.
Thankful his little thumbs are fixed.
Thankful for an absolutely amazing experience at Shriners Hospital.
Thankful for a wonderful Doctor, and everyone involved in caring for Case.
Thankful for an awesome husband to go through this with.
Thankful for our parents who helped out so much.
Thankful for all the words of encouragement
Thankful for the prayers.
Thankful.
So thankful.
