A Little Toothless, A Little Tired But Really Happy To Be Home!

Just a quick update to let everyone know we are home. Sam's marathon dental appointment had us at the hospital at 10:00 a.m. We got there a little early and Sam was back in a pod before 10:00 a.m. After vitals were taken they gave him a dose of Versed which didn't work as effectively as it did during his hip surgery but he was relaxed. We met with the Doctor, 2 anesthesiologists, a few nurses and then he was off. We didn't get Dr. Berens because he was in the ICU, and honestly the ICU trumps dental surgery, but we asked. While meeting with the new anesthesiologist we went over Sam's allergies, his previous reactions to anesthesia, his manic reactions upon coming out of anesthesia, his anatomy anomaly(3 bronchial tubes instead of 2, one is just a dead end), Sam's respiratory issues, his narrow passages and airways and advised them to protect his left side if he became manic so we don't mess up the healing hip. Yep, all that and then you sit in a waiting room....and well....wait.

As I sit in the waiting room and watch the parents around me I know some are there for minor things, some more major, some their first time, some are stressed, some are calm, some are reading, some are crying and some are sleeping. I pray for all of us, our situations are all so different but for that moment in time we are all in the same place at the same time. I wish I could say it was our first time but we usually find ourselves explaining to the medical personnel that we understand because we've been here and done this before. I never wanted to know about the Family Lounge outside the ICU or be able to recognize the families from the ICU by the plastic pass key they carry. I never wanted to know all the delis, restaurants and lunch rooms available at Children's Hospital. I never wanted to get comfortable with the maze of halls that lead through the hospital and clinics building. I never wanted to visit so many floors in any hospital....I never wanted.......but you don't always get what you want. What I do know and what I do want is to be with Sam no matter where, no matter what floor, no matter what length of time and to each and every time walk out of that hospital, get into my car and drive home with Sam.

Sam's surgery took over 2 1/2 hours. They removed 4 teeth, fixed some fillings, took full dental X-rays, cleaned his teeth and gave him a fluoride treatment. I always pray with Sam the day before surgery, as we drive in to the hospital, as they take him away, in the waiting room, and a big thank you when he is returned to us. The Lord and I were a first name basis again today and everything went well.

Sam slept for about 1 1/2 hours in recovery, he had a bloody nose from the intubation, his mouth was bleeding but he looked comfortable and his breathing although raspy was strong. When he did awake he wanted the IV out, the bracelets off, his clothes on and get the heck out of there. So did I! We left the hospital at about 4:00 p.m. As we drove home I watched Sam feel around his mouth with his tongue and then his fingers probably thinking where the heck did my teeth go. Sam has a habit of wiping his nose with his palm flat and rubbing from chin to forehead in a circular motion. It's a Sam quirk. I heard him rubbing his nose and when I turned around I was a little shocked at the scene that presented itself. I told Jeff, I need to clean up Sam because if anyone looked into his truck and saw a little boy with blood all over his face I was worried the police would be pulling us over shortly. After cleaning him up the best I could with a tissue he returned to watching a movie on his Ipad. No complaining, no whining, no crying....he looked up and gave me his toothless grin and said his two favorite words, "Go home". I answered "That's where were headed Buddy". Sam answered "Okay, good".

I'll monitor his breathing tonight, work on his respiratory exercises tomorrow and snuggle and watch a movie. Have a great weekend everyone! Good night!