Count Down Begins

 


Well the count down begins for Alex's Surgery. It is scheduled for April 15th and will be done at Shriners Hospital. I would not say that I am excited about it but I am glad that it is getting done!

From now until the day of the surgery my biggest challenge is to keep Alex from getting sick! This can be a challenge when you have two other children as well.

Here are some ways I have chosen to minimize the chances of Alex getting sick:

1. He rides the bus and goes to school... for this I have taken him out so that he can not be exposed to sickness and with great discussion with the teacher we thought this might be the best.

2. I don't take him out to public places such as the food store, target, Wal-Mart. Places like that because there are many ways he could get sick from just going to those stores. Such as sitting in the shopping cart.. as crazy as that may sound, kids before him could have been sick their hands are all over the seat.

3. I am having everyone wash their hands and I have that hand sanitizer that you spray into the hands and rub them together.

4. As much as I would love to get together with my friends and do my coffee dates...I am actually having no one come to the house.

5. My older son Eli goes to school... I drive him to school but I have such Amazing friends who pick him up and drive him home from school so that I don't have to have Alex go in and out of the car. (it has been very windy were I live and there is lots of pollen in the air.)

6. Staying in the house can me a tough thing...I sometimes open the door to get circulation of air through out my house. I don't do this all day but some times when it feel stuffy.

7. At night time the heater stays at one or two temperature. This will allow the body to stay around the same temperature through out the night. I am hoping this will help minimize the chances of getting sick.

8. And the most obvious, good sleep and good eating!

You may thinks this is an awful lot to do but... I am taking every pre-caution necessary. A little bit of stress but in the end as a mom, I have no control over something like getting sick. I can only do my best to minimize the chances. I hope this helps if you have a child who has to have surgery as well.

Alex had his pre-op appointment last Monday. I tried to be as organized as I could. One thing that I did that helped, was I looked up on line "What to ask when my child is going in for surgery. ?" It was very helpful. It gave me a list of questions to ask so there would be no surprises. (I like control and this was one way of having a little bit of that in an uncontrolled situation. :)

Questions I asked:

1. How many people will be in the operating room?
2. What kind of anesthesia will be given and how?
3. How much time do I have with my son before he goes in the operating room as well as how soon will I be able to see him once he is out of the operating room.

4. What kind of meds will be used to control the pain once he is out and in the recovery room.
5. What is the protocol if an emergency arises?
6. What are the risks involved with the surgery and with the anesthesia.?
7. How long will it take for the anesthesia to wear off?
8. What kind of pain or discomfort will He feel after the surgery?
9. What restrictions will my child have after surgery?
10. How long till he can go back to school?
11. Can you walk me through what will be happening before, during and after the operation.

There were many more specific questions I asked pertaining to Alex's type of surgery. I right this in  the  hope that it will give you some ideas on how to prepare yourself as a parent.