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Today was our visit to the pediatric urologist. All that was going to happen was that the doctor would look at Liam. That’s it. And for some reason I felt on the verge of tears the whole time.
St. Louis Children’s Hospital is extremely cool. The whole place is 100% kid-friendly, from the suspended hot-air balloon in the main atrium, to the speed limit signs in the garage (SPEED 4 3/8 mph) to the little-kid voice on the elevator (“Welcome to St. Louis Children’s Hospital! Level One! Goooooooing UP!”) It ws all we could do to tear Liam away from this giant moving sculpture that consisted mainly of a bike chain, wire and rubber balls that moved by perpetual motion. It was pretty cool, I gotta admit.
He was a big trooper at the doctor’s. Was very patient in the waiting room. SHARED the toys. Happily bounced around from fish tank to TV to activity cube. When we went to the exam room, the doctors were very friendly and non-scary and asked him to give them five, which he promptly did, with a good smack like a five should be. He sat fairly still for the exam, which was done while sitting on my lap. He even allowed himself to be mildly distracted by a storybook. Whenever he had to leave a room or someone else left the room, he would cheerfully call out, “Bye! See soon!” He said it to the receptionists, a kid on the elevator, the waiting room in general, the moving sculpture and the doctors. “Bye! See soon!”
I am just so proud of how brave he was.
So the doctor tells us everything we already knew. What the problem was, what needed to be done. None of it was a surprise. He said it wont hurt for Liam to pee, but he might be pretty cranky for a couple of days. Then a gal came in with a laptop and we scheduled the surgery for February 15. This way be can enjoy his birthday first.
His birthday is the 13th. On the 14th, he has his 24-month checkup and on the 15th is his surgery. The whole week is going to be nothing but presents, cake, ice cream and Happy Meals for this kid. And penis surgery. That too.
The scheduling lady handed us two handouts. One explained that the hospital will call the day before surgery to tell us what time to arrive. So we dont even know what time the procedure will be. The second handout was a little booklet, “A Parent’s Guide To Same-Day Surgery” which detailed what, when, how and whether to feed and medicate your child before surgery. It told you where to show up, who to call for a pre-admission tour, what your child could bring into the operating room with him and it talked about recovery procedures.
We’re supposed to show up an hour early to talk with the anesthesiologist and doctor. Then they put him under, do the deed and give him a bed until he comes to, which the doctor said would take a couple hours. Then we have to let him become more alert and drinking fluids before we can take him home.All told, we will be at the hospital about 5 hours. Liam will be allowed to bring his blankie into the operating suite and the doctor said one of us can hold him while the anesthesia is administered. Now, whether the ANESTHESIOLOGIST says we can do that is another matter entirely. But it would go a long way toward making me feel better if I know one of us can be there when he goes under. I am more worried about how scary this will all be to Liam. He doesnt do so well with initial separation. And to be taken away from us and have a bunch of strangers in surgical masks hovering over him and putting things on his face has to be the stuff nightmares are made of.
It all seems like quite a bit of hoo-hah for a procedure that will literally take five minutes.
So anyway, that’s that. Liam is getting a “meatotomy” in a month (doesnt that sound absolutely gross?) and he was really brave and grown up at the doctor’s today.
The end.
