Turner and Lauren: Turner's Surgery

Our little guy was a trooper! We were so proud.

We had to leave home at 5 a.m. in order to be at the Outpatient Surgery Center in Cleveland by 7 a.m. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. wide awake. I didn't sleep worth a crap that night and neither did Tanner. We were both very anxious about how the surgery day would go. Even though he didn't sleep in the car on the way to Cleveland as we thought, Turner was in a great mood and excited for his surgery. Things took an even better turn when the first scheduled surgery patient was running behind and Turner's surgery was bumped up to the first slot at 7:30 a.m. Turner was excited to wear the special bracelet the nurse gave him. He loved the rolling bed and was pumped that he had his own 'puter' and tv in his room. He was hesitant to put the gown on because it was like putting a shirt on backward. He kept trying to turn around and put it on like a jacket. We had to tell him that it was Wacky Monday and everyone was wearing silly clothes. Dr. Traboulsi sold our story when he walked in wearing his scrubs and cap.
The time came when Turner was going to be wheeled into the operating room and he had to choose who got to go back with him, Mommy or Daddy. He chose Tanner. Then he asked me if I was sad. I told him no, that I'm not sad. Then Turner asked me if I was mad. I told him no, I'm not mad. I told him that the first time he had eye surgery, when he was a baby, I got to go in and see all of the cool things in the surgery room. I told him it is nice that Daddy gets to have a turn,
Tanner and I told Turner that in the operating room there will be a mask like a Fireman wears and the nurses were going to let him put it on and breath into it. Turner was so excited, he couldn't wait to go. The doctor and nurses said that he was the easiest kid they've ever had. Usually the mask is scary to the kids but Turner laid on the table and took big deep breaths and was out in a matter of seconds. Tanner said he was in a deep sleep when he left the room.
Fast forward 35 minutes. Dr. Traboulsi came out to the waiting area and told us the surgery went great and we would be able to see Turner soon. Twenty minutes passed and we started to wonder what was taking so long. Finally, one of the assistants came out and told us that Turner woke up and panicked. He was screaming, crying, and kicking and they couldn't calm him down so they had to sedate him. We were able to go back to see him at that point. Thirty minutes later, Turner awoke again and started getting really upset again. They gave him more medicine to keep him calm and it worked very well. He ate some ice cream and drank some juice and next thing you know, we were homeward bound.
Turner ended up getting sick in the car on the way home because of the anesthesia, but after that he was his normal, fun self. We had movie time that evening and kept activities light for the next couple of days. His eyes were really runny, but he never complained of them hurting. We had to put an ointment in his eyes twice a day. That was horrible. He had to be held down the first day, but as each day passed he got used to it. By the last day of his ointment application, he gladly let us put the medicine in his eyes. Don't get me wrong, he was still THRILLED when we told him he didn't need it anymore.

Here are the pics I took the day of the surgery.