After Surgery
Posted on March 18, 2011 - Filed Under Uncategorized | 9 Comments
Dorian’s surgery took a little under 2 hours. I’m sorry for not updating the blog sooner, everything caught up with me and it was a little too much.
Dorian came out of surgery very well. The surgeon called us in (a friend with a child in the same hospital for the same reason warned us that the surgeon does this, otherwise we would have thought he was summoning us to tell us Dorian hadn’t made it! But he wanted to explain everything to us. He took photos of Dorian’s intestines, which was very interesting. I’d asked if he would show this to us because I wanted to know exactly what was going on inside my little boy. He showed us how a loop of intestine had grown together with white scar tissue between the two piece, twisting so that nothing could pass through. I probably should have been grossed out about looking at my son’s innards, but truthfully, it was fascinating to finally see how things are working inside his body.
The surgeon didn’t have to cut the actual intestine at all, which means Dorian’s recovery will be faster than hoped for, provided there are no complications. However, he did have some disturbing news for us. The first was that a section of Dorian’s bowels was so damaged, it may or may not recover. He showed it to us on his phone camera. There was a section that was huge in comparison to the next bit of intestine. They removed everything from his bowels and apparently that section was already shrinking back toward normal size, but it remains to be seen if it will go back to normal completely.
The next bit of bad news was that Dorian has Hirshsprung’s Disease. It seems to be a fairly mild version of it, but it will require special treatment to ensure that he grows up well. We have always known that this could be a possibility since it is very common in children born with an imperforate anus, but it’s still awful to hear those words associated with your child.
That being said, Dorian is a very strong little guy. I know he can beat this just like he’s beaten everything else in his life so far. The kid is headstrong and obstinate, but those are traits that get him through times like this. He came out of the anesthetic quite rapidly and looked up at me and demanded to know, “Where’s Dante? I want Dante!” Then, when a nurse was oohing and aweing over him, he pushed her away and told her to leave him alone. Yet, when the next nurse came (a prettier one, I might add), he turned to her and said, “Hey, I need to be on that side of the bed, but it hurts to move. Can you help me?” This was less than 45 minutes after he’d come out of surger and he was quite coherent and well-spoken, explaining himself so well that the young nurse ended up apologising to him for not being able to move him around!
It’s now about 10 hours after his surgery. He has been sleeping fairly calmly, despite the need to redo his IV. He asked for painkillers at one point and they were given to him. He thanked the nurses quietly and went back to sleep. Right now he’s asleep beside me, arms flung out to either side. Every so often he wakes up, gives me a long stare, as if to be sure I’m really there (the anesthetic confused him slightly earlier and now he’s not sure if he’s really seeing what he’s seeing) and then falls back asleep.
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9 Responses to “After Surgery”
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Thanks for letting us know. I’ve been thinking of you all a lot. Glad the news is as good as it is.
Sorry to hear you’ve had to go through all of this. Glad to know Dorian is doing well. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.
Oh! It does sound like he came out of surgery with awesome attitude and strength!! Thank goodness!
Thinking of you and Dorian. I hope he continues to get better and you’ll be out of the hospital soon.
Genesis, my prayers are with Dorian and all of you! Have faith that God is right there beside you, holding Dorian’s hand!
Great big hug to all of you!
Bless his little heart (and tummy!) My thoughts are with you and your family, sending lots of healing vibes.
He’s definitely a little fighter! I bet he will make an awesome leader.
Blessings.
Had been crossing my finger for you guys. Glad to hear Dorian is doing ok and hoping he’ll be back to his strong, bubbly self. Hang in there… you’ll get through this, tough mama!
Sending much love & strength! xoxo