Hi everyone.
It's been a while since I've been here. with the holidays and everything, it's been crazy. Any way, my 10 year old son is having surgery on monday the 28th at johns hopkins. just wanted everyone to know, so they could keep him in their prayers. i'm getting a bit nervous. He had pneumonia over Christmas, but he is recovered now and hoping to do ok on Monday. he is getting a bit nervous, too.
I'll let you know how things go.

Hi,

Yes, I'll pray for your son! Keep a good watch on his lung being clear after surgery, and encourage him right away to get up, walk with the IV, push those fluids around and hopefully out.

I don't know anyone personally who did not do fine with surgery - I may have already told you that, so please, have good faith, I know it must be so hard to have a son or daughter with this. It is so much easier to be the one with it, than a person who loves them.

God bless you, please keep us posted.

Tam

Please talk ahead of time with the Dr about pain control, and stay with your son, or have another family member with him when you can't, to make sure his pain is being treated appropriately. It's often quite painful for adults, and children are more likley to be under-medicated for pain. I know you must worry about your son being on strong pain meds, but believe me, if he is actually in major pain he will need them in order for body to relax and begin to heal. The pain post-op is ACUTE pain versus chronic pain, so any med increase will be for a few weeks, not long-term, and he will be tapered off appropriately as the pain recedes and healing occurs.

But the poor nurses ARE overstretched and he may get overlooked and left to wait for pain meds unless someone is there to speak up for him. And it's much easier to keep the pain under some control by taking his meds ON TIME, than by having to try to "catch up" to the pain because he got his meds an hour later than he was supposed to. Push fluids too, it will help him clear the anesthesia out of his system faster. And if he holds a pillow to his chest, he'll find it helps when he has to cough, hiccup, laugh, etc. (Try not to make him laugh!)

Also, have him practice breathing from different areas of his lungs, from the very bottoms, the outside, inner edges, tops. Have him focus on one lung and go "around-the-world" from top to bottom, taking deep breaths from his diaphraghm, then relax a few minutes, then do the other side. Focus mainly on the side that will be operated on. This will help post-op, as the exercises will be familiar, and they can help prevent breathing issues and get him off oxygen sooner.

Has the surgeon advised PT post-surgery? Massage feels GREAT on an achy body -maybe if you call it sports-massage and take him to a sports rehab facility he would agree to it?

Ask for or bring extra pillows to the hospital, he'll want a couple under his upper arm and shoulder blade, and he should rest his forearm on a pillow to take any pull off the surgical area.

Best wishes - and my prayers go with you!

beth

Only 10 ?!?! The poor kid !

My prayers for God to be with him on the 26th.......and with you in the waiting room.

He will be able to get up and get going sooner if his pain is effectively managed.

I hope you are prepared with new gameboy, DS, or PSP gaes for the hospital and lots of dvds for when he gets home.

Best of luck, wishes and prayers for him and your family.

I will be keeping your little guy in my thoughts and prayers for a successful surgery and quick recovery! Please let us know how everything goes.

Everyone here has great advice here. One thing I was told by doctors and nurses while my son was in for his broken leg is that children tend to UNDER report their pain and actually wait longer to ask for meds. We had to make sure that we kept track of the time to request it every 3-4 hours because he didn't always do it. Our nurses were GREAT. We were lucky because we were in the pediatric unit of a local hospital. Some days there was another child in this wing, others he was alone. The nurses had extra time to help. That is not always the case. Make sure he asks for meds before the pain gets ahead of him. I was relieved to see that the nurses were more anxious to get him meds ontime. Also, the doctor told us not to worry about how much he was taking. First morphine, then percocet, now tylenol 3, maybe 1 every two days. Because the pain will lessen over time.

Being a patient advocate is a very important roll for family to take. My son was not left alone in the hospital for the week he was there. I spent days in hospital, my husband at night. This way I could stay with my three others at night and get them off to school in the mornig. They did provide a bed for him. Also, you being there frees their duties up tremendously. This happened around thanksgiving and my 5 yearb olds birthday so I brought the nurses cakes and cookies almost everyday. Bribery will get you everywhere!!

Your son, and you will be in my prayers. My son's surgery is 1/28 to remove the pins in his leg, How about we swap prayers????
thanks, Linda

thanks for the update...happy thoughts to you, him and family. i am sure you will be in good hands

kids heal so quickly from things- i am sure you will have the worse memories of this experience out of the two of you.

Hi, I thought of you today and prayed for your sons successful surgery and swift recovery. My son's went very well and all is well.

Best of luck! Linda

The best of thoughts and waiting to hear some good news!