Meghan's New Button

Well, Meghan had her surgery yesterday. She had her long awaited button put in and is doing just fine.

We left the house for Boston at 6:15. Traffic was light and we were making really good time...and then we ran into RUSH HOUR!! We hit the Boston line at about 8:30 am. From that point it generally takes us about 15 minutes to get into NEMC. Not this morning. Rush hour traffic saw to it that we made it to the 9:15 check in by 9:22. Not too bad, considering that the procedure was scheduled for 11:15 am.

Checked in, we sat in the waiting room until about 10:45 am. The nurse came out and had us dress Meg in her hospital gowns and her favorite "yellow" hospital socks. We had the opportunity to chat with a family from South Carolina who's son was having his "button" put in by Dr. Flores this morning too. That made us feel very confident in Dr. Flores' work...not that we didn't already...because it made us realize that people from all over the country come to NEMC to see him for this problem, which means he's gotta be good. We also realized at that point, that Meghan is not the only child in the world that has this problem.

With that brief conversation cut short by the nurse, we realized that it was now 11:15 am. Time for the procedure. The nurse led us to an area with small rooms just outside the operating rooms. The rooms were all hand painted in children's themes. Meg just happened to get the OUTER SPACE room. The nurse layed her on the stretcher and we sat and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang while she waited her turn. About half way through the movie, she decided that she'd had enough of that movie and plugged in another one....Aladdin, I think. While she watched that movie, the nurse pulled me outside and explained the effects that the anesthesia might have on Meg. She assured me that I needn't worry, and I explained that we were "old pros" at this and that we would be just fine....although deep down I was still scared to death.

The anesthesiologist arrived very shortly after and had me put on the "marshmallow suit" as Meg likes to call it. With the suit in place, I went into the room with her. The head nurse called the start time as we walked into the room...12:23 pm. They transferred her to the operating table and the head anesthetist asked her what flavor she wanted in the mask. She asked for Root Beer and they let her smell it. I could tell she didn't like it...apparently so did the anesthetist, because he said I didn't think you'd like it. Most of the kids hate that flavor, why don't you try Bubble Gum? She did, and she said OK. By this point, you could see in her eyes how nervous she was. I held her hand and they put the mask over her face...within seconds, she was out cold. They told me to give her a kiss on the cheek, which I did, and they escorted me from the room, back to the "OUTER SPACE Room we'd been staged in.

At this point, the nurse escorted us to the same waiting area we'd been chatting with the people from South Carolina in. Within 30 minutes, they called for us and we were escorted to the recovery area. When we got there, the recovery room nurse was waiting for us and assured us that she was doing just fine. Not being one to wait, I had to look and see what the button looked like. It is really small and close to the body. The nurse explained the new way to inject the fluids and within a few minutes, our little angel awoke with a big smile on her face. When she finally got her wits about her, she sat right up to inspect the site. Again...another big grin. She began singing quietly....I can go swimming now, I can go swimming now...

We sat for awhile while Meg gulped down a red ice pop. It was about 2:00 when the nurse disconnected all of Meg's boopers and beepers, etc..

When we left the hospital, all Meghan wanted to do was EAT! We got her something to eat and she told us an amazing fact. Now that she has her button in, her appetite is so much bigger. LOL. Couldn't be that she'd not eaten anything since 8:30 pm the night before?!

Amazingly, the drive home was extremely musical. I got to listen to Meghan sing all the way from Boston to Niverville...except for the short while I had Shelly drive so I could nap...although, I'm pretty sure the music didn't stop then either.

Exhausted, we rolled into the house around 6:30 pm. OK, Shelly and I were exhausted...Meghan was a human energy factory. What a day!

Now with that done, it's on to the E.N.T. Doctor for her tonsils and adenoids!!!