Joshua's surgery for his teeth had been scheduled for May 2 for a long time. Originally, we had hoped to get the procedure done in March, but he got sick within the two weeks prior so they had canceled it. We had prayed and prayed that he would stay well enough to get done what needed to get done.
The plan was for the pediatric dentist to fix the baby teeth that hadn't formed correctly in the womb. One tooth in particular was missing the enamel and had grown in completely brown and misshaped. There were others that also needed strengthened. The severely bad tooth would require an entire stainless steel cap to protect it from decay, particularly so it wouldn't decay his permanent teeth underneath. I didn't realize that this tooth (in the back of his mouth) wouldn't be replaced by an adult tooth until he's about 12-13 years of age, so this was important to get done. And, due to the amount of work needing done and his fear of the dentist after his fall, the dentist recommended putting him completely under to keep him calm and still so she could work on his teeth. He wouldn't really even remember what had taken place.
The night before his surgery, his temperature spiked to 102.8. I was devastated for two reasons: 1) I never like to see my kids get sick and 2) I feared that his surgery would be postponed yet again. I called the dentist's cell phone number to tell her the news. She surprised me, though, and said it was too late to cancel. She wanted us to show up at our 6 am appointment and let the anesthesiologist look over him. If they felt he was well enough to perform the surgery, they would continue as planned since the operating room was reserved for him. If they didn't feel he was well enough, they would send us home and we would reschedule. If we didn't show, they would charge us a hefty fee for not coming.
The night before surgery, neither of our children slept much. Caleb has started talking in his sleep and also was waking up from his cold and yelling for us. Joshua woke up three different times. Once he needed to go potty, once he wanted a drink of water, and there was one other request that I don't remember. Shawn & I were EXHAUSTED when the alarm went off at 5 am. My mom was at our house by 5:30 am (thanks so much!) and we scooped up the Bean and his blankey and headed to the Health Campus.
Upon being checked in, we told the nurses and anesthesiologist about his fever the day before. But, although he had lost another pound by that day from his previous weight, he didn't have a fever that morning. He didn't look like himself to me, and I could tell he wasn't feeling great, but it was also 6 am on a night that he hadn't slept much at all. They forced him to drink a little medicine that makes him woozy, and he threw it back up on us. The nurse said that he would get a 'breathing treatment' mask to really put him asleep, and this was just to ease his separation from us. I said that he would separate easily but didn't deal well with drinking nasty medicine, unfortunately. He did go back just fine, and I knew that he would do okay going under with the mask and then they would do his IV so he wouldn't have to fear the needles or anything. The nurses and prep team all listened to his lungs and heart and cleared him for surgery, so we just prayed that he would be okay.
The dentist came to talk with us beforehand and seemed a little surprised that we were still there. Joshua & Daddy put together a big puzzle on the floor as we waited for them to take him back to surgery. He also had to change into their PJs and little socks before going back. They also gave him a ton of stickers, which he likes.
I was concerned about his health, but I knew we had to trust God to take care of him. After he went back, Shawn & I went and got drinks and bagels and waited in the waiting room. I was thankful he could be there that day with me. After an hour and a half, roughly, the dentist came out and said that everything went as planned and looked good. I was given his post-op instructions to review then as well. Then about a half an hour later, they told us we could go see him.
My little guy comes out of anesthesia VERY angry. He did not want to be there, but he did drink almost an entire cup of apple juice. He did NOT want his Popsicle, though. We changed him back into his jammies from home and left, once they gave us the okay. We picked up little Caleb Luke from Mamaw's house and headed home.
They had told us that Joshua would sleep most of the day. Well, he didn't want to. He was scared to go back to sleep, I think. They also told us not to leave him out of our sight for a second. So, we took turns cuddling him on the couch. I was impressed, though, that he ate a few bites for us (some yogurt) and also drank apple juice and water. Those were good signs that he kept them down. He said how much pain he was in, and he was okay with us giving him children's Tylenol, which he normally doesn't care for. I felt so bad for him, but I was glad he was doing as well as he was.
Thank You, God, for keeping our little guy safe!
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