Monday, December 13, 2010

Drama!

Ethan's medical history has definitely been a tad dramatic. This past week was no different. He had surgery scheduled for this past Monday to correct an undescended testicle. Because of his metabolic condition, it makes things a little more complex. His metabolic specialist (Dr. Harding) had a few guidelines for Ethan regarding anesthesia. Well, I found out less than a week before the surgery, that these guidelines had not made it to the Urology Department. Of course, this made me a bit concerned. Thankfully, after a few phone calls it sounded like all of the information was where it needed to be, and everyone involved was on the same page.

Monday- We arrived at the Surgery Center in Springfield at 6:30am. Ethan was in a great mood. After a short wait, we were called back and started the pre-op routine. We met with the nurse, the anesthesiologist, and the urologist. Everyone was extremely nice, and immediately fell in love with Ethan, who was being quite flirty. After they went over the entire procedure and we signed a bunch of paperwork, Ethan was starting to get a little fussy. He was ready for breakfast, and did not appreciate being denied. They wanted to give him some medicine to help "relax" him. The medicine consisted of a syringe filled with apple juice, splenda, and special drugs. I politely explained that Ethan doesn't take oral meds. They politely replied, please try anyway. They quickly saw what I meant, and realized that I was serious. Luckily it wasn't a drug that he needed, so they weren't to concerned about how much he got. Within 5-10 minutes, it was quite apparent that despite his best efforts to expel every last drop, he must have absorbed some of the drug. It was quite comical to see the poor kid look so "drunk". Right at 7:30am, they were ready for him in the OR. As the anesthesiologist began to place the mask, she asked me what songs Ethan likes. I said one of his favorites is The Wheels on the Bus! Within seconds, she and the 2 nurses were singing Ethan off to sleep. It really helped put me at ease to know I was leaving him with such a caring, nurturing group. I joined Eric in the waiting room, for what seemed like forever. About 9:15, Dr. Mehlhaff greeted us and said that everything went perfect, and that Ethan had actually had an ectopic testicle, not an undescended testicle. All this means is that en-route to it's proper home, it got lost, and stuck in an abnormal place. Ethan took a bit longer than expected to wake up from the procedure, but we finally got to see him shortly after 10. He was a bit groggy, but in a great mood. We got to go home shortly after. It was such a HUGE relief to have this operation behind us. I had been dreading it for so long. As routine as this surgery is, Ethan is by no means a routine baby, and the rest of our day seemed to prove that even more.

Through out the day Ethan had been a bit fussy, a bit sleepy, and had his temperature was a tad elevated. Considering everything he had been through, none of this was a surprise. He woke up from a nap around 6pm, and I noticed his temp at that point was 100.8. Our post-op papers had said we should call the on-call doctor if his temp got over 101. I decided to go ahead and call in. They said that this was fairly normal response to having surgery, and that we should give him some Tylenol, and let them know if he got any worse. As I was getting the Tylenol ready, he had a seizure. The seizure lasted over 3 minutes, and was followed by some pretty traumatic screaming. As soon as the seizure started, we called 911. This isn't something that is usually necessary for a seizure, but at the time, it was the only thing I could think of. Having to watch Ethan go through this is extremely hard, and not something I could wish on my worst enemy. Since Ethan was so out of it after the seizure, the EMT's suggested he go via ambulance to the ER. Once we were there, they were able to administer some Tylenol in a suppository, and they attempted and royally failed at giving him some Motrin orally. The ER doctor was the same doctor that saw Ethan back in September. He remembered us, and quickly got himself updated on Ethan's new information. Ethan has a special letter from Dr. Harding (the metabolic specialist) that gives instructions on blood tests to run, and special IV fluids to give in any emergency. It was a bit comical for Eric and I to watch as each person on the firetruck, ambulance, and in the ER read the letter multiple times, and then just look at us, and ask us what it all means. The ER doctor decided to admit Ethan into the hospital for the night. In the mean time, we got a call from Ethan's pediatrician. She was off duty, and at home, but had heard what was going on, and called to make sure we were OK. She also had called the on call pediatrician, and gave her all of the pertinent information regarding Ethan's medical history. Ethan's pediatrician, Dr. Pelinka

Thursday- We had an appointment with Dr. Pelinka as a follow up to the hospital stay. After discussing the incident, Dr. Pelinka decided to have Ethan evaluated by Dr. Gowens, a pediatric neurologist. Ethan's seizures are considered febrile seizures (caused by fever) however, they seem to happen at a much lower temperature than usual, and are longer and more intense than typical febrile seizures. She wants Dr. Gowens to make sure that there's not another root for these seizures. Hopefully they are just febrile seizures, and assuming that's the case, he should grow out of them.

Last week was quite a dramatic one, and one that I'm very grateful to have behind us.

On a better note, Ethan is starting to really enjoy standing. This is something he's struggled with for a long time, and it's really nice to see him making good progress. His milestones are slow, but they are coming, and with each one I feel like little kid on Christmas morning, I'm just so excited for him. He's also trying to pull himself up into a standing position. He's really become interested in his new found abilities, and I'm really excited to see what the next few weeks have in store for him.
6am- getting ready to head to the Surgery Center.



Hanging out with Daddy in the waiting room.


"I has a cup."

I'm so thankful he hasn't grown an aversion to Dr.'s offices yet!

Cheese!

Ready to go.

This was after his "special" medicine.

All done!

Is it nap time yet?

In the ER. :(

Second IV for the day.

We had a chauffeur from the ER to the hospital room.

Daddy's much more comfy than the hospital bed.

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