Surgery

I hope I don't have to title many more posts in a similar manner. Jeremy had his surgery on Monday to fully excise the mole from his face. As I stated in an earlier post, we had the mole shaved and tested a few months back and it was just concerning enough for the doctors to want it fully cut out. They told us we had "months, not years" to take care of it before it became something to really be worried about. So, we took a few months to have a baby and pre-approve the insurance, and here we are.

The entire experience can be wrapped up in one thought - my baby is actually a brave young man. I was way more traumatized by this than he was. We had to be at the hospital early, so we took both kids straight out of bed to the car, and something about seeing him in his little pajamas at the hospital made me so nervous. I took him back to get prepped while Brian did paperwork and baby duty. Jeremy met the nurses, got weighed, had his blood pressure taken, and watched cartoons all with a smile. He made conversation with the ladies and did not act scared at all! It was not until he realized they were going to take him away from me that he started to panic. It was like a scene from a movie - he is frantically grabbing me and the nurses pull him away while he screams my name, arms outstretched, legs kicking. I almost cried. Luckily, even though I could not go back with him, Mr. Moo was allowed to go along to offer the protection I could not.

After he woke up from the anesthesia, the nurses came and got me and said he woke up in a panic and was shaking, screaming, and could not catch his breath. They thought having me there would help. What a sight to see my little man wrapped up in a blanket, huge bandage on his face, tubes coming out of his arms, being cradled by a nurse as he simultaneously moaned, screamed, hiccuped, and gasped for air. Mr. Moo in a virtual death grip with one hand, while the other tried to pull out the IV. Oh, the emotions of being a mom.

As soon as I had him in my arms, though, he began to calm down. I told him I loved him, and he looked at me through his tears and between hiccups said, "I am a very brave boy. You so proud of me." It took about 10 minutes, but we got his breathing under control, the tubes removed from his arms, and some sprite and graham crackers into his tummy. And, literally, the minute he calmed down, that was it. He looked at me again, tried to slide off my lap, and said, "Whew. I all better now. I need to calm my body and now I all better." We got home and even though he was a bit wobbly when walking, he went straight up to play trains, then to watch his new Cars movie from daddy, then refused a nap, and played all afternoon and evening like nothing had happened. He even took his medicine without complaint and never once touched or made reference to the big hole on his face or the bandage covering it. Big boy.Dr. Becker said they got it all out, he needs to keep his fingers off of it as it heals, and he should have a small 3 cm long scar on his cheek when all is said and done. Right now, the wound is about the size of a quarter, but since we used a plastic surgeon, I am confident the scar will look great once all the healing has taken place. The nurses said he was incredibly well-behaved and brave after the initial panic of being taken away from me to head into surgery. He was complimented by everyone and I have a feeling we did not really need the 12 nurses gathered around him cooing about how cute and sweet he was. But, I do appreciate their kindness and care. Especially when they told me that despite rules to the contrary, Jeremy was allowed to keep Mr. Moo wrapped in his arms the entire time.

Funny how that raggedy old cow provides so much comfort for us both.