Shannon Phillips

Davy’s hernia repair surgery is scheduled for early tomorrow, so if you can send some supportive thoughts our way…I’d appreciate it. We’ve met with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist and they both seem great, and it’s a really a very routine surgery, but they do have to give Davy general anesthesia so I’m tense about that. Hopefully by this time tomorrow we’ll be back home with the kiddo.

We had an appointment yesterday where the hospital staff showed Davy pictures of the various rooms he’ll go through tomorrow, and had him practice breathing through the mask for the anesthesia, and generally did their best to put a friendly face on everything and make it less scary for him. He got to choose a scent to add to the gas (he chose bubblegum), and he’s allowed to bring a stuffed animal or small toy with him tomorrow. I really do appreciate these little gestures. “We don’t want this to be a traumatic experience for him,” a nurse told me. “We don’t want him to fear doctors or coming back to the hospital for follow-up care.” It makes a lot of sense.

Then she said, “Watching the child go to sleep in the induction room can sometimes be an emotional experience for the parents” and I just about started bawling right there. So while Davy has a good understanding of everything that’s going to happen tomorrow, and I think he’ll be fine, I might be a total wreck. I guess I’ll just try to be as brave as my four-year-old.