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happymumma 
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 Topic: Babies and surgery
Posted: 21 July 2010 at 2:54pm |
My almost seven month old will be having surgery to drain the fluid from both ears and then have grommits placed in a couple of weeks. It's only a ten minute procedure and as far as surgeries go not a biggie but I'm wondering a couple of things I suppose. Firstly, I am going to struggle to hand her over even though I know this needs to be done - how have others coped with that bit? And what is the time immediately post surgery like? Is she likely to be grizzly or is it really such a minor procedure that she will just breeze through?
I feel a bit pathetic asking because I know others have had babies have much more major surgery and at a much younger age.
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Kimnthekids
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Joined: 25 February 2010
Location: Waitakere
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Posted: 21 July 2010 at 3:45pm |
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Our son had grommets put in at about 1 year of age. I was an absolute mess even tho i knew it wasnt a big drama, and ended up leaving the room while they put him under as it was more stressful for him me being there. DH was great on the other hand lol. Was such a short procedure and in the waiting room on the other side were 4 other families waiting for their children to come out from the gromemt op. All other 4 children came out a bit teary, but as soon as they were given boob/bottle they were fine. DS came out screaming and wouldnt settle for 30minutes, once the pamol kicked in, but then was fine. We drove home, he fell asleep in the car and when he woke, well it was like it never happened. Recovery is QUICK! I asked at the time about daycare and how long should i expect to keep him out, i think the answer was he could go back the next day.
Hope that helps in some way. (Oh an btw im a sook and cry at the kids injections even lol)
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lisa85
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Posted: 23 July 2010 at 12:42pm |
We have never had grommits but Esme had a hernia op at just a couple of months old. It was very hard to watch her go in but the staff were all very supportive. Plus I had my sister and Husband there for support. She was in hospital for 24hours I spent the first 12 hours in there with her then Hubby came in around 7pm and stayed the night so I could go home and look after Hazel.
Esme totally breezed through the surgery. She was pretty doped up so just slept through the whole thing. I think it was harder for us knowing what was going to happen and seeing her come out with all the tubes and things stuck in her little arm. Kids are so resiliant though and grommits are so common I wouldn't worry too much. My neice had them at two and they made such a difference to her speech up until then she had been a little behind with talking.
I would suggest focusing on the positive side of all this and how it will benefit your daughter  and make sure you have someone close by your side to take your mind off of things while she's getting it done.
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noodle
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Location: Auckland
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Posted: 23 July 2010 at 1:01pm |
we didn't have grommet surgery either but DS had a hernia op when he was 6 weeks old, handing him over to the nurse to take in to the op room was the hardest thing ever but the staff were fantastic and I knew he was in good hands. I just kept telling myself over and over 'little babies have open heart surgery and he was just having a super easy op'. I cried the whole time waiting for him to go into recovery and the feeling when they called us to go down and see him was the best ever! I think I ran just about the whole way down there lol
It's amazing how quickly he bounced back from the op, he was a bit dopy and sleepy for probably 12 hours but then as good as gold! 
Good luck chick, It is hard but it will be ok. Make sure you have some one else there with you...that helps 
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fire_engine
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Posted: 23 July 2010 at 1:07pm |
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Yep, ditto the having someone there. Giving Dan over was horrible and they wouldn't let us go in cos it was cardiac (they don't want parents there if something goes wrong).
We didn't get to see Dan for a long time afterward but that was due to the nature of the surgery/ICU and stuff, but with ears, you tend to be able to get in there pretty quick.
So sorry, little advice other than have someone there who can give you a hug when you're blubbering about giving your baby away (don't know if x-dh will fit that role for you?)
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Mum to two wee boys
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happymumma
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Posted: 24 July 2010 at 7:45am |
Thanks guys. I think you've just given me what I needed and confirmed that I'm relatively normal!! At the moment I just keep reminding myself that it's necessary and that it will mean good things for speech / language development (although we are already booked in for more testing post surgery to see if there is further underlying hearing loss 
Flissty - x-dh isn't going to be there (so many things I could say but won't!) but I have a really close friend who is hoping to be there. If they can't be there I will be going it alone but since it will be done at Wgtn I can always call on a work colleague if I need too. At least it's a short surgery and presumably I will be with her pretty much straight afterwards.
Anyway, thanks...
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RedHeadDuck
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Posted: 24 July 2010 at 2:38pm |
Don't feel too bad-your a parent and it's your job to worry!!!
If it makes you feel better, my MIL just flew to Europe cos my niece is getting grommets.... 
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kiwi2
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Posted: 25 July 2010 at 10:53am |
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I have had two kids have surgery. One was heart surgery and that was the first. The second was tonsils, adenoids and grommets.
I had to be strong. I flew 8 hours to a foreign country to have DD heart surgery and had left DH and DS at home as we didn't have accommodation sorted for them for another 7 days. I think this was a blessing as I had to keep strong for my daughter and only cried after she had gone in for surgery. Then afterwards I was so busy trying to keep her calm I had to be together as such. I think the thing that helped me was that I didn't want my kids to get distressed seeing me fall apart. I had to constantly tell myself "it wasn't all about me." Easier said than done. The thought of how I would react was worse than how I did react. It is amazing how that protective mothering instinct kicks in to keep your child happy. However in private I was a mess and had a good sob. Good luck it is tough.
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happymumma
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Posted: 29 July 2010 at 3:06pm |
Well I think I just had my first taster of what this might be like...sort of. She and I just had four nights (and absolutely no sleep!) in the children's ward because of bronchiolitis - she had to have oxygen and ng feeding and was completely miserable. So not quite the same as surgery but fairly horrid nonetheless.
The only time I fell apart was when the nurse ordered me out of the room so she could place the ng. I could hear her screaming from the other end of the ward and hated knowing I couldn't do anything about it. Other than that it was more about keeping her going than anything else. So...I know I can do it now. And I know I can do it on my own. Mum was fabulous and looked after my wee boy (and brought in food and clothes and everything else) but mostly DD and I were on our own. Ex DH visited once after she had been there for two days so clearly wasn't that concerned!!
But yay - I have mother strength after all!
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NikkiB
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Posted: 29 July 2010 at 8:03pm |
lol happymumma  Well done for finding your inner mummy strength Sorry to hear your DD was in hospital - its never nice seeing your little one sick.
Good luck with the GA. My DS is having his 5th GA next week and I always cry 
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A very lucky mummy to two gorgeous boys:
RB 3/10/2008
JB 29/12/2009
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fire_engine
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Posted: 29 July 2010 at 8:05pm |
You definitely CAN do it. It's amazing what you can do when you have to.
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LittleBug
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Posted: 29 July 2010 at 10:26pm |
Happymumma, I think your experience in the children's ward will be much worse than the grommets! 
Ollie had his grommets put in a few weeks ago. It all went relatively smoothly. They said all the glue in his ears was really infected and yucky even though he had been on antibiotics for 10 days beforehand Anyway we got there, the anaesthetists took all his info and we signed the dotted lines etc, got Ollie put in his hospital gown, and had a little wait in the waiting room. I think the hardest part was that Ollie couldn't eat his breakfast, that made the poor little fella grumpy!
It was a bit hard seeing him get knocked out with the gas. He hated the mask being on but he went limp really quickly (which was a bit freaky but it's what I expected). Then we transferred him to the bed, and I waited in the waiting room for about 10-15 mins. They came and got me as soon as Ollie started waking up. He was really grumpy waking, and holding his ears which had a little bit of blood around them, but after a bottle which eased his hunger he was much better. He was quite sleepy and quiet for the rest of the day, but okay.
The grommets have been amazing. They are still healing up (had probs with one getting infected) but as soon as they were in he started talking and walking. They said he would have been able to hear barely anything before. The change in his hearing was instant, and it only took a couple of days for him to start walking.
Hugs - it will be easier than you think, and it will help heaps!!
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Chloe (4 years) and Oliver (3 years).
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Babies and surgery
