Oral Surgery: Good Times...Goooood Times

Well today, Pokemon Boy had his oral surgery. Yes, because I assumed my child had low maintenance teeth like me, I never rode him about brushing or flossing. I didn't take him to the dentist until he had an issue. So his first time was this year - at the age of eight. Granted, I went for the first time at 13 and only had like 2 small cavities. But apparently, I was lucky.

So my unlucky son had to go under general anesthesia today to get one baby molar extracted, two of them crowned and two of them filled. All the molars were sealed.

We were covered in a ton of prayer. And it showed. Pokemon Boy was incredibly calm all day. His appointment time was 11:30am. We got there at 10:45am. They took us back into pre-op around 1:30pm because they were running late. Around 2:15pm, they gave him the "happy juice". It's ibuprofen and something that basically makes kids act drunk. At about 3pm, they came to take him into the OR.

He was completely patient during the whole wait. Even though he hadn't eaten since the night before. He had his last sips of water at 6:30am. I wasn't eating or drinking for solidarity. And by noon, I was parched and cranky. He just kept waiting. Oh yah - did I mention that he brought his Nintendo DS with him? I think that had a tiny bit to do with his amazing patience. At one point I said, "Thanks for being so patient, bud." Without skipping a beat he says, "Of course I'm patient. I AM a patient. Ha ha!" Too funny.

The only nerves showed up when they came to take him away. He kept joking, "Well, I'm one hour closer to the end of my life," which I privately didn't find funny. So when they came for him, the nurse asked, "Do you have any questions?" He said, "Just one. Where will you bury me?" The nurse was horrified but he thought it was funny. Anyway, as he left, he looked back and said, "Are you sure they won't hurt me?" The nurse and I assured he would be fine and not feel a thing.

About 45 minutes later, the doctor came in to tell me she had finished and Pokemon Boy was in recovery. Wow! About 30 minutes later, I could hear a fog-horn of a wail from down the hall. Oh boy. Pokemon Boy fog-horned all the way back to the post-op room. He had a real rough time coming out of the anesthesia. He was very confused & frightened. He kept crying, "Don't let them hurt me!!!" and "Is it all done? Completely??"

If you've ever had general anesthesia, one of the weirdest things is how you have no concept that time has passed. I remember for one of my surgeries, they were putting me under. And suddenly I was being woken up. It was like they were going, "Oh wait, we have to tell you one more thing before you go to sleep." Just no concept of time at all. So I think what was happening was that Pokemon Boy thought he had woken up during or before the surgery. Yesterday, he was very nervous about that happening. That would explain why he kept saying, "Don't let them hurt me!" When I assured him it was all done and he was in post-op, he kept asking me "Are you sure? Really?"

The nurses also explained that some people have this reaction when coming out of anesthesia. One nurse told me, "I'm just telling you this for his college years: he will be an UGLY drunk. What's going on here is just like the 'tears in your beers' you see with some drunks. You need to warn him not to drink because it won't be pretty." I thought that was very funny. But also completely agree with her!

So his recovery was very loud. He was crying in that yelling way. And not screaming. If you've ever met someone that can really PROJECT (like me and Pokemon Boy), you know what I mean. He was crying LOUD. He would answer me LOUD. Even saying, "OK" or "I'm sorry" was at like 952 decibels. So once he was awake enough, I had to make him focus on me and say things like, "Honey, you need to wake up enough to control your voice. You're talking very loud and there are other people recovering here." Then he'd try to "whisper" which brought it down to kind of loud talk. But it was quieter than the LOUD.

As he finally started snapping out of it, he'd be laying there watching the TV in his room and suddenly his heart rate would race and his face would screw up like he was about to start crying again. And just as suddenly, he'd calm right down.

By the time they were ready to kick us out, he was calm but still VERY groggy. When they brought the wheelchair for him, he got upset and asked, "How long will I have to use THAT?!" They explained it's normal procedure for leaving after surgery.

He slept most of the way home. Right now, he's sitting on the couch playing his DS and watching Sponge Bob. He's pretty mellow. He's hungry. Already polished off some applesauce. Now he wants pizza. Can't have that yet. So I must run to find something for him to eat.

Just thought I'd let you all know it went really well. I think the peace he had going in was definitely from God. The procedures went well. We're home and in a pretty normal routine, all things considered.

Oh, my mom picked up Lil'Bro from day care. And she brought us all dinner. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I have the coolest mom in the world. For me, that is.