Doctor Fixed My Thumb

Since we received the information that Drew would have surgery on his left trigger thumb at the beginning of July, Drew has told us (and anyone else who will listen) that "Doctor's going to fix my thumb." After a trip to the dentist he also came out with this gem a few times "Dentist is not going to fix my thumb." We told him we thought that was probably a good idea.

So Friday morning was the big day. Originally the surgery was scheduled for 11 in the morning, with arrival time an hour and a half before that. But two days before the surgery, we were relieved to get the call that, due to his age, his surgery time had been moved up to 9:15. While this made for an earlier morning for Mommy, Daddy, Grandma & Grandpa, it was much easier to deal with the "no food or drink" pre-surgery rule. Drew is usually not awake for more than 5 minutes before requesting his morning milk. We were not optimistic that he would take the no eating and drinking well. Fortunately, we were half way to Tucson before his first requests for milk and we were able to distract him with questions about the things he could see outside his window.

Shortly after arriving at the outpatient surgery office we were taken back to get Drew's vital signs and get him changed into a gown. The vital signs did not go well. Drew screamed and squirmed through the attempted blood pressure reading, the ear thermometer, the oxygen finger reading, and even the putting on of his hospital bracelet.


The pictures to the left are from the room we waited for the doctor in after the horror of vital signs was over. As you can see, we were able to sway his mood from really not happy to mildly amused to showing off his thumb with a smile.

We sang songs, played peekaboo with his blanket, had a short nap, and practiced counting with the stars and stop signs on his gown. He was quite funny about the gown. He kept saying "I no like these jammies." "I need take these jammies off." But then he'd spend the next 5 minutes enthralled by looking for stop signs on the gown.

Anyway, eventually the surgeon and anesthesiologist came in to talk to us. The plan was to take Drew back to the operating room (without us), cover his mouth with a mask to put him out, then do the IV and surgery. After the vital signs tantrum we were not optimistic he would do the mask without us and without being restrained. The wonderful anesthesiologist mentioned that there was a quick shot up the nose (I can't remember the name of the drug) that would make Drew groggy and not remember leaving Mommy and Daddy. Basically a little like being drunk. The only downside was it was supposed to sting when it went in (like snorting

soda out your nose). The doc said most kids didn't like that. Drew, on the other hand, barely reacted. We get more of a rise out of him trying to give him Tylenol in his mouth! So then we just waited for the medicine to kick in and he happily left with the anesthesiologist. While we were waiting for the medicine to work we tried counting again, and as the medicine started to take effect Drew would very groggily say "I'm thinking!" after every few numbers. It was quite cute.

The procedure took just about 15 minutes and we were only in the waiting room for about 45 minutes (with pre-op and waiting for him to wake up). I handled the wait remarkaby well although my parents were amused at my drinking two cups of coffee during that time. I very rarely drink coffee...and I'm not sure the extra caffeine was really what my nerves needed, but I had to do something and I couldn't concentrate on the newspaper or anything like that.

Eventually the nurse came to tell us Drew was awake and we could go back. They let all of us go back to see him, which was nice and, I think, comforting for Drew (Grandma & Grandpa hadn't been able to go back with us before the surgery). He was still pretty dazed when we got back there, but happy to see us and very happy to be able to drink some Gatorade and munch on a few graham crackers. I had wrapped George's left hand in an ace bandage before Drew went in to surgery but after the nose shot and behind Drew's back so he wouldn't notice (they let him keep his Nemo blanket and George with him). But when we got back to him we realized the doctor had really fixed up George's bandage with a sling and everything. So nice of them. The doctors and nurses were all so wonderful. I realize they probably say this to a lot of parents, but they kept going on and on about how sweet he was and how he well he had tolerated everything. They warned us that many children wake up mad after the surgery and very angry about the big bandage, but Drew showed no signs of this at all.



Little man and George after "their" surgeries. Having George bandaged up too really helped with Drew's protests during the car ride home about keeping the "big band-aid" on. "I need take it off. I no like big band aid."

The time in the recovery room was quite brief and we were on our way back home about an hour after the surgery had began. Drew was acting fine other than his protests about the bandage, and I almost thought I might not need to fill his Tylenol with codeine prescription. Thank God I decided to do it anyway. Drew woke up from his nap that afternoon screaming and crying in pain. Heartbreaking to see your child like that. Fortunately the medicine kicked in within 15 minutes and he was happily playing with his train set like nothing had ever happened. He had no side effects from the anesthesia or Tylenol with codeine and even his complaints about the bandage subsided by Saturday morning.


We are very grateful this is the most serious health concern Drew has had in his 3 years and that he did so well with it. Thanks to everyone for your concern and prayers.