Bean's dental surgery was last Wednesday. We headed to the hospital bright and early. After checking in, we were sent to the surgical play area where Bean had a blast (in his exceedingly large hospital gown) in between consultations with the nurse, his surgeon and the anesthesiologist.
When it was time to settle down and prepare for surgery, Bean became very agitated. We decided with his anesthesiologist to give him a dose of Versed (it's like a kiddie version of Valium) to help him relax. They needed to get a 4-limb blood pressure check so the med helped immensely. After about 10 minutes, he was as snuggly and docile as ever.
It made talking to the doctors a lot easier because he wasn't crying so hard and his vitals settled down.
Going in to the surgery, I felt great about his surgeon and even better about his anesthesiologist and his resident. They all had a decent amount of experience with and knowledge of Williams syndrome. The anesthesiologist was very thorough in his preop evaluation and he all but wiped away my concerns.
I carried Bean back to the OR and was there with him through induction. He did great. He was nice and calm and drifted off to sleep gracefully. Once he was asleep, the nurse directed me to the waiting room.
My husband, mother and I ate some breakfast (food is a great comfort item/distraction, right?) and just chatted for a bit.
Less than an hour later, the surgeon came to let us know that Bean did great and was in recovery. They did have to remove all four teeth because they were concerned about the risk of infection causing cardiovascular problems.
The nurses kept peeking in to the waiting room while the doctor was with us so I knew that Bean was awake - and I guessed that he was pretty agitated given his previous history with anesthesia.
I was right.
The nurses escorted Husband and I to recovery and there was Bean, a tiny beast. My poor baby hadn't even opened his eyes yet but he was swollen and crying with a puffy, red mouth. They gave him Precedex (a sedative) to help him calm down and Fentanyl and Tylenol for pain. but nothing worked. He was most upset about everything attached to him and was thrashing around. His blood pressure and pulse rates were through the roof but his oxygen sats were stable.
This lasted for about an hour until they unhooked everything. He wanted everything off so bad that he managed to pull his IV out when they were getting ready to remove it. He was still upset but a bit calmer than he was.
We moved to Recovery level three where my mother was able to join us and just had to wait for Bean to drink something and keep it down so we could leave. But Bean being Bean, he refused everything they offered. He wouldn't even nurse. He fussed off and on and only wanted his mama. Eventually, after an upset stomach, he slept for about two hours. We were beginning to get concerned that they were going to admit him if he didn't drink. Fortunately, after he woke up, he was feeling a bit better and nursed.
So, four hours after his surgery ended, we headed home.
The next couple of days were rough. Bean was very irritable, refused to eat anything other than breast milk and ran a persistent low-grade fever. We stayed in touch with his doctor but thankfully, his fever never got high enough that we had to go back in.
Aside from having a little cold, Bean is doing much better this week. He's still pretty clingy but he is eating, drinking and playing. He had his two-year well check today and did great. His ped took a look at his gums and said he is healing nicely.
Thanks so much for all your support. It means the world to my family.
