Set for Surgery

This Friday, Logan will be having his "pull-through" surgery to fix the symptoms of his Hirschsprung's disease.  Our appointment is not until 1:00, so it should be interesting withholding food and drink from him for at least 8 hours before the surgery.  Typically, his procedures are done early in the morning, but if we didn't take the 1:00 time slot, we were looking at waiting until next week or later to get this done.  At his pre-op appointment last Thursday, the doctor was pleased with how empty his colon felt.  I guess Mommy and Daddy are getting pretty good at colonic irrigations : )  Only a few more left to go...yay!

His surgery will be done at Scottish Rite, and should take around 3-4 hours to complete.  I think it takes so long because the doctor has to do multiple biopsies of the intestine to figure out where the bad part begins/ends.  This tissue has to be sent to the lab and looked at so he knows where to make the cut.  Logan will also have four incisions in his belly where the doctor will go in laproscopicly.  Those should heal quickly.  After the procedure, the surgeon says we should see immediate results if all goes well.  They will keep him in the hospital for 4 days, we think...to watch for infection and make sure he has motility.  While the doctor says the risk for infection is very low, they will still keep him on an antibiotic. 

 

It sounds weird to say that I am "excited" about the surgery, but I am just hopeful and ready for all of this to be over.  I just want my baby to poop like everybody else : ) and I promise never to complain about changing a dirty diaper if this surgery is successful.  It is very different this time going into the hospital for an extended period of time.  When Logan had his exploratory surgery at ten days old, we had no idea what we were in for.  We had no idea what was wrong with him in the first place...the problem was...neither did the doctors.  We waited and waited trying to get some answers.  That part was agonizing.  This time is different because we understand the procedure and have a light at the end of the tunnel!  I realized today though that I actually have to "pack" for this little trip.  My mom said to think of it like a vacation.  Hmmm, not so sure about that, but I'll try.  It is a little scary, but I am very confident in Logan's doctor, and I know there will be so many people who will be praying for him.  A week from today, I hope we are bringing him home and laughing at how many dirty diapers he's had over the weekend!

Easter 2011