The Outcome

Dane had his sinus surgery yesterday. I asked the doctor how long he had scheduled for Dane during pre-op and he said an hour, which I found a little surprising because we had talked during Dane's previous visit about how slow he was going to go. I had expected at least an hour and a half.

One hour into the surgery, one of the nurses found me and told me that they were only half done. The doctor had asked her to come out and tell me so I wouldn't worry.

Dane did fabulously. Everyone greeted him by name and joked with him. He was so relaxed that they didn't have to give him anything in pre-0p. As they rolled him out the doors and into the O.R., he was waving over his head, calling good-bye to me.

One funny story - while Don and I were sitting with him in pre-op, the nurse walked by his cubicle.

"Hey," Dane called, "when am I going to get my Verced?" The nurse explained that they probably wouldn't give him any since he was so relaxed. We told the doctor and the Anesthesiologist when they arrived. The doctor commented,

"I'm not sure I like that a 9-yr. old boy has had so many of these surgeries that he's requesting his preferred drug by name!" The Anesthesiologist agreed and we all laughed. We joked about needing a punch card for surgeries - pay for 4, get the 5th for free. I requested Frequent Flyer Miles.

Anyway, following the surgery, the ENT told me that Dane should feel hugely better almost immediately. He said that in the first surgery, they had removed about 1/3 of the cells in his ethmoids. This time, they cut a clear path and suctioned alot of fluid out of his frontals. He said that with the amount of fluid Dane had in there, his head HAD to have been hurting. He told me to ask him today if his head felt better.

Dane's response to "How are you feeling today, Son?" when I asked him first thing this morning?

"My nose hurts but my head doesn't hurt at all!" There was a sense of awe in his voice. I don't think we understood the extent of his headaches. But they seem to be gone now. What a blessing! Dane hasn't even wanted pain medication today, he's already feeling so much better.

Below are four pictures from his surgery that Dr. Harmon gave us on a CD. The one on the top right shows the tissue separating the cells in the ethmoids. Those are all now gone. The red picture on the bottom right is the opening that they made between the frontals and the ethmoids - a fairly large hole, which should facilitate easy drainage.

I feel like a load has been lifted off me and I'm very thankful he's done with the surgery and feeling so much better. I hadn't completely understood how worried I was about him going through this again until it was all over and I had this sense of euphoria.

A few more days and he'll be back at school, feeling better than he has in a long time. And that
makes all of us feel better.