Jax's Surgery

Jackson had surgery to repair his hernia today. Before he was wheeled back to the operating room, he was given a shot of Versed. It made him loopy. He started singing about belly buttons. As the nurses took him back, they asked him how tall he is. He answered, "8'7" then started giggling as he realized what he said. It was pretty funny to watch.

A few weeks ago, Jackson went camping with his friend. Before they left, Jackson helped to load up the truck with heavy coolers and 4 wheelers. That weekend, he started complaining of pain in his groin area. I figured he probably had a hernia so I made an appointment with his pediatrician to get it checked out. She wasn’t sure what was wrong so she ordered an ultrasound of his abdomen and groin. The ultrasound showed nothing wrong. But he was still having pain which got worse when he moved around a lot or lifted anything. So she ordered a CT. It took several days to get approval from insurance. By the time we got the green light to schedule the CT, he was having more pain. He showed me his lower abdomen and asked, “Is this normal?”

I looked at the area that was bulging out and shrieked calmly said, “I think we need to schedule that CT now.”

I called the pediatrician and asked them to fax the order over to the radiology place and offhandedly mentioned, “I hope they can get him in right away because his abdomen is sticking out and looking all creepy now.”

The nurse informed me that we needed to go to the ER to get the scan right away instead of waiting to schedule it for later in the week. So we headed to the ER. The ER doctor poked and palpated the area and confidently stated that we didn’t need a CT because he was certain it was a hernia. “We don’t usually use ultrasounds or CTs to diagnose hernias. We can just tell by feeling the area.” Things that would’ve been nice to know before paying for an ultrasound and an ER visit!

So we got a referral for a surgeon, made an appointment and went to see him. “Yep, it’s a hernia, but it doesn’t feel like it’s in the usual place.”

“Well, funny you should mention that, but about a year and a half ago, Jackson was doing some ‘Hey look at me, I’m Tony Hawk’ thing and wiped out on his bike. The handlebars jabbed into his abdomen and gave him a huge hematoma. He was hospitalized overnight for that stunt.”

“Ahhh, I’ve heard of this happening before from handlebar injuries. That makes sense because this doesn’t feel like a normal hernia.”

Today, I brought Jackson to the hospital for his surgery. For a tough guy who is seemingly missing the mechanism in his brain that’s responsible for fear and for stopping one from doing stupid things, he is surprisingly scared of needles. The nurse had to stick the poor guy twice to start his IV. He was not happy.

After she got the IV started, she gave him a dose of Versed. Jackson instantly started giggling and said, “I can’t lick my lips.” He laughed and started singing about belly buttons. He glanced at the TV and doubled over laughing at Sponge Bob. When they came to wheel him into the operating room, a nurse asked him, “How tall are you?” Jackson answered, “8’7”, then realizing what he just said, started laughing once more. Being a good, responsible mom, I of course, recorded him acting all loopy and put it on my blog. 

Jackson is no stranger to the hospital. That’s what happens when you have a crazy boy who has no fear and likes to do stupid things worthy of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Maybe I’ve just become numb over the years because I’ve sat through a good 10 surgeries and more ER visits than I can count between my kids. I’m pretty good at remaining calm. For one thing, I don’t want to freak out my kid who is feeling nervous, and also because I have faith. I can’t control the situation, so freaking out does no good. I believe God is in control, so I can sit back and relax, knowing my child is in good hands. (And I can laugh at them when they’re drugged up and acting like goofballs.) I’m pretty sure this is in the parenting manual – keep calm and have faith. If not, it should be.