James is Back!!

Just our luck, James did not have a coughing/gag fit on Wednesday night. He was awake for about half an hour crying and whimpering. It is hard to say if this was reflux related or if he was just uncomfortable from the probe.

Thursday morning I made sure I got the hospital early enough to have the probe taken out before our Pre-Op(eration) appointment. James cried for a few minutes after they took the probe out, mostly because they had to peel the tape off his face. As soon as we left the room and I put him down the bounce was back in his step, the smile on his face, and off he went to push the elevator button, at the same time asking for Daddy. Ah ... our little boy was back!! :) James knows that hospital visits usually include a daddy visit at some point ... since he had not seen daddy before the appointment that meant daddy should come after. He was a bit upset when I told him there was no daddy and a little perplexed when he realized we were not going home yet. But after I checked in for the Pre-Op appointment I told him he could go play ... he went bouncing off to the playroom, feeling right at home.

I had hoped that having a Pre-Op appointment at 9am would mean that it wouldn't take 2 hours like the other ones I've had ... but no such luck. James was so excited to be back to himself that he was flying on a happy vibe all morning ... with an extra bounce in his step. He was quite happy waiting and colouring in the small hall that they make you sit in for 1-2 hours. Just when I was getting bored of my book and waiting Ingrid and Gerrit showed up to entertain me ... wish they had come earlier because as soon as they arrived we finally got called in to see the last person. (At a Pre-Op you visit with a Child Life Specialist ... they work more with the kids and explain procedures in simple language to the parents, we have been often enough that we just skip this process now. You see a Nurse who checks blood pressure and weight and goes over your form to make sure you filled it all in, gives you the details on what you can and cannot do before the procedure. Last you see the Anesthetist who goes over the medical issues, medications, etc.)

James was completely back to himself, even extra chattery and happy to the point I thought he'd never nap, but he did eventually. He even ate a bit more then normal, which was nice to see ... and back to his normal bedtime routine of taking forever to go to sleep. We have gotten him past the stage of us actually sleeping on the floor beside him, but he needs comfort and assurance that you are nearby, which means that I usually cling, clang, bang in the kitchen or make a phone call in the kitchen so he can see and hear me. Somewhat of an annoying habit that we are trying to get him out of ... I almost wish we could put a probe down his throat every night ... that sure worked nice! Mean mom I am! Poor guy :)

I received a call from the Anesthetist this morning. After the pre-op she had discussed James with the various doctors involved in the procedures and it was decide that they would like to reserve a bed for James for after the procedure. Due to his intersitital lung disease, they are concerned that the broncoscopy may cause his lungs to act up and so they want to make sure a bed is available for him to stay over night if he is not stable. He will likely be able to go home afterwards, but we have to come prepared to stay overnight.

James High Resolution CT Scan of his lungs has been scheduled for April 20. As long as his health stays the same his Pre-Op appointment will still be valid at that time, so we don't have to waste another morning going through that again. We started him back on his Losec (reflux) medication and have taken him off his night feeds for a couple nights to give it a chance to work.