Just so brave. Small round of applause please for DS2

[pagwatch]

My DS was awoken early this am to go to hosp for a scheduled op.
He hates so many things that he had to face today that I can't begin to list. yet he did everything i asked of him...let them put the needle in his hand to go to sleep, tolerated all the temp taking and blood pressure thingys and all the well meaning people leaning in to speak into his face because they think he can't hear them.
He awoke with a poor, sore and bloody mouth and still gave me a smile and a kiss and then thanked all the Doctors and nurses.
He just broke my heart and I hated that he went through all that because i asked him to and i felt as though I was betraying him.
He is at home now and we are all going to have an early night.
But I just had to tell someone that will understand what my little chap coped with today.

[MeMySonAndI]

He seems a lovely brave child Pagwatch. It never ceases to suprise me how good some children are coping with adversity.

[Blu]

Oh, Pagwatch, what a sweetheart - I can understand your heart sweeling and bursting and breaking all at the same time.

I am so pleased you are home.

Three big cheers fro your little chap!

[tobysmumkent]

Message withdrawn

[ADragonIs4LifeNotJustHalloween]

[applause]

[pagwatch]

when they said to him that he had to go to sleep for the op he scrunched his eyes up and said "shhhh, trying !"
And they were so kind beacuse they let him take his ratatouille rats into the theatre with him beacuse they are his friends .

Thanks for your replies ladies.I knew you would get it. I love this board. RL people try but they don't get it inthe same way do they

[Blu]

Oh my goodness - my eyes filled up at the thought of him saying 'sshhh' and trying to go to sleep.

What a little star!

[ADragonIs4LifeNotJustHalloween]

Rats in the operating theatre - that must be a first (I hope!)

[TwigorTreat]

awww what a n angel .. did he have teeth out then?

[Saturn74]

What a brave little chap.

[CristinaTheAstonishing]

What a sweet boy.

[pagwatch]

He had six teeth out - two of which were growing through the roof of his mouth. poor boy.
I have just put some pics on my page for the first time if any of you would like a look. He is a handsome chap...
Cheered up and really going to eat and then bed now. Knackered !

[BroccoliSpears]

Oh that made me well up. You must have been so proud.

[Troutpout]

what a lovely boy

[2shoescreepingthroughblood]

pagwatch what a star

[TwigorTreat]

is it charlie? he's gorgeous (as are the others of course but can't see the big one)

my DS is having 4 teeth out and 1 capped under GA in a couple of weeks .. hope he's as brave as yours

[pagwatch]

Twig
yes it is my Charlie boy.
Biggest son is possibly even more gorgeous but going through slightly surely not wishing to be photographed dear god mum you are just SOOO embaressing stage. I will have to find a better photo of him...

Hope your DS fares well with his GA. I found their attempts to conceal the needle from Char made him more anxious but he was quite relaxed and matter of fact when I told him needle would go in so the medicine would 'help' him go to sleep.
Twig - if you haven't done GA before would you like some hints and tips while my memory is fresh? I had many 'dammit' moments today which seem bleedin obvious now but i hadn't thought of before.

[TwigorTreat]

yes please ... very much so

[mm22bys]

They are so brave aren't they? Your little man is a champ. It is just such a pity that they have to go through so much when they are so young...

Hope he doesn't have to go through too much more like this,

[bullet123]

That is wonderful .

[AeFondKiss]

you have beautiful children Pagwatch and your ds sounds like a star

[pagwatch]

TwigorTreat

Sorry I didn't get back to you last night but ended up in bed before 9.00pm !

top tips
(some of these will definately be grandma egg sucking variety but I thought i would include all my 'duh' moments.)
..take straws with you. you will be encouraged to get him to sip drinks but ward did not have any straws to make this easier when he was still groggy.
...Take jelly or plain pudds or yogurts as again you will be trying to get him to eat but they only offer the main meals and it is possible that there will be nothing 'soft' and bland enough for him to try. Charlie is gfcf so i took alpro pudds and custard.
... Have phone and coins in pocket at all times
we were suddenly whisked off to theatre so I ended up taking nothing with me. theatre was so far from the ward i didn't dare go back and consequently had no coins for coffee and no phone. Charlies op took 1 1/2 hours so i was pretty low on caffine by the time he got back. And then i couldn't leave him so no food and no coffeee for me all day!
....try to get there early or talkto them in advance about being cheduled early. I got Charlie in first and was so pleased i did when i heard all the other kids stressing and not coping with the no food before op rule.
....take a fav comfort toy/object. They do allow him to have those on bed during GA. BIG comfort for char.
.....I borrowed a portable DVD player and headphones and let Charlie take 4 fav films.
This allowed Charlie to tune out - especially when a little girl on his ward was screaming for about an hour.
...Have ice lollies, ice and ice cream in the freezer for when you get home.
...put him in old clothes as Charlie bled all over his fav t-shirt.
......when you get de-brief after op get the surgeon to confirm what needs to happen before DS can go home. We had to stay an extra hour because nurses just wanted to check and I couldn't absoloutely confirm that once he had drunk, eaten and peed he could leave.
...they will keep him at least 2 hours after op to check gA has cleared but after tyhat he can probably leave.
...Don't take any crap about the butterfly needle in his hand. I had to be very assertive withthe nurses that this needed to come out as he was getting very stressed and whilst I understand their 'just in case' thing it is not good preventative stuff if your child is stessed and wants to 'pull it out'himself.
...don't be shy about his special needs. Our kids are do need special help in this situation. I have had NT DD in hosp a couple of times and DS just cannot process what is happening in the same way.
Hope some of that is helpful. I will post any more if it occurs. Please let me know how he gets on.

[MegaLegs]

That warms the cockles - bless him.