Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

11 year old in surgery, been over 3 hours

37 replies

elliejjtiny · 02/04/2025 13:55

Ds4 is 11 and is currently in theatre. He went down at 10:30 and I thought it would be 3 hours before he came out of recovery but the surgeon said there would be 2 of them doing it so it should be quicker.

I'm getting worried now.

Also I'm desperate for a drink but not allowed to leave the ward. We are in the day surgery ward so they don't have a parent room where I can get a drink here. I would have brought drinks with me but we were meant to be on the surgical ward where they have drinks for parents so I decided not to, to save space.

OP posts:
Nextdoortomeis · 02/04/2025 15:27

Hope your son recovers soon.

Mums never can relax our son is 42 and in November he had an eleven hour op.
Couldn't stop worrying until he was back on the ward and his wife. Children and us saw him alive.

Original poster
elliejjtiny · 02/04/2025 16:49

Thank you. He came back from theatre, asked me to tell his girlfriend he was ok and then went back to sleep again. Finally they have a bed for him on the surgical ward but he puked when they tried to move him so we are waiting for the Dr to prescribe anti sickness meds before they try again.

OP posts:
OohRains · 02/04/2025 16:57

Girlfriend at 11?! How the young ones are these days 😂

slapmyarseandcallmemary · 02/04/2025 17:06

Aw bless him, hope he's on the mend soon.

JingsMahBucket · 02/04/2025 17:20

OohRains · 02/04/2025 16:57

Girlfriend at 11?! How the young ones are these days 😂

@OohRains that’s what I was thinking! Already in a committed relationship and requesting “Please send a message to my lover…” 😂

But glad he’s okay @elliejjtiny. Hopefully his stomach settles as well. Get him to write, “My dearest Matilda…” letters from the wartime hospital ward to occupy his time 😂

AgeingDoc · 02/04/2025 17:37

I'm glad he's back OP, and that probably renders my comments superfluous really, but just for future reference and for anyone else who finds themselves in a similar position, here's my view as an anaesthetist.
In reality, quite a lot of the time that a patient is away from the ward "in theatre" they're actually in a waiting area, the anaesthetic room or in recovery. Turnaround time between patients can be quite long sometimes because the nursing staff have to clear up from the previous case and set up for the next one and of course the anaesthetist has to be sure that the last patient is safe in recovery before anaesthetising the next. Plus sometimes there are non clinical delays like porters being held up elsewhere and so on.
And as PP's have said, sometimes surgeons aren't totally accurate in their estimations of time. I used to work with a lovely chap who was a very good surgeon but was notorious for underestimating how long things took. I think it was because he was so engrossed that his 3 hour procedure really did only feel like an hour to him! Also, some surgeons ask to send for the next patient too soon because they think it reduces delays but it often just means that the patient is in a holding bay or anaestgetic room for ages with nothing happening. Their family members think that because they've gone to theatre the procedure has started, but often it hasn't.
There are lots of reasons why someone might be off the ward longer than you expect and most of the time it isn't because something has gone wrong with the surgery so try not to think the worst if you ever find yourself in the same position again.

Toddlerteaplease · 02/04/2025 17:40

elliejjtiny · 02/04/2025 15:20

Thank you. Nurses said I could go if I was really quick so I dashed down to the cafe, stocked up on drinks and snacks and dashed back. Met one of the surgeons on the way back who said operation had been really difficult and high chance of infection and complications and having to do the whole thing again. But they have finished and he is sleeping in recovery.

The reasoning why they don't let parents have drinks is that the ward is a day surgery ward and is normally for short operations with a 6-8 hour stay. Parents are meant to eat and drink while their child is in surgery. Although in ds's case they told me I had to come back in 40 minutes after he went down because they were expecting him to be moved to a different ward mid surgery and they wanted me to be available to move his bag from the original ward to the new one so they can get another child in asap. the hospital is huge so I just had time to grab a quick drink at 10:30, swig it down and dash back. As I'd been starving in sympathy since the night before I was thirsty again very quickly. And we are still waiting for a bed on the surgical ward.

That is ridiculous, our day surgery unit has a kitchen parents can use. And we would never tell parents they can’t leave for a drink. We have phone numbers and we will phone when recovery are ready for parents.

CakeIsNotAvailable · 02/04/2025 17:46

elliejjtiny · 02/04/2025 16:49

Thank you. He came back from theatre, asked me to tell his girlfriend he was ok and then went back to sleep again. Finally they have a bed for him on the surgical ward but he puked when they tried to move him so we are waiting for the Dr to prescribe anti sickness meds before they try again.

I had to double-check your thread title then. How has he got a girlfriend that you, as his parent, are in contact with, aged just 11?! 😂

Original poster
elliejjtiny · 02/04/2025 18:03

Thank you. We are in the normal surgical ward now where there is a parents kitchen thank goodness and a playroom and everything is so much more civilized.

The girlfriend thing is very sweet. They are basically friends who call each other boyfriend and girl friend so it's all very innocent. Then they get annoyed because the year 9's keep telling them they are cute!

OP posts:
Cornettoninja · 02/04/2025 19:22

I’m glad you’ve got him back in sight @elliejjtiny. I hope his recovery goes well and you’re not stuck there any longer than you have to be.

Original poster
elliejjtiny · 03/04/2025 09:00

Thank you. He is a lot more alert this morning. The surgeon has been round and said he can go home when he can stand up and walk to the toilet without puking. Really hoping that is today as the baby in the bed opposite was screaming most of the night so I've had about 2 hours of broken sleep.

OP posts:
Original poster
elliejjtiny · 03/04/2025 16:52

He has just been discharged!

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page