Operation testicles.... complete!

As you are all aware, Frankie had a bilateral inguinal hernia. We arrived here at Stl Children's Hospital at a very lovely 5:45am! We registered, played the waiting game, spoke with all the doctors and then at 7:35am, they took Frankie- cue tears! At 8:30am, the anesthesiologist came in and told us that they JUST started the surgery, 5 minutes prior. Sheesh.

When we initially spoke with the anesthesiologists they said that it would be okay to do a spinal and not intubate him. When the "good drugs" doctor came in to speak with us this morning he told us that it really wasn't the best idea to do that and told us his reasons and they made sense AND he gets paid the big bucks for a reason. So, they ended up doing what they typically do on babies with hernia repairs. They knocked him out with gas, put an IV in, intubated him, and gave him a caudal block. Thankfully, the surgery is short and they extubated him in recovery with no issues. Thank God! They did turn his oxygen up to 1 liter, just to be cautious but they are already weaning him back down to his baseline with no issues.

Dr. Keller (surgeon) came in after the surgery was complete and said the left side was a large hernia and the right was small. It was a simple fix for him to do, not a complicated hernia repair, thankfully. He said they can get messy!

As of right now he is a little irritable and tired but he's doing well. He just needs some good, solid sleep and he will be okay. At first he was irritable because he blew out his IV (they didn't have to re-stick him thank goodness) then he fell asleep and woke up fussy because he was hungry so I decided to just start up his feeds! :) Solved that issue. Now he's just super tired and needs some rest. Hopefully he can get some this evening.

The plan is to be discharged tomorrow morning if things keep going smoothly! I'm ready to get back home and be in our own space!

Thank you all so much for all the prayers and support today! Even though this isn't considered an extreme surgery, there are always so many other risks with Tank and we are beyond thankful for all of you because these days are stressful and scary and having you all is certainly help! Much love!

Bright and early this morning before surgery.



Patiently waiting for surgery to end.

In recovery, still not awake from the good drugs.

Just waking up. Sweet, sleepy face.

Playing with toys in recovery.

Playing in 7 west (where we're staying over night. Cardiology floor.) after a nap!