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Aiden's Belly Button Surgery

This past November Aiden needed to have the same exact belly button surgery that Madilyn had when she was three years old.  Just like Madilyn, Aiden had his an umbilical hernia since birth.  We kept hoping that his hernia would close up, but it did not.  Therefore, we elected to have the surgery completed this fall by the same pediatric surgeon that performed Madi's, Dr. Egan at Phoenix Children's Hospital.

After the consultation with Dr. Egan, we scheduled Aiden's surgery for mid-November after all of his fall activities subsided.  We didn't want him to miss out on the fun due to the surgery.  Surgery day arrived and Aiden was very brave.  Aiden's outpatient surgery was scheduled for 1:00pm.  We followed all the pre-operation procedures.  The hardest obstacle we encountered was not giving Aiden anything to drink or eat after 10am.  He kept telling us that he was hungry and thirsty.  We just kept promising him that he could eat anything he wanted after the surgery.  His response was that he wanted chicken nuggets and fries with ketchup and ranch.  

We arrived at PCH at 12:00pm.  Immediately upon arrival, the staff presented Aiden with a puppy. He also had brought his Iron Man Bear as morale support.  It was pretty cute watching him carrying both Puppy and Iron Man Bear around as he bravely waited to be called back to the pre-op area.  After checking in, paperwork and stuff, we were taken back to the pre-op room.  You could tell that Aiden was nervous, but he continued to act brave and fight back any tears he may have wanted to shed, except when he needed to change into the hospital clothes and he wanted to wear his soccer shirt.  He threw a huge tantrum over it and eventually the nurse caved, so we did too.  Those were the only tears Aiden shed.  He also fought Dr. Egan when it came time to mark the entry point of the surgery on Aiden's stomach.  He wasn't a big fan of lifting up his shirt.  However, the rest of the time until Aiden was called back by Dr. Egan, he watched shows with his two stuffed animals without a worry in the world, so it seemed.  Luckily, Josh and I having already gone through this exact procedure with the same exact surgeon were also pretty calm as we knew what to expect.  

Right before Aiden was called back for surgery, he needed to use the restroom.  As soon as he exited the restroom, Dr. Egan and the nurse were right there waiting for him to take him back to surgery. Aiden said, "Okay.  Hold on."  He grabbed Iron Bear and his new puppy in both of his arms and walked happily right to Dr. Egan to be lead out of the pre-op room.  He didn't even give me or Josh a hug or kiss.  All he needed were his stuffed pals to protect him during the surgery.  We couldn't believe how brave he was acting.  We just looked at each other and headed out to the waiting area.

The surgery went very well and was quite speedy.  Aiden's surgery started at 1:27pm and Dr. Egan visited us in the waiting room after the surgery at 1:47pm.  A twenty minute surgery!  Amazing!  Dr. Egan reported that the surgery went very well.  Aiden did fight them when it came time to administer the anesthesia, but that was a fight he was going to lose either way.  Dr. Egan did laugh that Aiden set up Iron Man Bear and Puppy so that they could watch Dr. Egan perform the surgery.  He said that may have been a first.  

When we were allowed to go back to the post-op room, Aiden was still waking up.  However, once he did, he was starving.  Before we even left the hospital, he had two bags of goldfish crackers, one bag of fruit snacks, and some Gatorade.  He was hilarious.  The nurse even packed us some more crackers and fruit snacks to-go when we left the hospital at 2pm.  

Literally, by the time we got into the car, you wouldn't have even thought Aiden had surgery just under an hour ago.  He was lively, communicative and starving.  As promised, we stopped for chicken nuggets and fries with ketchup and ranch at McDonald's on our way home.  What a trooper!

For days after the surgery, we had to remind him that he just had surgery and to be careful.  He really understand the concept to recuperating.  Instead, he wanted to jump, run, play, carry heavy objects, ride his bicycle, and throw everything.  I am guessing this may not be his only childhood trip to the hospital.

Aiden waiting to be called back to pre-op
In pre-op getting his vitals checked
Waiting to be called back by Dr. Egan
Post Surgery
Heading home ...
Aiden's Belly Button Post Surgery
Aiden Post-Surgery

Comments

Unknown said…
I love the story and the pictures. Thanks for sharing.

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