the surgery

as a health care provider, hospitals don't freak me out at all...as a mama, the thought of surgery kind-of-sort-of-really does. after hearing horror stories from a mama who recently went through surgery with her 18 mo old, and reading some of the books my m-i-l gave me on surgical trauma, i was preparing for the worst. now that it's all over, i can say...will did fine (and is now hearing and seeing so much better with all the de-gooping that went on), and i didn't even shed a tear (though i did get choked up once). i was prepping to be emotional and (perhaps inappropriately) assertive (to make sure i could be with him at every possible moment!!), but alas, it all went smoothly--the staff were great, will was great (he even cracked a smile with the 'laughing gas' when he was going under), and was blissfully covered in orange popsicle once he woke up in the recovery room.

my husband on the other hand, was a bit more worried. there he was pacing back and forth, checking for surgery updates, feeling like the 20 seconds we were with will in the OR as he went under, 'felt like eternity.' not even able to read his scientific papers (aka leisure reading) he brought with him to the hospital (in other words, he was REALLY preoccupied :)). although he spends lots and lots of time in a science lab, he's rarely in a hospital, and to be honest i think he has some hospital phobia. he probably used the hand sanitizer about 15 times, in the matter of 30 minutes, and kept steering will away from touching anything. when will's slipper sock kept coming off in the hospital play room, it was chad who'd jump up to get it back on to insure his foot didn't touch the hospital floor or anything for that matter. he was very serious about the gowns we were given to suit up with, before entering the operating room. the gowns were white porus paper gowns. i do have to say that i have seen and used these gowns (OVER my clothes) for my own patients who have immune compromise or what not, but i must also say that at a quick glace, it's not that subtle to notice that these are very see-through gowns. chad was so preoccupied with worry and with being 'steril' and clean in the hospital room, that when he got his gown, he closed the curtains, and began to strip down...to put his gown on....his SEE-THROUGH gown. maybe it was my giggling that eased my worry about will's surgery...imagnining my cute husband....nude...in his see-through hospital gown walking down the hallway and into the OR...pumping the hand-sanitizer along the way, and making sure that will's slipper socks stayed right where they needed to.