SHORT VERSION: Brent has surgery to remove his extra toes on each foot. SUCCESS!!
THANK YOU GOD!!
LONG VERSION:
After 26 hours of labor and a c-section, I barely remember seeing Brent through the window of the nursery the night he was born. It really wasn't until the next morning that I got to meet him. Before that happened, Ben came into the room and I said in a matter of fact way, "10 Fingers, 10 Toes?" Ben smiled and said "10 Fingers, 12 Toes!" The nurse scolded him for making up such a thing to a new mother that was not funny. Ben laughed and said "I'm not joking."
It was because of Ben's lightheartedness that I embraced Brent and his "extras" with such an ease of "it's no big deal."
After visiting the first Orthopedic Surgeon in South Carolina, I truly learned that this was no big deal. The other families in the waiting room were dealing with so much more than simply an added digit. We were blessed to have the extra little Brent pieces! We were told that we would have to wait to have them removed until the cartilage grew into bone and that it they would do one foot at a time and each would require a 6 week period in a full leg cast. I dreaded this surgery since!
We moved to Georgia and in May 2010 we saw another surgeon who stated the same, "One foot at a time and a 6 week recovery per surgery with casts." I was so frustrated when it came time to schedule the surgery after Ben returned from Iraq because they referred us to a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon in Atlanta stating they just weren't comfortable with the surgery. Why couldn't they have done that when we saw them in May rather than wait until December!!
All in God's Plan. . .
We met Dr. Oswald for maybe 10 minutes on a Friday afternoon in January in an office in Columbus. He stated and acted as if he sees 12 toes every day. He didn't even look at an xray and declared that he would do both feet at once and it would be 2 weeks in casts. Ben & I felt reassured in his confidence. Surgery was scheduled for February 24th.
Today couldn't have gone any better. God answered prayers from the beginning because I received a call on Wednesday afternoon stating we needed to be at the Children's Hospital in Atlanta at 10:45am. How on earth was I going to deal with him not eating until then? I hung up the phone and cried. Called my mom and talked with my aunt, hung up the phone and cried again. Then the phone rang, there was a cancellation, could we be there by 8:45am. YES!!
Ben & I got up at 4:45am. Took showers, started the car and got Brent into is carseat by 5:45. He woke up briefly and said "Momma what we doing?" I told him "going byebye." He then asked where Brody was and fell back asleep. He slept until we woke him when we were at the Hospital at 8:15. We went upstairs, registered, got our room and the waiting began. He never once asked for something to eat or drink! He was such a good boy and was generally happy and smiling.
At 11:25 the nurse came in and gave him "Joy Juice." We were told that children react differently to it. Some fall asleep, others climb the walls and scream and others just sit and giggle. Fortunately for us, Brent just sat and giggled and often tried swiping things out of the air. We enjoyed the 20 mins before they took him away so much that it wasn't so tragic when they came to wheel him away. The nurses asked if he wanted to go on a train ride. He giggled and started shouting "Chooooo, Chooooo!! while pumping his arms in the air. We could hear him as they took him down the hall.
The surgeon came in to speak with us about 45 minutes later saying that everything went perfect. Because there was little bleeding and everything looked so good, they just wrapped his feet and calves in bandages that we can remove in 6 days. Keep them dry and the stitches they used will come out on their own when it's time. Told us to check back with him in 4 weeks and then he was gone.
They brought Brent into us and he was sleeping so hard. When he did finally wake up, he asked for something to drink and then told us he had casts. He wanted to eat but we were told to limit the eating and drinking because he would most likely vomit from the anesthesia. We got him dressed, got our prescription for Tylenol with Codeine and left.
We stopped to fill his script for the long ride home just in case we needed it. While we waited for it, we went to Panera where Brent picked out a cookie he wanted. He drank and ate. Ben tried to take the cookie away from him after a few bites because of the vomiting chance but Brent started to have an emotional breakdown that broke our hearts. He was hungry and thirsty. We couldn't say no. We would deal with the puke! He was happy.
We got in the car and Brent stared out the window for most of the ride home and finally gave into sleep 45 minutes from the Walker's. He only said once that his feet hurt. He was so good. AND, NO VOMIT!
When he saw Brody he immediately showed him that he had "casts". He seemed so proud. Brody was so happy to see Brent. They spent the rest of the night giggling at each other except for when Brody would get interested in Brent's feet and try to touch them. On the way home, Brent asked for a Taco and Chocolate Milk. Turned out he didn't actually want either once we got home.
Today was such an amazing day. The worst part was truly the anticipation of the entire event. Right now, Brent lays in his bed with the "right" number of "Little Piggies" for the first time. Next week we can look forward to actually putting the correct size shoe on him.
Ben and I finally feel a peace about the decision we have made.
THANK YOU GOD!!!
