Theo's Surgery Check up

Theo saying "cheese" in the "copter!"

"Down the slide!"


Theo had his surgery follow up appointment last Thursday afternoon at Children's Mercy. We decided to go to Chick-fil-a for lunch before Theo's appointment because we always hear about it on the Christian Radio station we listen to, and we've never been. The food was great, but the best part was the fun playland inside. Trevor and Theo had a blast playing, and of course they didn't want to leave. I had to ignore the height limit and climb all around the equipment and go down the slide with Theo. I was quite tired afterwards and realized I'm not cut out for that stuff like I was as a kid! Oh, what we'll do for our children! You can see in the pictures how much fun the boys had!

We finally made it to Children's Mercy. On the way to the room we saw the "choo choo", and it was working! But, if you know us we were already a minute late, and didn't have time to stop and watch the train so Theo just kept saying "choo choo and train, train." So while I checked him in Daddy, Trevor, and Theo quickly went to look at the train which of course wasn't long enough for Theo. Then Theo wanted to play with the toy cars on the wall. We usually don't let him play with them and bring our own toys because of the germ factor. We kept him distracted for awhile, but then I decided to start wiping the toys down with the disinfectant stuff and let him play. After all it's not flu season, and we got the surgery completed. But right then the nurse called his name to go back so we had one MAD Theo! Luckily they had a farm scene toy on the wall in our room and it kept him happy until it was time to get checked out by Dr S. Luckily it didn't take long because Theo was not interested in getting checked out, he wanted to play!

The Dr said everything looks great and is holding in place like it's supposed to. He took a post op picture of Theo's hernia site because he said "no one is going to believe this huge hernia was an inguinal hernia without pictures." I still think there should be some kind of prize money for the largest inguinal hernia by far these Docs have ever seen! Praise the Lord it has healed so well!

After the quick appointment we went to see the train again for quite a long time. Both the boys loved it! Of course there was also the fun vending machines so the boys each had to buy a snack too. They love to put in the money and push the buttons! Then we had to visit the birds and the pig on the way out! Whenever we pull up to Children's Mercy Trevor always says, "yay, this is the fun doctor." We try to make the visits fun for the boys, especially for Theo so he won't get tired of just going to the checkups. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful, kid friendly hospital!

Theo's Healing Well

Theo on his wagon ride leaving Children's Mercy! I'm outta here!
Notice Theo still has on his green bracelet. He wanted to keep on his "geen" bracelet, and he actually wore it for two more days. He usually dislikes the bracelets and refuses to wear them for his appointments, so we were quite shocked. Must have been because it was John Deere Green!

Thursday, June 3rd
Sorry, I forgot to post on the blog that Theo was able to come home last Thursday only one day after surgery! We left Children's Mercy around 1:30 in the afternoon.

At Children's Mercy they have a really neat train that Theo loves so on the way to the car, we told him we would go see the train. He was so excited and kept saying "choo choo train." But when we got there the train wouldn't go. It was broken. Let me tell you Theo was NOT happy. He just kept saying "choo choo on" over and over and pointing to the train like come on you guys get it going! Daddy is very good at fixing things, so I tried to convince him to climb up on the table and push the train just to see if it would go, but I couldn't convince him to do it so we had to leave without seeing the train. Since Theo was riding in the wagon in his carseat, we pretended he was on a train ride and that seemed to get his train fix.

After a few minutes on the road, Theo requested a "bar" which is his favorite candy, a chocolate Hershey's bar. So we made a stop at the Quick Trip and got him one. I figured that counted for "resuming his normal diet." At least from a two year olds perspective. He also had a few of our french fries on the way home. Hey, at least he was eating solids!

We came home and Theo and I took a nice nap. Then we went to pick up Big Brother Trevor at the Wicoffs. It didn't take Theo long and he was ready to play in the sandbox. We didn't think he was quite ready for that yet! Since his hernia repair was so large, it was a bit tricky holding Theo comfortably the first few days, and he felt very stiff to me. But by Sunday, he was sitting up really well again and on Monday afternoon he was back playing in the sandbox again! I wonder when he'll feel up to his flips?!

Saturday morning Theo got to go with Daddy to check cows and even got to ride in his seat and bale some hay! These are two of Theo's favorite activities.Sunday morning we switched him over from his prescription pain meds to Ibuprofen, and he did super! He is healing amazingly well. Praise God for that! Thanks for all your prayers. Please pray that he continues to heal well and that the repair holds.

Update on Theo

1:30 pm
Theo's surgery was finished around noon. We talked to the surgeon, and the surgery went very well. In the recovery room he is having some difficulty maintaining his oxygen saturations so he has been placed on supplemental oxygen. This happened after his last surgery as well. We haven't been able to see him yet so we are very anxious to see our little guy.

Please pray that he is able to maintain his oxygen sats on his own and that his pain is controlled. Thanks! We are being admitted to the floor.

1:45 pm
We went to meet Theo in the "Reunion Avenue." He was running a temp and on oxygen. The transfer went well, but shortly after we got in our room the pain meds had worn off and Theo's heartrate was quite high. You could tell he was in pain and uncomfortable until we could get the order for the pain meds and allow it a little time to kick in. Since 3 pm he has been resting peacefully and has been breathing entirely on his own and keeping his oxygen sats very well. Thank you Jesus!

He looks so much better now than when we first saw him. Thank you all so much for your prayers and comments. They have been so very appreciated! He's being a tough lil guy!

Theo's in Surgery

Theo went into surgery about 9:30 am this morning. After a long crying spell at 3:30 this morning, he has done incredibly well with the no eating and drinking. I think the new tractor did the trick! He fell back asleep with it on the floor.

He behaved amazingly well during the checkup before surgery even before the Versed. He spent most of the time looking at farm books with Daddy and even added a new word bracelet to his vocabulary. He doesn't like to wear the bracelets, but didn't throw too big a fit this time. After giving him the Versed he very easily went with the nurse into surgery. For those of you who know Theo well, that never happens! Love that medicine.

We are patiently sitting in the waiting room until we hear from the Dr.

Here's a picture of Theo and Daddy reading books before surgery. Love the gown!