Surgery and all...

Sorry we have been away for a while, things have been hectic around here. Between the end of summer illness, the beginning of the fall routine, a teething baby and a surgery for Joshua...I am not quite sure which end is up! We are finally starting to pull things back together. Joshua had his circumcision revision on Friday at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Dr Holmes performed the surgery and we really liked him. As much as I hate to write about this (I am sure that Joshua will hate me for it one day too), I'd like to share the experience in case anyone else out there has to go through it too.

Joshua had a build up of scar tissue at the base of his urethra that caused a serious direction of flow issue. We had no idea until he started potty training and only then did we realized that he couldn't pee into the potty....it went straight up in the air! The urologist said it was a must fix and actually got us into surgery in about 4 weeks; which is unheard of at any children's hospital. Daddy took the day off work and took him to the surgery (guy bonding, I guess). That was a tough one for me because I have always been there for the surgeries. They have actually let me go back and hold them while they sedated him - which is because I was a nurse and promised them I wouldn't freak out when he actually went under. Anyway, I stayed home w/ the girls and taxied to ballet class.

Anyway, the surgery itself lasted about 20 minutes. The doctor cut back the scar tissue, realigned the opening and put in a few stitches. Joshua was in recovery for about 3 hours because he wanted to fully appreciate the effects of anesthesia and kept napping the day away. Daddy said he left relatively happy and never complained of any pain. They picked up a prescription for Tylenol w/ Codeine (thank you Dr Holmes) and drove an hour and a half home. Joshua was doing so well that daddy even considered stopping at the climbing store for some gear, but decided that wouldn't be very nice.

Meanwhile, the girls and I drove all over town looking for a special present for Joshua for being so brave. We finally found a big plush "Red Car" (Lightning McQueen) for him to cuddle w/ when he got home. Daddy and Josh got home around 5pm and by 6:30pm he had pee'd for the first time. He did not complain about it hurting at all. Our biggest challenge that night, and still, is keeping him from playing too rough. We gave him one dose of the tylenol w/ codeine, but it seemed to wear off before we could give him another dose. So I gave him some Ibuprophen and that did the trick. He slept through the night and has only complained a few times since then. I have been continuing the Ibuprophen about 3 times per day just to ward off any potential pain. He is still a bit swollen and bruised, which looks worse than it seems to feel. I have to gently encourage him to use the potty and when he goes he tells me -"Wow Mom, it doesn't hurt." as if he is expecting it to hurt and is suprised when it doesn't.

I write all of this because I am amazed at the recovery we are seeing. I really expected the worst, especially based on some other blog entries that I read. Joshua has been very brave and I am really proud of him. Most of all, I am praising God for getting us through this one pretty smoothly so far!

Follow up appointment is in 3 weeks, we'll be hoping that it was successful and that our little man will have a happy life of being able to pee into the urinal instead of all over his shirt!