CJ was born with an epigastric hernia - that means that the lining between his abs never really sealed together in a small section above his belly button, so fat was then pressing through creating a small bump, as seen below:
We've known he's had it for a couple of years, but his doctor told us that sometimes children outgrow it. He suggested that we wait on it and if it had not gone away on it's own by the time CJ was 3 or 4, we should have it operated on to close the opening.
Now that CJ was almost 3, even though it wasn't painful for CJ and didn't bother him, we decided to take him in for a consultation with a pediatric surgeon to get his opinion. The surgeon said that as CJ grew and became more active, the hernia could become increasingly more uncomfortable, so it really was best to take care of it now. So that's what we did.
On Thursday, July 9, CJ checked into Seattle Children's for his first (and hopefully only) surgery. The surgery took less than an hour and CJ was a champ with the anesthetics. He had the whole post-op staff wrapped around his finger.
Cutest surgery patient ever!
CJ and his doggy, JJ, got matching ID bracelets
Sesame Street was on tv in the prep room
Pre-surgery markings (that ended up not getting washed off before they used the skin glue, so that blue circle and x stuck around for quite some time :)
Just a little refreshment in the post-op room
Checking out his IV
The drugs made CJ a little silly :)
We had him home in time for lunch, and by that afternoon, you would have never thought the kid had just had surgery! He was running around and just as happy as could be!
1 comment:
Grandma NEEDS to have a copy of the picture of CJ in his hospital gown and red socks, holding JJ! :)
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