Surgery a Success

I've put off this post as long as I possibly could, being that David's CI activation is tomorrow!  It has seemed like such a daunting task to put into words what surgery day was like, so I've just been avoiding it.  So, here goes...Surgery day was one of the most exciting, scary, and nerve-rwacking days of my life.  In a way, it felt much like the day that I gave birth to David, the day of a new beginning with new possibilities.  On the other hand, putting your baby under the knife can never be easy, but doing it for an elective surgery brings along with it feelings of fear, guilt and doubt on top of everything else.  Neither Steve nor I slept more than 2 hours the night before so we were also physically drained.  Put all that together and were were pretty much emotional wrecks. 

I had the honorable task of carrying David down a long hallway filled with surgeons to the operating room.  That was really a surreal moment, like a scene out of a movie or something.  Kind of like I had imagined, but nothing like I could have prepared for.  At that moment I felt singularly responsible for what David was about to go through.  The mood was lightened a little bit when I put David down on the operating table and my little boy, true to form, refused to lie down and was doing flippity-do's on the table.  The nurses tried to use the mask to put him to sleep, but he wouldn't have it and he flipped over and sat up.  So they put the mask over his face while he was sitting up, and 5 seconds later he was out....

2.5 hours later Dr. Lalwani found us in the waiting room and told us everything went perfectly.  Woohoo!  We were waiting for this moment for the past 10 months and finally, it was over, and evetything went well and the implant was working and David was heading for recovery.  Next time I see the doctor I have to remember to give him a hug becuase in that moment I just didn't know what to do.  But that man deserves a big hug for the incredible gift he gave David, and all the little kids whose lives he's changed.  At that moment, a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.  David was finally beginning his journey to hearing...

Seeing David in the recovery room was one of the toughest moments.  He looked badly beaten, swollen, drugged and in pain.  I don't think Steve or I was prepared for this - the way David looked and the guilt that came from knowing we chose this for him - but we got through it knowing that it would be worth it in the end.  

The night in the hopsital was absolutely miserable.  It's not easy staying in a 5 x7 space with 3 people, a chair, a crib, and no bed or food.  Steve, I'm sorry, but I must must must mention (because I didn't have a chance to take a picture of it) that Steve slept in a crib that night.  David slept in my arms so he wouldn't try to roll over and so his head would be elevated, and Steve curled up in the fetal position and slept in the crib.  Just one more thing from that day that I'll never forget =).