Has anyone had their young baby or child go through surgery and if so how did you cope with your worries?
I had my first baby, a daughter, on 10/14/08. During my pregnancy I was told she was completely healthy and when she was born I was told the same thing. The very next morning, I was woken up to here that she had been moved to the NICU awaiting a flight crew from Riley's Children's Hospital to pick her up and take her away immediately. They told me that she would need surgery within 24 hours. My husband and I were so worried. I discharged myself from the hospital even though I was extremely ill. (I was induced due to severe preclampsia I had over 40 lbs of excess water that built up in a matter of days before I delivered at 37 weeks.) When we arrived in Indianapolis and saw our daughter she was in the NICU at Riley. We talked to a surgeon who told us that they were waiting on surgery and thought that she should be bigger before they operated and that things weren't as bad as they had thought. (She was born 5 lbs, 12 ounces and 18 inches long.) She had a week of testing done before we were able to bring her home. We were told she had an imperforated anus with a rectovaginal fistula. Basically instead of poo coming through an anus it was coming through a fistual located just under her vagina. Now, she's going to be 3 months next Tuesday on the 14th. We have to take her up on Sunday for admission and Monday morning on the 12th they will operate on her bottom to correct the problem. Then she'll be normal if all goes well with just one surgery. The hard part is during her hospital stay which could be a week or more we won't be able to hold her and they will not feed her for 5 days and she'll only get calories through a port they will place in her for IV fluids. :-( IF she were to get infected or show any signs of redness they will do another surgery immediately and place a colostomy bag on her for 6 weeks before closing it up and then she'd be fine and perfectly healthy. I'm just so worried about her surgery. She's still very small. Just about 9 lbs and tiny for her age. I didn't know if any other parents have gone through a similar situation or have success stories of small children being operated on and being just fine. Also, I didn't know how you were able to deal with the emotions you were feeling before surgery and during. Thanks for all the answers in advance!
Newborn & Baby - 7 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
the first thing is to put the issue in perspective: you have a healthy baby and this procedure, as procedures go, is not very high on the scale of things - it could be open-heart or brain surgery. i know it's your baby and you're frightened for her, but she'll be FINE. second, trust your medical team. look at all the testimonials and talk to other parents at the hospital you'll be having it done at. meet the surgical team, tour the recovery ward, and look at all those children bursting back to good health and a normal, happy life and just think: you baby will be one of them in no time! i was operated on for hare lip and cleft palate when i was a baby - and now i have three supremely lovely daughters with nary a cleft in sight!
2 :
I don't have any kids but...just remember that those doctors know what they're doing, and that the surgery is the best thing for her. My youngest brother had to get heart surgery a month ago. He's 10, so he's much older than your daugher...but I was still really worried because it was his heart they were operating on of all things. I couldn't help but think that one tiny wrong move would be disaster. I had to remind myself though that the doctors knew what they were doing, that is what they did for a living, and that we were also at one of the best children's hospitals in the country....if anybody could do that stuff right it was those guys! I'm glad to say everything went perfect. I'm sure your daughter will be fine :) Good luck to you guys
3 :
First off I must say, if you believe in this kind of thing - which I do - praying is very important. God will be there no matter what our feelings are. I have a 2 month old boy and could not imagine what my feelings would be. I can only guess. Our 5 year old has had one surgery and about to have another one on his "down there" part due to a tick bite that got WAY outta hand. The infection has come back and therefore we are in for another surgery. We can only hope and pray that they get it all out this time. This has been going on since the tick bite which was in September of 2007. I know my feelings for him, because he did have to be put completely under, were horrifying. I was so scared because he has a history of seizures and he has asthma. The doctors and nurses were wonderful though. They knew exactly what they were doing and he came back to us with no complications what so ever. Of course, I know I will feel the same way with his second one. Even though I know what they are doing, I will still be nervous as everything. They are our children and I worry if we didn't feel so strongly about it. Just have faith and trust in God and the doctors and nurses. I'm not sure if there is anything specific to do about the feelings, just breath slowly. I keep to myself and get very quiet when I'm nervous. This helps me personally. My husband is there for me as I am for him too. Good luck and I will keep you all in my personal prayers.
4 :
lm so sorry for family, my son had surgery when he was 2 years of age and it was nothing like what your child is going through. I wish I had some magic words for you,I remember asking the Lord to be with him, I knew he would be okay and he was. I will pray for you, and your family.
5 :
I was born with a spinal deformity, and have had 12 surgeries to date, the first when I was 10 weeks old (I'm 18 years old now). And I'm perfectly fine...I still have a messed up spine, and it will be forever, but I survived all those surgeries, many at a young age, and each with a week or more in the hospital after. I've asked my mom how she coped with me having surgery that young before, and she said you've got to have faith in the doctors and focus on the positive, rather than the negative. This operation is a necessity and will make the quality of life in the future so much better for your daughter. Think about the good that you are doing for her and don't harp on the possibilties of what could happen, remember that they are small chances. Best of luck to your family.
6 :
You know what i dont think there is a way to cope with this kind of issue. Yours is a little different but in the same time is same. When i was pregnant, everything was fine according to the docs and team, but around 20hrs after birth ( and birth was normal except for them putting a mask on my mouth to help brethe and some anesthesia) they rushed into the room and stated that they need to take him. I was currently beastfeeding one the first side and didnt even let me empty the other one saying that it was an emergency that they rush him in the ICU. very painful to hear. i felt like i failed in mother hood because i couldnt even have a normal baby. anyway i finally got over this after months with family and friends help. It started by just being a heart murmur to tatrology of fallot. He had surgery at 6 months old and i could not handle that. Open heart surgery for my baby. No way. i cant allow it. but be honest with the doc and team and tell them what you are worried about and any little concern because you will get an answer. they called it a minor procedure but to me it was huge. i was never going to bring my son but for some reason i felt good in my heart about this and we ( my husband and family) prayed. I fainted when i seen my son after. he was still on all the drugs and when he opened his eyes he didnt recognize us. it was really sad. he was sort of hypertensive for a few weeks and was on high blood pressure medication. now my son is going to be 11 months on the 29th and is starting to walk. so have faith and be honest with the medical team. tell them everything on your mind and tell them to be honest. it will help you. all info that you can get will help. ask them to tell you the procedure. anyway best of luck. I never hope surgery on anyone or anyones children even if it would be my enemy. its very painful and if you have not gone through it you will not know. hope this helps and God Bless you guys and the little one.
7 :
I am a new mom of a 3 1/2 month old baby boy who just had to have double hernia surgery a month ago (so at 2 1/2 months old). The hernia on the right side of his groin popped in and out so the pediatric urologist we saw was very concerned about his bowels popping out with it and causing a bowel obstuction (which would require a more serious surgery) so he wanted to do surgery a week and a half after seeing my son! It's not a super serious surgery but as a new mom I was absolutely terrified of the thought of my tiny new baby going under the knife and not to mention anesthesia for such a young baby! So I was a nervous wreck for that whole week and a half let me tell ya! On the day of surgery when I had to hand over my poor little guy I lost it completely :( But they did the surgery and it went way quicker than I thought and everything is just fine now! They reassured me that babies heal SO fast and there are newborn babies that have to get heart surgery when they are a day old that make it out just fine so that helped me alot. We also went to church the day before and had the minister say a special prayer for him and that helped ease my mind too. You'll get through it and your baby will be just fine....it will be over before you know it--I promise :) Good luck!
