Son Having Surgery

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone

I have posted a few times in the past month or so about my 4-year-old

son, who has a congenital cholesteatoma in his left ear.

His surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday (the 18th) and I am

wondering what to expect. His doctor said the tumor is of moderate to

large size, perhaps 3 mm, but they can't really be sure because fluid

in his ear made the CAT scan pretty unreadable.

The doctor has reserved the operating room for two hours and 40

minutes. This guys seems to know what he is doing and plans to first

try removing it without going behind the ear, which I did not think

was even possible.

They said we can't be next to our son when he wakes up, and it could

be up to an hour before we see him after the operation. This worries

me a lot, because I suspect he will be in a lot of pain and

terrified.

Anyway, can anyone with a little one provide any tips on what to

expect or how to prepare? Should I tell our son we won't be there

when he wakes up, or should I not say anything? Also, they are going

to put him under with a little gas, not a drink, so I fear he'll be

just frightened out of his mind.

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I hope the kid will not be afraid without his mom after the operation.

To me the application of the mask wad immediatly effective, the first

breath and I passed, so if the kid is informed of the mechanism of

anaesthesia thus not afraid, will not have any bad sensation.

I think that to explain, just as possible, what will be done to him,

the gas mask and the awakening whithout the parents, may help to

reassure the kid.

I also think that it is possible to simulate in a joke the

application of the mask (for example to sniff some perfume)ant do

create an anticipation for a surprise at the moment of the awakening.

A little kid may also react positively to the aspectations of his

parents of a " corageous behaviour " .

Certainly, by the experience of my little childs the presence of the

parents, at the time of preanaesthesia and at the moment of the

awakening from anaesthesia is very important to tranquilize them.

In my experience now the anaesthesia is finely adapted to the

subject, so there are not painful moments during and after the gas

subministration.

Some pain after the operation is to be espected, whithout any doubt

if the ear has to be operated from the rear; but in my experience

childs, if distracted by parents, toys and little pals in the

hospital can support the operation pain better than many adults.

I was recently operated of CT at the right ear (2° operation), from

behind the ear; the time of operation was about 3 hs and I awke just

during transferring from operating room to may bed and the first

things I saw were the doctor and my wife.

No particular negative effect from the anaesthesia and some pain from

the bendaged ear.

Twenty years ago I was CT operated at the same ear, from the auditory

canal, I had no postoperatory pain, but the recovery from anaesthesia

was long lasting and painful.

best wishes of a rapid recovery

Bruno Dore

from Italy

>

> Hi Everyone

>

> I have posted a few times in the past month or so about my 4-year-

old

> son, who has a congenital cholesteatoma in his left ear.

> His surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday (the 18th) and I am

> wondering what to expect. His doctor said the tumor is of moderate

to

> large size, perhaps 3 mm, but they can't really be sure because

fluid

> in his ear made the CAT scan pretty unreadable.

>

> The doctor has reserved the operating room for two hours and 40

> minutes. This guys seems to know what he is doing and plans to

first

> try removing it without going behind the ear, which I did not think

> was even possible.

>

> They said we can't be next to our son when he wakes up, and it

could

> be up to an hour before we see him after the operation. This

worries

> me a lot, because I suspect he will be in a lot of pain and

> terrified.

>

> Anyway, can anyone with a little one provide any tips on what to

> expect or how to prepare? Should I tell our son we won't be there

> when he wakes up, or should I not say anything? Also, they are

going

> to put him under with a little gas, not a drink, so I fear he'll be

> just frightened out of his mind.

>

[Guest guest]

>My 5 yr old son Brock had his 1st surgery in Oct of 2006. He was

4-1/2 at the time. He just had his 2nd look surgery on May 18th. He

said the worst part was the head bandage and the IV in his hand when

he awoke. The head bandage stays on for about an hour and he may be

falling in and out of sleep during this time. Be ready to hold him

and I even crawled into bed with him to calm him. I never asked him

after his 1st surgery, but he said he didn't wake up before he got

back to us on his 2nd surgery.

Take along a button up shirt (nothing over his head). He was not in

much pain and we only used Tylenol once before bed the 1st night

(both surgeries). Take his favorite toys and blanket and anything to

occupy his attention before surgery and to calm him after. He may be

nauseous afterward; take things to be ready for that in the car. The

release afterward may be surprisingly quick. I worried that it was

too soon, but he was just glad to get out of the hospital.

Keep faith, there are some reassuring outcomes. Brock had no damage

to any of the bones of hearing. Recovery was quick. By 6 PM the

night of his 1st surgery he was back to his normal, active self. Good

luck trying to keep him from being active!

My prayers are with your son and your family.

Traci

>

>

>---- Original Message ----

>From: sferrechio@...

>cholesteatoma

>Subject: RE: Son Having Surgery

>Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:54:17 -0000

>

>>Hi Everyone

>>

>>I have posted a few times in the past month or so about my

>4-year-old

>>son, who has a congenital cholesteatoma in his left ear.

>>His surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday (the 18th) and I am

>>wondering what to expect. His doctor said the tumor is of moderate

>to

>>large size, perhaps 3 mm, but they can't really be sure because

>fluid

>>in his ear made the CAT scan pretty unreadable.

>>

>>The doctor has reserved the operating room for two hours and 40

>>minutes. This guys seems to know what he is doing and plans to first

>

>>try removing it without going behind the ear, which I did not think

>>was even possible.

>>

>>They said we can't be next to our son when he wakes up, and it could

>

>>be up to an hour before we see him after the operation. This worries

>

>>me a lot, because I suspect he will be in a lot of pain and

>>terrified.

>>

>>Anyway, can anyone with a little one provide any tips on what to

>>expect or how to prepare? Should I tell our son we won't be there

>>when he wakes up, or should I not say anything? Also, they are going

>

>>to put him under with a little gas, not a drink, so I fear he'll be

>>just frightened out of his mind.

>>

>>

[Guest guest]

My 5 yo had surgery in March. I was able to go into the operating

room with him until he fell asleep (it took all of 3 minutes). The

anesthesiologist was wonderful. He made the mask like a game and

Weston pretended he was an astronaut. By the time he started to get

grumpy he was 5 seconds away from sleeping. They put the IV in after.

When he woke up- I was with him again, but honestly I don't think he

remembered. And my presence- as well as his father's and 2

grandmothers- did nothing to soothe him. He was very disorientated,

crying then sleeping, and wasn't able to leave for a couple of hours

after coming out of surgery. We stayed at a RMH a mile away so that

he wouldn't have to travel. He was fully awake about 8 hours later

and had no problems after that.

The poster who suggested button down shirts had a great idea- I

packed several zip up one piece PJ's. I also purchased cotton balls,

peroxide, bacitracin, and everything else I could think of, only to

find that the hospital provided all the supplies I needed to clean his

ear.

>

I'm sure you will worry no matter what- but overall our experience

wasn't that bad. My son didn't have much pain at all, and decided the

whole thing was pretty cool. We spoiled him rotten and he received

lots of attention- which helped!

Good luck to your family. Please post how he makes out!

erin

[Guest guest]

Our 2 and half year old son had a large extensive c'toma remove through his ear canal in May. They gave him a liquid to calm him before they took him to surgery. You might request it. He cried a little coming out of surgery but after he woke up he was fine. I gave him pain meds around the clock for the first 2 days then only if he complained or pulled on his ear. We were not allowed to see him until the got him stabilized in the recovery room. When we got back to the recovert room he was asleep and it took 3 hours for him to wake up. He had a hard time breathing from being under for 3 hours. Also they gave us an update 2 hours in which scared us because we were not expecting this. Good luck.momtoalex99 <sferrechio@...> wrote: Hi Everyone I have posted a few times in the past month or so about my 4-year-old son, who has a congenital cholesteatoma in his left ear. His surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday (the 18th) and I am wondering what to expect. His doctor said the tumor is of moderate to large size, perhaps 3 mm, but they can't really be sure because fluid in his ear made the CAT scan pretty unreadable. The doctor has reserved the operating room for two hours and 40 minutes. This guys seems to know what he is doing and plans to first try removing it without going behind the ear, which I did not think was even possible. They said we can't be next to our

son when he wakes up, and it could be up to an hour before we see him after the operation. This worries me a lot, because I suspect he will be in a lot of pain and terrified. Anyway, can anyone with a little one provide any tips on what to expect or how to prepare? Should I tell our son we won't be there when he wakes up, or should I not say anything? Also, they are going to put him under with a little gas, not a drink, so I fear he'll be just frightened out of his mind.

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[Guest guest]

I just want to thank everyone for their answers. This has been very helpful and comforting.

One other question I had is whether we should restrict post-op activity and if so, for how long?

Thanks again

-----Original Message-----From: cholesteatoma [mailto:cholesteatoma ]On Behalf Of SniderSent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 10:23 AMcholesteatoma Subject: Re: Son Having Surgery

Our 2 and half year old son had a large extensive c'toma remove through his ear canal in May. They gave him a liquid to calm him before they took him to surgery. You might request it. He cried a little coming out of surgery but after he woke up he was fine. I gave him pain meds around the clock for the first 2 days then only if he complained or pulled on his ear. We were not allowed to see him until the got him stabilized in the recovery room. When we got back to the recovert room he was asleep and it took 3 hours for him to wake up. He had a hard time breathing from being under for 3 hours. Also they gave us an update 2 hours in which scared us because we were not expecting this. Good luck.momtoalex99 <sferrechiocq> wrote:

Hi EveryoneI have posted a few times in the past month or so about my 4-year-old son, who has a congenital cholesteatoma in his left ear. His surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday (the 18th) and I am wondering what to expect. His doctor said the tumor is of moderate to large size, perhaps 3 mm, but they can't really be sure because fluid in his ear made the CAT scan pretty unreadable.The doctor has reserved the operating room for two hours and 40 minutes. This guys seems to know what he is doing and plans to first try removing it without going behind the ear, which I did not think was even possible.They said we can't be next to our son when he wakes up, and it could be up to an hour before we see him after the operation. This worries me a lot, because I suspect he will be in a lot of pain and terrified. Anyway, can anyone with a little one provide any tips on what to expect or how to prepare? Should I tell our son we won't be there when he wakes up, or should I not say anything? Also, they are going to put him under with a little gas, not a drink, so I fear he'll be just frightened out of his mind.

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[Guest guest]

I would let him know that he is going to sleep and that when he wakes up the

doctor and

nurses will be there to take care of him and that after he has been with them

for a little while

they will bring him to you. Tell him you will be waiting for him and that you

will be so happy

when they bring him to you. Tell him that you can't be there when he wakes up

because they

won't let you, but that you will be waiting for them to bring him to you. This

was very hard

for my son to understand, and he was mad at me for not being there when he woke

up. I

wish I would have explained it to him in more detail BEFORE the surgery so that

he wouldn't

feel abandoned. I HATE it that they won't let me be there when he goes to sleep

and wakes

up. He has had 2 surgeries. Still makes me mad that I can't hold his hand up

until he falls

asleep. They do make it through this! My son refused to take the pain killers,

so he was in a

lot of pain for 24 hours after the surgery. Then he quickly recovered.

Warmly,

[Guest guest]

I had the same problem with anastesia. I was under for three hours and they had to keep waking me up in recovery to tell me to breath. Snider <csnider518@...> wrote: Our 2 and half year old son had a large extensive c'toma remove through his ear canal in May. They gave him a liquid to calm him before they took him to surgery. You might request it. He cried a little coming out of surgery but after he woke up he was fine. I gave him pain meds around the clock for the first 2 days then only if he

complained or pulled on his ear. We were not allowed to see him until the got him stabilized in the recovery room. When we got back to the recovert room he was asleep and it took 3 hours for him to wake up. He had a hard time breathing from being under for 3 hours. Also they gave us an update 2 hours in which scared us because we were not expecting this. Good luck.momtoalex99 <sferrechiocq> wrote: Hi EveryoneI have posted a few times in the past month or so about my 4-year-old son, who has a congenital cholesteatoma in his left ear. His surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday (the 18th) and I am wondering what to expect. His doctor said the tumor is of moderate to large size, perhaps 3 mm, but they can't really be sure because fluid in his ear

made the CAT scan pretty unreadable.The doctor has reserved the operating room for two hours and 40 minutes. This guys seems to know what he is doing and plans to first try removing it without going behind the ear, which I did not think was even possible.They said we can't be next to our son when he wakes up, and it could be up to an hour before we see him after the operation. This worries me a lot, because I suspect he will be in a lot of pain and terrified. Anyway, can anyone with a little one provide any tips on what to expect or how to prepare? Should I tell our son we won't be there when he wakes up, or should I not say anything? Also, they are going to put him under with a little gas, not a drink, so I fear he'll be just frightened out of his mind. It's here! Your new message!Get new email alerts with the free Toolbar. Sandie T.

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