Just writing the title of this post gives me a stomach ache. I’m a little hesitant to write this after what happened the last time I requested for personal prayers for my own little family but I know that so many of you want to pray for Kye and I know those prayers will help him in this so I’m writing it anyway!
I wrote awhile back about Kye’s situation (you can get caught up here). After writing that post I got in touch with Kye’s pediatrician to see about going for a second opinion somewhere locally. Turns out they sent us to Tifton because it’s the closest place where a urologist will actually see children. They told me that if Dr. Peters recommend the surgery then he needs to have it. I called back to Dr. Peters office and explained to them that the first visit I was so nervous that I totally spaced out and didn’t ask enough questions to really understand. She told me that if we didn’t do the surgery that he would start having more problems so we need to do it now, especially while he is so young.
The more we learned about it, the better we felt about having it done. Really Zach is the one who made the call that he needs it. He said that when Kye goes tee-tee that it shoots straight up. His teacher actually wrote me and confirmed that same thing about when he goes potty at school. While that may not be a big deal now, it would for sure cause issues as he gets older! We decided to just keep our scheduled appointment for pre-op last week.
Mrs. Charlotte came to the house early this past Tuesday morning to watch Brittlynn while Kye and I drove to Tifton. I felt horrible having to ask her to do that while she was swamped with wedding stuff (Zach’s sister got married yesterday!) but she didn’t mind at all and it actually gave her a nice little break to have some Brittlynn lovin’. 🙂 Kye and I left as soon as I got him up. We went through McDonald’s (a tough day is always better with a treat right?) and headed up to Tifton. It’s about a 45 minute drive so Kye relaxed and got to watch a movie. At this point I hadn’t told him anything but just decided to tell him that we were going to the hospital. He associates hospitals with only good things since all he knows is that we went to one to get Brittlynn. Such a blessing on the timing of this as he has ZERO hospital fears!
I did tell him they may have to check his privates but that’s all I said. When we got there they made us wait an HOUR after our appointment time. Kinda frustrated. Kye, however, did wonderfully. He made so many people happy during that time. We saw lots of older people who were visiting sick friends and family. We saw a family in prayer. We saw a family get delivered news of someones passing. Kye didn’t realize any of this and only saw an opportunity to make people smile. Which he did. I loathe hospitals but in those moments realized the joy we can bring to others in such horrible times. I’m thankful we were there to lift a few spirits!
When they did call us back we went into an office to go over all our information and discuss cost. It is UNBELIEVABLE to me that a tiny little slice is going to cost us more than Zach’s back surgery. I mean really?!?! I’m thankful we have already paid off Zach’s back instead of having to add medical bills on top of medical bills. That’s the one downside of being self employed, horrible insurance 🙁 After that meeting we had to wait some more then we went to talk to a nurse. She took Kye’s height and weight.
Kinda a side story but he now weighs 33.1 lb! And on their measuring thing it said 109 but I didn’t know what that meant so I figured it meant centimeters. When we got home I happened to have one of those BabyCenter emails in my inbox that talked about height prediction. I went to the page (you can check it out here) and typed in Kye’s new info from the hospital. I converted the 106 centimeters into inches and that into feet and got 3 1/2 feet. That seemed kinda high but I went with it and the thing said he’ll be 6’4″!!!! It said he has a 75% chance of being within 2 inches of that. I was BEYOND thrilled and raced out to tell Zach and he was GLOWING. Well…then a couple days later I started looking into seeing Kye’s new sizes. He’s gone through a growth spurt and needs to move up in size. When I looked at the height part it said he should we wearing a kids 5. Um he’s just barely growing out of a 2t. Guess the hospital measuring thing was off. So I went and measured the line we did on the doorway on his birthday of his height…he’s actually 3 ft 1 inch. When I typed in that on the height prediction thing…he’s only going to be 5’9″. Sucks to be the one to deliver that news to Daddy huh?!?! Maybe he’ll just go through a late growth spurt or something 😉
…Anyways…can you tell I’m nervous and would rather talk about anything else other than his surgery?!?! So in that room we didn’t go over that much either. Just some basic health questions. Then we met with the anesthesiologist. He said my list of questions (which he thought was pretty funny…wouldn’t MOST parents have a list of questions before their kid has surgery?!?!) would pretty much have to wait for the day of. But he did help some.
The actual procedure Kye is having done is called a meatotomy. Does anyone else find it humorous that the surgery is on his private and it’s called a meatotomy?!?! 😉 He kinda went through the way things will go with me. We’ll get there at 7:00 am. Kye can’t eat or drink past midnight tonight (we’re going to fill him up with plenty of liquid before bedtime!). When we get there we get a room and he gets to wear his own pjs during the whole thing (no gown yay!). He also can have his friends (another funny look from the guy when I asked “so can he take his friends back with him?” haha) through the whole thing. They will give him some meds to make him silly when we get there and a lady will come in with toys and such for him to play with then she will go back with him. Neither of us go back for anesthesia. They will give him the mask thing and the guy said it takes like 10 seconds for them to go to sleep. After he’s asleep they will put in his IV and do the cut. Then he gets taken back to us! We wait in the room through the whole thing (so I can pump there if needed) and he should come out pretty quickly.
He said it’s common for kids to be upset/grumpy/etc and there’s really no way to predict that but that we can have snacks with us and his present with us and hopefully that will help. They will also give him pain meds right away and we’ll have some he’ll be taking at home. We should be able to go home soon after that!
Kye behaved wonderfully and took “notes” while I was talking. We went to the bathroom before going home and I thought I’d go ahead and tell him what was going on. Up until that point he knew nothing about surgery. I just told him that we’d get to come back to the hospital again and that he’d get to wear his Woody pjs (they are his favs) and he’d get to bring his friends with him. I told him the dr was going to work on his privates to help it work better and that Mommy and Daddy would be there and we’d say “yay” (for some reason he thinks you must say “yay” when people are at the hospital?) and we’d have a present for him. I didn’t talk to him about it again after that until today.
Since we first learned all of this might happen I haven’t thought about it much. It bothers me to think about it. I’m very, very scared. I myself have only been in the hospital for giving birth to my children and once when I was in a car accident. But even then I only had an x-ray done. All of this is new to me. Even Zach’s back wasn’t in an actual hospital so it wasn’t as scary. Plus Zach was in SO much pain so I knew surgery was the best thing. With this, I know he needs it but I don’t feel like he needs it. It’s just a tough thing. I’m SO thankful that Casey’s wedding was this weekend. We stayed up past midnight both nights so we’re exhausted. I was so busy and preoccupied that I couldn’t think much about tomorrow.
Mrs. Charlotte is again coming to keep Brittlynn tomorrow (I’m so blessed to have her aren’t I?!?!) as I feel it’s important for ONLY Zach and I to be there. Kye deserves our full attention. Zach is taking the day off to be with us and Mrs Charlotte is coming back on Tuesday to stay depending on how Kye is doing. I don’t want him to be in any pain and me have to be tending to Brittlynn so we’ll see what happens. Kye enjoys talking about plans and such (his mother’s child for sure) so today I talked to him about it. I told him we’re going back to the hospital with his friends and Mommy and Daddy. That we’re going to watch a movie in the car and get to wear his pjs. Then I told him when we get there they are going to put a mask on him and he will go to sleep and while he’s asleep the dr is going to make his private work better than it does already. I told him when he wakes up Mommy and Daddy will be there with a prize for him. He’s excited about his friends going with him and about the prize. Since the pre-op visit he even thanks Jesus for the “hopstible” every time he prays. I think he’s going to do well, I probably need prayers even more than he does!!!
While I’m nervous about everything that tomorrow will bring, I’m especially nervous about his healing. He’s always done wonderfully with using the potty and I’m nervous as to how that will change when he’s in pain “down there.” From what I’ve read and heard it’s a very quick heal time but I still don’t have any plans this week just in case. It’s Kye’s Spring Break so he doesn’t even have school to worry about. I plan to spoil him rotten and let him heal up!
Please say a little prayer for our family tonight. Pray that everything goes smoothly tomorrow. That Kye does well with everything, that he comes out of the anesthesia okay, that he doesn’t have much pain, that he heals quickly. Please pray for us as well, but especially me. Pray that I can be strong for my sweet baby boy and that I can keep it together and not drive Zach nuts with my worries 😉
Thank you in advance for all of the prayers! I know it’s a minor thing but Kye having to have this has really made me realize that NO surgery is MINOR when it comes to your child. I know I personally will pray harder and more often for those children and mamas when they are facing even minor hospitalizations. I know this doesn’t compare to children who are dying, people facing cancer, or all of the other horrible things going on in our world. I’m not asking you to pray for Kye instead of any of those things, but I would appreciate it if you’d add Kye to your list of things. Thank you thank you! (And to end the night on a positive note feel free to read my post from earlier today, I finally posted my birthday letter to Kye!)
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We will for sure pray for Kye tonight and tomorrow. But mostly, we're gonna pray for you and Z 🙂 I'm betting on reading updates about how GREAT kye is doing and how relieved you are and how it was so much easier than you imagined it to be. Having said that, i totally relate (as you know) b/c of me being PETRIFIED for Rhyan's torticollis surgery. I even fasted with her the morning of for solidarity purposes 🙂 He'll do fine w/o food, btw. He wont even think about it, i bet He'll be too distracted (Rhyan was and she was not quite a year old).love you lots!
I wont be praying. And yes, I still lurk.
Allabouttheprophet, why do you even post? Obviously, this is something Emily is struggling with, and MY God allows me to bring anything to him in prayer. While you may feel the way that you feel, why post it?Emily, I'll be praying for your family. Focus on your family & not the mean spirit of people.
This comment isn't actually for "allabouttheprofit" but is instead for anyone else who reads what has been posted by him or her. Please don't feel the need to defend me or kye or my family in response to this comment. My first reaction to reading it was to laugh as it is somewhat humorous. Those of you who may not have been reading back then may not know but I have already responded to this person over a year ago (which was the last time I asked for prayers for my personal family). I don't have any more to say and would appreciate keeping this about post KYE and not letting this person affect that focus. Thanks for all of your love and support, I know yall have my back!
Allabouttheprophet, are you being silly/ironic? I hope so. I may not believe in prayer the way Emily does but it lifts her up to know that people are thinking about her and her family and therefore caring for her in her times of struggle. Emily, Kye will be just fine! It sounds like you have done every thing humanly possible to put Kye at ease and to ensure the best experience he can from this! You are an amazing mother and I envy your strength and skills. I hope to be half the mother you are someday! Your beautiful family will be in my thoughts all day tomorrow! <3
Emily, I'm praying for Kye but I know he'll be fine.I'm lifting Zachary and you up. When key wakes up after be prepared that he may be upset from the meds or the iv being in. See about getting that taken out as soon as possible…maybe he won't need one. My youngest had to have the iv twice..adenoids and then tonsils. Such tough choices for us to make, but we know we had her best interest at heart…same with her sister. Seeing you mighty big hugs. And nothing is too little to pray about especially when it comes to our children
it kind of creeps me out that you use the word "lurk" 🙂 haha.but seriously, why read? you know you disagree. so why waste your time on em's blog?i'm not trying to be confrontational. i'm genuinely interested.
Praying now for Kye, the doctors, and especially Mama and Daddy!
So glad Kye's surgery went well! My 3 yr old had appendicitis surgery and took it just as well as Kye did. I am also so thrilled to figure out that our kids are almost the same ages! My son is turning three in about 2 weeks, and my daughter was born on December 12th 🙂