Samuel's surgery....and an "interesting" conversation on the way

Today was Samuel long-needed surgery for tubes & removal of his adenoids. We took the girls to school and then he & I came home so I could finish getting ready before we left about 8:30. We were due to check into the surgical center at 9:00.

As we got into the van, Samuel asked me a strange question, which was followed by an odd conversation. See?

Samuel: Mom, was King neutoned?

Me: Huh?

Samuel: Was King neutoned? You know, that shot they give dogs to make them calmer & less aggressive.

All I could think of was a fig neuton & sat there with a puzzled look on my face trying to figure out what he was talking about.....then it hit me...NEUTERED! Where in the world did this conversation come from??

Me: Honey, you mean neutered. And it's a surgery, not a shot. Yes, King was neutered before we got him.

Samuel: Why did they do that? He wasn't aggressive.

Me: Well, it's really not a surgery to change the dog's personality. It's the surgery that dogs have to keep them from having babies.

Samuel: Oh.

After a minute of his "wheels turning", he piped up again.

Samuel: Wait mom....boy dogs don't have babies. The girl dogs do!

Me: Well yes, but the boy dogs are daddies. When they have the neutering surgery, they can't be a daddy dog. Remember how I had surgery after I had Sarah so that I couldn't have any more babies? And some men have a surgery like that too. There is also a surgery for dogs that they can do to make them not have more babies.

Samuel: oh.

Again, we drove along in silence while he digested this & figured out more questions.

Samuel: So....what does the surgery do?

Me: They cut off the part of the boy dog that he needs to make a baby.

Samuel: You mean, like they take out the part of him that wants to help the mommy dog raise baby dogs?

Me: Umm....no..... The boy dog has sperm & the girl dogs have eggs and they have to get together to have a litter of puppies.

Samuel: Wait. What part of the boy dog do they cut off?

Me: Uh.....well, you know the boy parts you have (insert scientifically correct words that we use in our family)?

Samuel: Yes.

Me: They cut off the (scientific words again).

Samuel: oh. (He kind of gasped as he started figuring out that they cut off THAT.)

At this point, we were only about 3 miles from our house, so this all happened pretty fast. I was hoping he'd leave the conversation at this point, but apparently he wanted to hear more. This mama was in the front seat wishing that Larry was with us to help me answer all these questions....and still wondering what on earth sparked this conversation. Maybe he was watching Animal Planet while I was getting ready. It finally "hit" him.

Samuel: SO.........the girl dog & boy dogs who haven't had that surgery have to umm....touch their 'parts' together to have a baby?

Me: Yes.

Samuel: (said in horror:) Is that how it works for people too?????

Me: Yes.

Samuel: That is SO gross. I don't want to get married & have children. No way. That's weird.

Me: What? No grandkids for me? I bet you'll change your mind when you get older.

Samuel: Uh-uh! That's gross. I don't want to have to do THAT--ever. Sorry mom.

After a moment of quiet I reminded him that this was a private subject that he did NOT need to go to school & talk to his friends about. He agreed that he'd NEVER talk about THAT because it was gross!! ha ha! We'll fill in more details later, but I figure for a 5 or 10 min conversation, he got the basics down.

LOL!!!!!!!!! I never knew that we'd be discussing reproduction on the way to his surgery!!

We arrived at the surgery center & got checked in. Grandma arrived to hang out with us and we got taken back into the Pre-Op room fairly quick. The nurse gave him a gown to put on. While I signed forms, Grandma got him into his gown. The nurse kind of whispered to me "Do you think he'll let me start his IV now or should we wait til he's in the OR?" I told her that he'd be fine to do it either way. He's always fascinated with watching them draw blood & give him shots at the pediatrician's office, so I said to go for it. She was really sweet, a mother of 4. She talked him through everything she was going to do and showed him each piece of equipment while she got it going. Sure enough, in just a couple minutes' time, he had an IV in his hand without ever shedding a tear or acting upset or anything. What a trooper!

We had to wait a little over an hour before surgery time, so we occupied our time with taking pictures & being silly.

When the surgical nurse came him & put the Versed (goofy drug, as we call it) in the IV, Samuel was pretty insistent that he was "just fine" & didn't feel 'funny' at all. Since they put it in the IV, it hit his system a lot quicker than if he drank it, so within just a minute his eyes looked a little glazed over & he just grinned a big goofy grin. The nurse laughed & said "Yep, I think it's working. Why don't you lay back, honey?" He flopped back on the pillow & they wheeled him away feeling perfectly content to go off to surgery with strangers.

Mom & I were led to a family consult room to wait. I timed it. When we got into the room, I went next door to the bathroom & looked at my watch. It was 11:17. The doctor walked in to tell us it was over & things went fine at 11:34. I knew that the tubes surgery was only about 10-15 minutes long, so apparently adding in removal of the adenoids doesn't add much time to the surgery at all. We were led into the post-op/recovery room at 12:05. It took him a little while to wake up enough to sit up & drink some juice. When he first woke up, his throat was numb from the lidocaine that they put on the tube when they intubated him and he was a little freaked out because he didn't think he could breathe or speak. Poor baby boy was coughing & gagging a little in an effort to get in a big breath. The nurse (who was SO sweet) came in & talked to him & assured him that it was just numb and that he was indeed breathing just fine. (His oxygen level was 99, so clearly he was breathing without a problem.) By 1:00, we were getting into the van to come home.

Throughout our time at the surgical center, nurses & doctors mentioned that "this is the boy who let them start the IV" repeatedly. We really didn't think that he'd pulled off something that was that big of a deal, but mom finally asked the nurse why we were getting so many compliments about this seemingly little thing. He said that they have so many kids to physically fight them on putting in an IV that it's just always a big deal when a kid willingly allows them to without them being sedated first. And to sit there & calmly watch the whole thing was a big deal. We were proud of him for behaving so sweetly & cooperating so well, but didn't realize that it was going to be a big to do with all the staff there.

He came home & sat on the couch watching cartoons til suppertime. He didn't eat anything because he wasn't hungry and kept falling asleep over & over. At about 7:45, I picked him up & carried him to his bed after Larry & I held him up to put his medicine in his mouth a few minutes prior. Obviously the effects of the anesthesia haven't fully worn off yet!

We'll be staying home tomorrow (he & I) to get a little more rest & heal up.

Thanks for the prayers you lifted for us! The little munchkin went to bed in no pain but he was still pretty groggy. I bet he'll be more alert tomorrow!

Editted to add: If you would like to see pictures of Samuel before/after surgery, check my facebook page. If you're not on Facebook, email me & I'll send you a few pics.