Complications

Sean's left knee has been bothering him since about November, when he stood up from 'criss-cross-apple-sauce'-style (that's Indian style for old-schoolers), holding Ambree without uncrossing his legs or using his arms. I finally convinced him that it was probably just his meniscus and that a repair would be easy and quick, ie, he could probably still play in spring softball with the church.

So he was scheduled for surgery 4/22/10, and went in like scheduled. My mom graciously offered to drop him off at surgery and Sean's dad was planning to pick him and bring him home. At about 11:00 am though, I got a phone call saying that Sean was doing fine presently, but that he had fluid in his lungs after coming out of anesthesia that was causing him to not get enough oxygen; he would have to stay over night so they could watch his O2 levels and he would be transferring to a room within the next couple of hours.

I was in the middle of making lunches for Ambree and myself, so I just kept making lunch. Things are different with a third member of the family. You can't just drop everything. But half way through lunch I was starting to worry, and knew he would want someone there with him, so I jumped in the shower and then asked Ed to come watch Ambree for the rest of the day until my mom could take over for the night. I threw random things in a bag and put Ambree down for a nap.

The whole time I was at home with Ambree I was sad for Sean who was by himself. Sean's a big boy, and I'm sure he was incoherent enough to where this wasn't even an issue. But I was anxious to get to him. Then right as 45 bridges over to MoPac, my emotions transferred to Ambree. She was without either of us, and would be all night- a BIG first. Granted, she loves her BaBa and MeMe, and I knew she wouldn't even think anything different because she is babysat so often by them both, but I guess my pregnancy hormones needed something to worry about so they went to Ambree.

Sean was fine when I got there. He was just being transferred upstairs, and looked good. He still had to stay on O2 because his O2 levels were too low on just room air, and he was coughing a bunch anytime he took in a deep breath. The pain medicine was still making Sean really sleepy, so he tried resting. They checked his vitals every 30 min at first, and then every 2-3hours. Breathing treatments and pain medicine were every 4 hours, but not at the same time- that would have been too convenient. And there were also, of course, nurse shift changes, that Sean seemed to want to extend by re-informing the new nurse of everything that had happened.

We did not sleep at all.

With all of the interruptions, a glowing light coming out of a vent in the wall- I don't know why-, Sean snoring despite the fact that he had oxygen flowing into his nose, and a pillow that incessantly slipped out from under my head, there was no sleep.

But Sean was doing much better, and in the early morning I convinced him to try taking the oxygen off. He was being well monitored and it was getting easier to take deep breaths. His knee looked good with just minimal swelling and good quad strength and range of motion.

The doctors ended up saying that either he had aspirated some drainage or he had caused negative pressure in his lungs by either his tongue or vocal cords blocking his air passage, either of which would have caused his lungs to have fluid in them. They don't think this episode will have any further consequences for Sean, and he seemed to be recovering from it well.

So what was suppose to be a simple day surgery, turned into a lot more, but it was nice to be there for Sean- I am so grateful for our family stepping in to help and so many others who offered to help. And it was a good dry-run for leaving Ambree when we have Baby #2. Most importantly, Sean is okay and back to just dealing with a post-op knee.