Deegan is home and well

Before: with his new "friends" and After: vegging out to Sponge Bob.

What a day! Deegan never went back to sleep until we were about 10 minutes away from the hospital. It turned out OK that he stayed awake. He never had any problems not eating. I made him some lemon jello and that was quite a treat for him. Ashlyn didn't seem to mind it either.

I got Deegan there and I settled in to wait 2 hours and next thing I knew, they were flying through the process. The admitting lady gave Deegan 2 stuffed animals and when the next nurse met him, she gave him one too. They all thought Deegan was adorable.

When the surgeon came in to talk to me, I pointed out a "bump" that only can be seen when Deegan laughs or sits up. It was fingerprint size, about an inch above the belly button, but barely noticeable. Turns out he had an epigastric hernia as well. So, we got two for the price of one and were able to add on to our surgery...Lucky Deegan!

Deegan was given Versed to help him become loopy enough to prep for surgery. I tried to give it to him myself, but he got a taste of it and that started the war! 2 nurses and myself held Deegan down while the other nurse tried to squirt the Versed into his mouth. Let's just say that Deegan does not trust any liquid medications now. He actually spit it straight up like a geyser right into the unsuspecting nurse’s glasses and all over her face (the one who gave him a stuffed animal and thought he was so cute!) Plugging his nose didn't work and nothing else would either. They said he is a fighter and very strong...really? He seemed to respond how was expected to the drug so it seems he got enough.

He was funny as they wheeled him down the hall to the O.R. and he kept raising both hands in the air and squealing like he was on a roller coaster.

They were able to take him back 30 minutes early, so Ryan came over from work and we waited together. It took about an hour. When they called us back to see him it was really hard for me. He looked swollen in the eyes and lips. His lips were actually crooked to me. He wasn't out of the anesthesia yet and I was surprised to see a nurse restraining my little man. He was thrashing all over the bed, just a little at a time. He would throw a punch or kick a leg, or his head would fly at the bed rail. He looked like he was possessed and he'd go from laying to a full on sit-up and then he would fall back down. The nurse said she was just trying to keep him safe. She was very good and patient with him.

We decided that maybe if Ryan or I held Deegan, snuggled in his “off-get” (soft blanket), that he would respond better. The weird thing was that every time we would touch him or talked to him, or there was a loud noise, he would start going crazy again. It was very hard for even Ryan to hold him, so they gave him more Demerol and Versed to slow his “coming to”. He crashed in Ryan’s arms and snored for about 30 minutes. Finally, we got a more gentle awakening. He still wasn’t himself as he didn’t care for a Popsicle or juice. That was all he had to do and he could go home.

Well, he kept fighting the juice thing and wanted to go home and have his IV taken out but refused the juice and Popsicle. He stood up on the bed and his upper incision started to bleed. This was 15 minutes before we were supposed to go home at 3:45pm. The anesthesiologist ended up turning his car around and came back to the hospital and the hematology office sent someone over too. We had to wait until 6pm before all felt he was safe to go home. He wants nothing to do with his pain medication because it is liquid.

It is the next morning now. We made it through the night and Deegan is well. He wants to snuggle nonstop which is just fine by me. I am tired from yesterday and didn’t sleep all that well. Deegan doesn’t want me to close my eyes though, so he is on my lap as I type the rest of this.

Thanks for all the prayers and concern for Deegan. Thanks to "Pops" for coming to the hospital to be with Deegan too. We love Pops! Deegan is doing great and even responded that he is feeling “better” when I gave him the choice of hurt or better. Yeah!