Nathan on his way to UCSF. He fell asleep as usual inside the car.
We dropped our SUV at my in-law’s house in SF. Then they dropped us off at UCSF past 12pm. Nathan’s surgery was scheduled for 2pm. However, since doctors were falling behind schedule, his surgery was rescheduled for 3:30pm. Before his surgery, we waited at the Surgical Waiting room. The receptionist gave Nathan plenty of toys to keep him busy. While Nathan was having fun playing, my husband and I were so bored waiting for someone to call us. There were other families inside the waiting room. Some people were also there to have surgery done while others were waiting for a family member who was in surgery.
Nathan playing in waiting room
A Pediatric nurse came by and showed Nathan some items such as oxygen mask, hair net, gloves, etc used in the operating room. I guess they do this so that once he is in the operating room, he’s already familiarized with the objects.
Nathan testing out this oxygen mask
Since his surgery was rescheduled, Nelson and I took turns to go out to have lunch. Nathan wasn’t allowed to eat any solid foods. Up to 10am, he was only allowed to have water, apple juice and jello. There is a sign in the waiting room that said ‘There are patients fasting in this room. Please do not eat or drink.’ I guess some people didn’t see the sign and they brought food and drinks with them. But the receptionist told them to take their food and drinks outside.
At 3:30pm, we went to the 4th floor at the children surgery area
In room 410, we talked to the doctors who will be performing the surgery. We talked to the ear doctor and the palate doctor (Dr. Hoffman). We also talked to the anesthesiologist and explained to us how he will administer the anesthesia. There were other doctors we talked to as well but I forgot what their part was in the operating room.
Nathan, before we dressed him in his hospital gown
Nathan wearing his hospital gown
When it was time for Nathan’s operation, one of the doctor’s took him from me and carried him towards the operating room. While the doctor was carrying him to the operating room, I tried to hold my tears. I was only able to hold my tears for a while but as we were walking out of the hospital I just couldn’t help it. Nelson and I stopped for a bit until I stopped crying. I didn’t realized I would cry this much.
Starbucks was nearby and we had our usual caramel machiatto and some pastries. Since the weather was kinda nice, we sat on a bench outside and pretty much talked about Nathan’s surgery. After Starbucks, we walked back to the boring waiting room. The surgery took about 2 hrs.
Past 6pm, we got called to go up the recovery room. Since the pediatric recovery room was closed, Nathan was taken to the adult recovery room. When we arrived, a nurse was holding Nathan because he was crying. There was this towel over her shoulder soaked with Nathan’s blood. Nathan’s mouth was very bloody. When I saw Nathan in pain, I wanted to burst out crying again. But I held my tears back. There was another nurse who was administering the pain killer through some tube. The nurse said that they were surprised Nathan woke up too early after the operation. Normally, the patients take about another hour or two from surgery to wake up in the recovery room.
The doctor’s put a string through Nathan’s tongue temporarily. In case Nathan had problems breathing, the nurse will simply pull his tongue out by pulling the string. Also Nathan has these paddings around both arms to prevent him from bending his elbow and touching his mouth.
Nelson held Nathan and I placed a clean towel over Nelson’s shoulder.
Since only one parent can stay with the child, my husband decided to stay at the hospital while I went home. Back at home, my husband and I kept in touch via text messaging, email and Skype. I wanted to know how Nathan was doing. My husband told me that Nathan has been crying often due to the pain but eventually fell asleep from time to time. By the time I got home, Nathan was already taken to another room where he stayed for the night.