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Dec. 10th, 2008 09:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizzybennetI'm currently sitting in one of the outpatient surgical prep rooms. This will be where I stay while Petey's dental surgery is performed. I feel very good about how things have gone so far. Every one is very nice--as is typical of Idaho :) Petey's nurse, the anesthesiologist, and his nurses are all very nice, repeatedly asking if I have any questions. The only hitch was when the anesthesiologist noticed that Petey has a stuffy nose and asked if this is common. I couldn't come up with a coherent answer! I stumbled through something like "He's never been tested for allergies but I mean, he just gets sniffly noses like most kids do, nothing extrodinary...." and just trailed off. Wha..? I guess part of the problem was that I didn't understand what he was asking or why. Turns out that if Petey has a cold the anesthesia could make it turn into something worse. Once I understood that, then I could say yes, Petey gets stuffy noses on a pretty regular basis that don't necessarily turn into colds.
The anesthesiologist asked if I thought he'd need oral sedation. He said, "I think he'll be ok with the gas, he seems cool as a cucumber." I, however, thought differently. I know that Petey has some claustrophobia issues and especially if he feels like he can't breathe freely. For example, he hates steamy bathrooms and insists on keeping the door open. I asked if Petey could see the mask ahead of time to get an idea of what it was like. A few minutes later he came back with a strawberry scented mask and, after showing it to Petey, tried to place it over his nose so he'd know what it felt like. Petey flinched like a startled puppy. That behavior was in stark contrast to how he'd been acting all morning (playing his Gameboy and acting very nonchalantly about everything) and I think the dr. was surprised :) He left and the nurse came back in a few minutes with the oral sedative. Fast forward ten minutes and Petey is laying on his bed with his eyes wandering over the ceiling and a smile tickling the corners of his mouth. Still, he never put down that gameboy! They even let him take it back to the operating room with him. I hope it doesn't get lost, it's actually Zack's.
I'm currently being entertained by the conversation I keep hearing at the nurses station. So far I've learned that one of them though JK Rowling is a man, and that another of them has never had a ticket issued to her because she always cries or wheedles her way out of it some other way. Interesting :) Overall, I feel calm and reassured by how things are proceeding so far.
Now I shall get to work on my FINAL final exam.
Edit: There are too many distracting voices and beeps in here for me to work on my final. Also, I want to write this down before I forget: Petey told me he wished he had a dictionary with him so he could look up all these new words he keeps seeing around the hospital :)
The anesthesiologist asked if I thought he'd need oral sedation. He said, "I think he'll be ok with the gas, he seems cool as a cucumber." I, however, thought differently. I know that Petey has some claustrophobia issues and especially if he feels like he can't breathe freely. For example, he hates steamy bathrooms and insists on keeping the door open. I asked if Petey could see the mask ahead of time to get an idea of what it was like. A few minutes later he came back with a strawberry scented mask and, after showing it to Petey, tried to place it over his nose so he'd know what it felt like. Petey flinched like a startled puppy. That behavior was in stark contrast to how he'd been acting all morning (playing his Gameboy and acting very nonchalantly about everything) and I think the dr. was surprised :) He left and the nurse came back in a few minutes with the oral sedative. Fast forward ten minutes and Petey is laying on his bed with his eyes wandering over the ceiling and a smile tickling the corners of his mouth. Still, he never put down that gameboy! They even let him take it back to the operating room with him. I hope it doesn't get lost, it's actually Zack's.
I'm currently being entertained by the conversation I keep hearing at the nurses station. So far I've learned that one of them though JK Rowling is a man, and that another of them has never had a ticket issued to her because she always cries or wheedles her way out of it some other way. Interesting :) Overall, I feel calm and reassured by how things are proceeding so far.
Now I shall get to work on my FINAL final exam.
Edit: There are too many distracting voices and beeps in here for me to work on my final. Also, I want to write this down before I forget: Petey told me he wished he had a dictionary with him so he could look up all these new words he keeps seeing around the hospital :)