We high-tailed it back to be escorted into our consult room. We wondered if everything had gone okay - why was the surgery so short? We’re they unable to do it? Was it simpler than anticipated? Why? (His palate repair also ended super early, also in about half the anticipated time.)
We waited about a half an hour for the surgeon. He explained that everything went well, and he was pleased. They used bone from the right Iliac crest. His tissue was very malleable with good margins, and that helps it all go more smoothly. He told us that scar tissue tends to bleed more and sometimes they have to chip away at it, and you don’t know what you will see until you are in there doing the surgery.
I think this bodes well for his recovery.
We knew we had at least an hour before Tate would awake and they’d let one of us into the recovery area, so we headed back to lunch (pastrami sandwiches and salad). Then we returned to the waiting area and settled into he quiet waiting room.
Another hour passed. And now it was about the time we anticipated we’d be able to see Tate in the first place. Finally, our pager went off, two hours after the procedure was complete.
Hospital personnel escorted me back to the recovery room, where Tate’s eyes were fluttering awake. Only one parent is allowed at a time because of space limitations. So I got to go first. Tate told me he was hot and in some pain. The nurse offered fentanyl or Oxycodone (I probably have both those names wrong), and the first drug would kick in faster because it would be intravenous. So that’s what we opted for, and it took the pain down to a 2.
I wasn’t with him too long before he asked about Jason, so we swapped until Jason had to head home to take Marcie to volleyball.
Here is Tate, just awake:
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