Prepped for surgery
Well, we're as ready as we're gonna be. We've spent the last couple of days talking with Bobbin about what she can expect at the hospital, the sequence of events that will take place, reading her books (yes, they write books for kids on the subject of ear tubes), and play acting the actual visit. Tomorrow morning at 5:45am we'll be rousing our little munchkin and making the 30 minute trek to the hospital where we'll arrive at the receptionist promptly at our 6:30 checkin time, and then wait for 60 minutes until our 7:30 surgery time. the surgery itself will last about 15 minutes once she's out, and then we'll spend the rest of the day at home. 2 days of prep for a 15 minute procedure. We'll see how it goes :-)
I bought 3 books from amazon.com: "Koko Bear's Big Earache: Preparing Your Child for Ear Tube Surgery", "Tubes In My Hears: My Trip to the Hospital", and "Chris Gets Ear Tubes". They are all pretty much the same, but having multiple consistent stories is a good thing for Bobbin; She listened intently and studied the pictures and pointed out objects and asked questions and by the end of the 3rd book she pretty much had it down pat. Her favourite was Koko though. There's just something about a cuddly little bear that makes everything more endurable.
So we read the books and in particular I focused on how Mommy and Daddy were going to wait in the waiting room while she went with the doctor and nurse to the special operation room. The special operation room is a very clean room with no germs and so only the doctors, nurses, and Bobbin would be allowed in, to keep it clean and safe for her surgery. we practiced saying "Bye! See you later!" cheerfully. I played the doctor, Bobbin played herself, and Tommy served as Mommy. I would tell Bobbin to give 'Mommy' a kiss and hug and tell her that she'd see her later. She'd crouch down and wrap her arms around Tommy. "Bye bye Mommy! I love you! I'm getting new ear tubes!" she'd exclaim happily, and then we'd go down to her bedroom which served as the "operating room".
The next thing I focused on in the books and in our role playing was the special medicine mask that they would have her breath into, to help make her sleepy so she could nap. I explained they could only put the ear tubes while she was napping, because then she'd be very still. I held a pretend mask in my hand and held it gently up to her nose and mouth and told her to breath in and out. Then asked if she was sleepy, and she replied yes and closed her eyes. Then I wiggled my finger just inside her ear lobe of each ear and said "There, all done! You can wake up now Bobbin!"
The last thing we spent a lot of time on was the fact that the doctors and nurses had to wear masks so that they could keep the air clean and safe and not spread germs during her surgery. I talked about how the masks kinda look a bit scary at first, but if you look at the doctor and nurses' eyes you can tell what they're feeling and if they're happy and relaxed, their eyes will look happy and relaxed. So just because they were wearing masks, you could still know that everything is ok by looking at their eyes. we practiced making happy, sad, angry and scared faces while covering our mouth and nose. I'd cover my mouth and make a face and ask her to guess if I was happy or sad. She thought it was pretty hilarious.
We played acted the whole scenario through several times - at Bobbin's request. She would enthusiastically arrive at the "waiting room" (living room) with 'Mommy' and wait for me to call her name. I'd pretend that I didn't know which one she was, when she stood up and introduced herself, I'd say hi and then go over to talk to her 'Mommy' and explain that I had to take Bobbin to the operation room and that 'Mommy' would have to wait here. She'd give 'Mommy' a hug and then 'Mommy' would roll over on his doggie bed in a sigh of relief as she gallivanted up the stairs and ran down the hall to the 'operation room' and clamoured onto her 'operating bed'. We'd do the whole anesthesia thing, I'd stick my fingers in her ears, she'd 'wake up' and we'd run back to the 'waiting room' to do it all over again. Then she became the doctor and Kitty became the patient, and I was kitty's mommy who had to wait in the waiting room, etc. etc. etc.
I suspect the enthusiasm will not be quite as great tomorrow. Some apprehension will surface when we actually arrive. And I don't know what to expect at all in the whole waiting room parting. She could surprise me. On Monday when I took her to see the cardiologist, my normally shy and cautious-with-strangers preschooler actually disappeared down the cardiology department hallway, following the nurse she had spent all of 10 minutes with, on the promise of getting stickers and a lollipop while I was still in the examining room talking with the doctor. And she came back with a fistful of both (before I could gently admonish my little sticker-grabber the nurse did admit that she had been intentionally free with the offering because Bobbin was just so sweet and had done so well during all the procedures ;-)). Likewise she surprised me by letting the doctor examine her without much preamble, and then in the middle of her stethescope exam exclaiming to the doctor quite directly and animatedly "Oh! You have cold hands, you know". That's my girl - always full of surprises.
So who knows what to really expect. we've done what we can to make sure she knows what's happening and that she's feeling upbeat about it at least at this point. She may surprise us, or she may be sweetly and heartbreakingly sad and scared. Either way, we'll be there for her, to cuddle and love her.
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