Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

Logan is having surgery to remove a branchial cleft remnant from his chest on Monday. It's a minor procedure, only about 30 minutes under the knife, but he will have general anesthesia.

We were told that he'll be given an oral sedative first, then the mask to put him to sleep, then they'll start the IV, so he shouldn't feel anything or freak out. We're very comfortable with the pediatric surgeon (Dr Scriven @ stony brook).

My main question is how your child was feeling post-surg --- did he refuse food? milk? sad? cranky? sick?

According to the surgeon, all Logan's stiches will be under his skin and there's no activity limitations at all. He actually said, "Come on, you and I both know there's no limiting this kid. "

I'm trying to decide if i should go get some baby food to have on hand just in case he doesn't want to eat. He won't drink pedialyte (doesn't like any juice at all), but i bought the pedialyte freeze pops just in case.

Any suggestions from BTDTs?
Thanks!

Message edited 10/7/2010 11:09:59 AM.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

No experience but wanted to say good luck!

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

No advice, but good luck!!!

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

my son had surgery (eyelids) when he was about 6 months.
they gave him the loopy medicine, he seemed like a drunk baby. the nurses took him to the OR where they gave him the mask, i didnt want to see that, and they didnt want me to.
Post Op- it took 3 hours for him to wake up. i cried, it was scary, he was on the oxyegen & monitors and he had his own nurse that stood right next to us in the little crib. SHe assured me that he was just sleeping. they used cold wash clothes several times, and he just slept. the anesthesiologist came over and checked him- said he was doing good, just sleeping.
So once he finally woke up-he cried, a lot, and they braced me for it. He had a tube in his throat for the surgery & he was very raspy, you can tell it hurt him.
after the hour of crying, he drank a bottle and fell asleep for a while. Once he woke up- it was like nothing ever happened.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

Tyler went under anesthesia twice. Once when he was 2 for a circumcision repair. He was out of it but calm when he woke up. The 2nd time was for tonsils/adenoids when he was 3 and woke up screaming and miserable. Both time they only let me give him juice as they can be nauseous when they wake up.

Derek went under anesthesia for tubes when he was 8 (maybe 9) months. He woke up very upset and they let me give him juice, not milk.

Post -surgery they recovered quickly and were back to eating normally in a few hours (except after TJ's tonsil surgery. But those are different circumstances). I dont think you need to buy baby food.

Message edited 10/7/2010 11:15:40 AM.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

She was cranky as heck. We had to stay there until she asked for food, then we had to wait to be sure she didnt throw it up then we were allowed to go home.

Tubes in her ears. super fast procedure. Oral meds first. THE FUNNIEST THING EVER! My god I thought she was goofy before. I only wish I was in the mindset to record her but I was worried and tried very very hard to make it all seem like some grand adventure and fun. Almost like "lucky you". She totally relaxed and was loopy happy content when they took her from us. Not on a stretcher but carried her like it was family. I think that helped too.

Good Luck.

Oh and I brought her bottle (she was only 17mo) and her favorite snacks as a reward for being a good girl.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

Kaydyn had a clogged tear duct that had to be opened surgically. They gave her an oral sedative in the pre-op area. It did nothing for her...just made her a little silly.

I was allowed to go into the OR with her. I laid her down, they gave her the mask as I held her hand. Once she was out I gave her a kiss and left. After I left they put in the IV.

Her surgery was quick, maybe 10 mins and they came and got us while she was in recovery.

I'm not going to lie...seeing her in recovery was awful. She was disoriented, screaming, writhing all over the place. We were able to give her a bottle of sugar water and then a little bit of another. She calmed down a bit but was still crying.

We took her into the post op She was still crying and unhappy. We were discharged about 30 mins later. As soon as we put her in the car and gave her a bottle she stopped crying and it was like nothing happened. She was back to her ordinary crazy self. Some people say their kids are tired the rest of the day. Kaydyn wasn't. It was like nothing ever happened.

Message edited 10/7/2010 12:00:31 PM.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

thank you all

it seems kids are pretty resilient, huh?

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

My son was put under at a year old and it was harder on me than him.. I was DEVASTATED and a MESS.. not because of the procedure (hernia) but because of the anestesia..

When he came out, all he wanted was me and kept crying that he wanted to go home.. when we left, he was better and they told me he would be lethargic and not hungry.. well, he ate EVERYTHING possible and was running around like a maniac! lol

I wish you all the best! logan will be just fine!

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

No personal experience.. my nephew was put under for tubes and was totally himself when he came out.. but it was only a 15 min op.

But good luck Logan and mommy!!!

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

DS had 2 major surgeries. He was intubated both times and was not able to eat for 12 hours or so before surgery. I don't think DS was in pain after surgery but was very upset because he was hungry.

I was really surprised by day 2 or so, he was back to his normal self. They still kept us in the PICU to monitor him but he was in great spirits.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

Thank you

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

no advice, but hugs to you and Logan

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

you guys just made me feel so much better , thank you.

I know, its worse for me than it is for him

i did go get 2 jars of baby food just in case his throat is sore from the tube and he doesn't want real food, but i also got alllllll of his favorites

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

MY friends son had surgery on his peepee at about 18 months old. I went into the OR with him because she was too upset. They did everything in the OR. He was sedated in there and then they put the breathing tube in. His surgery took about an hour. He was in recovery for a while, but he came out of everything just fine. He whined for a bit. Had a bottle of juice. Wasn't a big juice drinker. But he was hungry so he drank it. And then we went home. He was back to his normal self by the time we got home. I think it is worse on the parents then the kids....They won't remember it....

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

DS was under general when he had his tear duct probed at 17 months. The sedative they gave him first made him all drowsy and kind of seemed like he was drunk.
They let me carry him to the OR and hold his hand until he fell asleep. This was the hardest part for me, but I'm glad he fell asleep seeing me instead of strangers.
The whole procedure took about 20 minutes. When we went into recovery he was awake and groggy and playing with some the nurses had given him. He got whiny and crying as he started to come more awake, but I think he was really thirsty. they were trying to give him a bottle of pedialyte, but he'd been off a bottle for a long time and didn't know what to do with it. I should have brought a sippy cup for him.
We were there for about another 15-20 minutes and then we brought him home. By the time we got home (15 mindrive) he was completely back to himself. He ate breakfast with DD and then played for awhile. He took a nice long nap that day.

Message edited 10/7/2010 1:17:53 PM.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

I have no advice, but, wanted to wish you Good Luck.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

DS had a hypospadias repair when he was 8 months old. Basically surgery on his penis for minor reconstruction.

He was given a general anesthetic as well as what his dr referred to as "baby epidural" that numbed him from his legs down.

The procedure start to finish was about an hour and a half.

As soon as I went into recovery he was ready to nurse. If I remember correctly I didn't give him any table foods that day. Just nursed him. He refused to nap, but did STTN. The next day he was much better. He was sitting up again and playing. But the tylenol with codene definitely made him spacey.

By day 3 when we stopped the tylenol with codene he was back to himself.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

Ethan had general anesthesia when he went in for his ear tube surgery at 8 mos old. They did the first shot of meds, which made him loopy and then they did the IV right after he fell asleep. After the procedure, he was very tired for most of that day but was his normal self by the next day.

Good luck!

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

My DS is 6 weeks old and had surgery last week to correct a digistive issues (pyloric stenosis). After surgery, we expect a canky baby - which is what we were told to expect - but surprisingly, he was very calm.

I would be prepared for anything as far as feeding him goes. He may feel crappy for a day or two so he might not have much of an appetite.

My DS's surgery was at 7:30am and we started feeding him at 2:00pm the same day. Most bottles he kept down but he really wasn't keep bottle after bottle down until the next day.

Good luck!!! I know how scary, no matter how minor, surgery can be.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

They just need lots of love and cuddles when they wake up they are scared and frightened coming out of the anesthesia.

Good Luck

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

DS was cranky for a while when he woke up but he was ago within a short while after.

I saved his gown and socks-so funny to look at now. He was so little, the gown so big.


Lots of cuddles and with sleep he will be okay

Message edited 10/7/2010 2:47:17 PM.

Re: Those who have dealt with surgery/general anesthesia for your infant/toddler:

For both of my son's surgeries under anesthesia he woke up cranky, screaming, sleepy and confused. Both times we put him in the carseat to go home and he transitioned into a nap in bed. Both times he woke up fully about 2 hours later like nothing happened.

And if they give him the medicine to 'relax' him about 30 min before the procedure, be aware that you can take funny video of him acting drunk. Not that I took video of my son.