The Hernia

On Thursday we took Jake to the local children's hospital to have hernia repair surgery. One day he will kill me for posting pictures of him in the colorful teddy bear hospital gown, but until then...

We arrived at the hospital to check in, and Jake's instinctive video game radar honed him in on the plethora of screens and controls located nearby.

I think it is so nice that they provide something for the children to do while they await surgery. I mean, they must be somewhat nervous and afraid, and it is probably a comfort to these little ones to be able to fill the pre-op time.

{sigh}

Jake was so brave. I could tell that he was nervous, but he put up a good front. The nurses gave him a "magical juice" that made him kinda loopy before they wheeled him into the OR. One nurse said, "Here we go. We're gonna wheel you out now, like on a roller coaster, okay?"

They started pushing the bed and Jake lifted his hands and said, "Whee ---eee ---eee..." The magical juice made him sound like a balloon slowly deflating. We were cracking up. (Okay, and then I started crying, and could only be consoled by eating a lot at the cafeteria.)

After surgery, which went longer than we expected, the doctor came out, all in his scrubs and wearing his little surgery cap. It was kind of like on ER or Grey's Anatomy, and for a sec I thought they were going to tell me that his arm fell off during surgery, or that they found alien blood in his body, or, worse, that they could tell how many video games he had played this summer. It was an intense moment. The doctor told us that Jake's hernia was much, much bigger than they had originally thought, and that he had to use a different techniques on him than most. You know, that's just how we do it around here. Go big or go home.

And really, it hasn't been that much video game time, okay?

E.T. Phooooone hoooome.

"Dude, I totally couldn't beat that game in the waiting room."

"It's okay, Dad. Maybe next time."

The nurses were so impressed with Jake's good manners, that they presented him with a cute teddy bear. Bernia the Hernia Bear.

Jake is feeling much better now. It was touch and go there for a while; we were on pins and needles.

Not really. I just wanted to say, "touch and go" and "pins and needles." It sounds exciting. Jake is totally fine, and back to tormenting his sister (who, of course wants to have surgery now, so she can get a bear) and rolling his sweet brown eyes at me. Hernia free.