Lumps, No More...Maybe

Kade had the lumps on his neck removed on the 28th of February. It might not be a big deal for some people, to have their child go in for surgery, but for us it was. It's not something that we have to deal with on a regular basis and I was trying my best to not let my nerves get the better of me. We got to the hospital at 7:30 sharp. I was really proud of us because we're not always so great at getting out of the house on time.

They took us to a pre-op room where they'd do a little prepping on Kade before he was taken into surgery. We got him changed into his kid-sized hospital gown (it kind of breaks my heart that they even make them in small sizes), turned on cartoons to distract Kade for a bit and waited for the doctor to come take him back. Kade was doing so good and the whole situation didn't seem to be affecting him too much....until they were about to take him back.

The nurses tucked him into the bed and talked to him (trying to reassure him) about what was going to happen. As they were talking to him, his bottom lip started to frown a little. He was trying very very hard to be tough though and we still didn't see tears. I held his hand and walked with him next to his bed as they rolled him towards the doors only they can pass.

They may as well have ripped my heart out. As they left us to wait, Kade was screaming that he wanted me to hold him. He was absolutely terrified and I couldn't do anything about it. But I just had to keep telling myself, "he'll be less traumatized than I will be." It's now safe to say, that is very true!

We were originally told it would be an hour and he'd be out of surgery. That was not the case. Three hours later, we were very happy to see the doctor coming out to talk to us. He even drew a picture for us.

This is a rough illustration of what was in there. The lines are muscles, the thicker line (if you can make out the caption) is a spinal accessory nerve. The nerve, if damaged, could prevent Kade from being able to shrug his shoulders or turn his head completely. Not life or death, however, it's kind of nice to be able to do those things. This nerve is what cause the procedure to last so long. As you can see, one of the cysts was directly underneath it and the doctor took his time (thankfully) to make sure the nerve stayed undamaged. The cysts used to be called cystic hygroma, but they're now called lymphatic malformations.

Lymphatic malformations are sponge-like collections of abnormal channels and spaces that contain clear fluid. The lymphatic system normally collects excess fluid from the tissues and transports it through a series of small vessels back into the venous system. With a lymphatic malformation, however, transfer of this fluid through these vessels is slowed. The excess fluid accumulates and dilates the vessels, resulting in a swelling of the affected area and sometimes in more extensive enlargement of soft tissues and bones.

After the procedure they wheeled him up to his room. Had he been older, we would have gone home afterward. However, because he's only 3...well almost, they kept him overnight. They also prepared us for when he'd come out of anesthesia. They said he'd probably be crying or throwing a fit of some sort. Luckily, he came out of it without any problem. He just seemed really sleepy and wanted to cuddle a lot. That was okay by me.

His face itched like crazy.

He was treated like a king and loved it. He was waited on hand and foot by the nurses, got to watch Megamind 3 times, and play in their toy room all alone. (I didn't see one single child while we were there aside from Kade, only heard them...so sad.) The most difficult thing we had to do in the hospital was give Kade his pain medication. It's an oral medication and it even smells nasty. It usually took two of us to pin him down, and one to get the medicine into his mouth only to have him spit most of it out. He didn't seem to grasp that if he took it, his neck wouldn't hurt. But by the time we left he was doing much better with it. It just took some bribing with stickers!

I had to take a picture of his glowing toe. He thought it was awesome.

That night, Aunt Cici (Kelsey) and Tadd came to visit him. Kade was very excited to see them both.

We played some more. And then went to bed. (This night, I just have to say, I'm really sad about. My friend went into labor and had her baby and I slept through it. I was supposed to photograph it while Aaron stayed at the hospital with Kade. I'm still really sad I missed it. I'm sorry Janine.)

The next morning bright and early (very early...Kade and I were still sleeping) Dr. H. came in to clear Kade to go home. We slept for a little longer, woke up, ate breakfast while we waited for Aaron to come back from work, and then got ready to leave. Aaron and Kade played in the play room while I packed everything up. He had to get one last play in. He didn't want to leave. The nurse told him he could bring a car home with him and he thought that was okay. It at least got him in the wagon and leaving. He would only get in it though if I was pulling it. He thought the nurse was going to take him from us again. So sad. We eventually got out of there though. Thank goodness!

When we got into the car it took some coaxing, again, to get him to leave. He waited to throw his aforementioned fits until we were leaving. Better late than never? No. Never would have been better. Oh well, he's 2.

After Kade came home, everything was fantastic. You would never have suspected he'd just had surgery. He didn't seem affected, still. He was taking his medicine fantastically, everything was great. He hasn't even needed pain medication for the past two days. Until yesterday. He's started complaining more. Yesterday it looked a little puffy but still not anything I was worried about. Today, different story. This morning I looked at his neck and it was SO swollen. I was worried enough to call the doctor. So I did. After explaining what was happening, he asked us to meet him at his office. Part of me felt horrible for dragging the doctor out on a Sunday (in his suit and all) and the other part of me felt very grateful to have a doctor that didn't just blow us off until Kade's follow up appointment on Tuesday.

Once the doctor looked at it, he seemed less worried but still wants us to watch it. He aspirated it (three syringes full of fluid) and wrapped up his neck nice and tight to keep pressure on the area. If it comes back, we're looking at another surgery. Hopefully it doesn't come back!!! I don't want to do this again.