Hudson's Surgery

On March 23, we threw Hud in the car super early in his pjs to drive down to CHLA for his meatotomy procedure. Hudson had meatal stenosis which is when the opening where pee comes out narrows. We noticed it when Hudson started peeing in the toilet before baths. Even when pointing down his pee would often spray upwards. I brought the issue up to his pediatrician (Dr. Brocket is who we saw at that particular appoinment) and she referred me to a pediatric urologist at CHLA. She was tearing up saying poor Hudson, he has been through so much already and she couldn't imagine if it was her son. That of course made me super nervous and sad for my little man. When we met with the doctor though, he assured us this was actually somewhat common and a fairly easy fix. So we scheduled the surgery and did our best to stay calm leading up to the big day. When we arrived, we were directed to a waiting room full of toys. Hudson thought it was pretty cool. It seemed like quite a long wait before they took some vitals then we waited a bit longer before being taken back to the prep area. 

They gave Hudson something that made him get a bit funny. We gave him hugs, told him we loved him, then they whisked him away. As they were wheeling him down the hallway he said, "dada I don't want to go" From there we were led to a waiting room where they post your child's updates by patient code on a giant tv screen. We were told the actual procedure was really quick, but the wait still felt like it took forever! 

On a side note, there was a little girl in the waiting room playing with Hudson who looked only a bit younger. She had a mask on and based on the way her parents were talking she was a regular at the hospital. She was taken back for her procedure shortly after Hudson so we talked with her parents while we waited on Hudson. The little girl had cancer and they often spent 5 and 6 hour days at the hospital. The little girl had just turned two, but couldn't celebrate her birthday with friends because her immune system was too weak and the doctors advise against it. I couldn't help it, I started crying as the mother was telling me this. It still makes me tear up thinking about it a year later. I told her I was so sorry and honestly I never know what the right thing to say or do is in those situations, but I was just so overwhelmed by the information emotionally. The anxiety I felt waiting for Hudson was so intense, I cannot even imagine waiting for hours in that room all the time and on top of that knowing your child is fighting for her life. After my breakdown and a long, awkward silence while I cried and she just sat there fighting back tears herself we talked about Dream Dinners. Of course as we were driving home later, I kicked myself for not getting their info. I would have gladly dropped off Dream Dinners meals for them and called the store to see if I could contribute in some way-such as paying the monthly meal assembly fee so they could just stop by and pick up their meals. I still think about them often, pray for their daughter and still wish I could have helped them in some way. 

So after what felt like forever, but was more like 45 minutes, Hudson's status changed to recovery room. Another 15 minutes or so later the doctor came in to tell us that the surgery had gone well. We were so relieved. Someone came to get us a bit later and walked us back to Hudson. When we first walked up he was still asleep. I just wanted to give him the biggest hug and never let go. As he woke up he was a bit upset (they had warned us that this was normal). They offered him apple juice and turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and he immediately lit up. He chugged multiple juice boxes (which we had to halt because we were nervous he would vomit it back up, but he was fine). He was pretty loopy and quite funny, even on the way to the car. By the time we made it to the freeway, he was sound asleep. By that afternoon he was jumping on his trampoline as if nothing was wrong so that was a relief. We are so glad that is behind us and hope that the issue is fixed, heals properly and doesn't return.