Knowing the answers to simple questions
When we were in the pre-op room, you get asked a lot of questions by a lot of different people. Come to think of it, you get asked the same questions by different people. Makes me want to just have them typed out and ready to hand out when we get there.
When was the last time he ate?
What meds is he on?
Is he allergic to anything?
Is he in any pain?
Has he been sick recently?
When is his birthday?
How was the pregnancy?
Is his rate normally like that?
How have things been going?
Does he have any special coping needs?
Yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah…
And then we were asked, “Does he have anything foreign in his body?”
No, we said. His pacemaker and all the wires were removed along with a Gore-tex mesh.
That’s my baby – I thought – just like the day he was born.
“Does he have sternal wires?”
Oh yeah… yeah he has those.
“Does he have a g-tube?”
Oh yeah… yeah he has one.
“Does he have an IV?”
Yeah… he has a PICC in his right leg… Boy how silly we felt. I guess we forgot about those things.
“We just ask questions starting from the top down and usually there is something. Its ok.”
It just goes to show how used to those things we were. How we consider them an extension of him. How he will never ever be just like the way he was born. And the fact that we don’t get asked that question nearly enough.
