While we were in the Outer Banks Liam stepped on something on the deck. At the time all of us (except Jason) were pretty sure there wasn't anything in his foot.
On Monday he was still limping and we had a pediatricians appointment anyway so I asked her to take a look at his foot. After some poking around (which Liam tolerated surprisingly well) Dr. Hammond was pretty sure there was something still stuck in his foot so she sent us to get an ultrasound. When you look at the ultrasound picture below you should know that Liam was laughing at a very loud Sponge Bob Square Pants show and Nora was screaming and arching her back due to starvation. We had left their school in the middle of lunch for what should have been a 15 minute weigh-in appointment. Instead we were there for five hours. I had nothing in my bag for the kids. No snacks, no drinks, no diapers, and no cash to get those things. Now you have a more complete idea of how that really went.
The ultrasound confirmed that there was a 1.5cm splinter deep in his foot. The poor kid had been walking, running, and playing on it since Thursday! It wasn't infected but did have a pocket of fluid around it. So, yesterday we had a consult with a pediatric surgeon. I picked Liam up from school looking like this. Liam (aka Flash) was a big hit with the nurses and the doctor.
So, we were scheduled for surgery with general anesthesia for the next day (today). Jason has been out of town for work so I was on my own to deal. Luckily Lynda swept in to save the day(s). After my lack of success in finding a sitter, she took care of Nora both yesterday for the consult and today for the procedure. I am so thankful for her. Taking Nora along to all those visits would have been hell.
Because of the anesthesia, Liam had to fast today before the surgery which wasn't scheduled until 5pm . So, this breakfast was the last thing he was allowed to eat.
He was allowed to have clear fluids until 2pm though, so I bought him a Sprite, a Vitamin Water, and an apple juice. He drank a lot of each one. And by the time we got back to Mt. Sinai, Liam really had to pee.
After our pee break we stopped back in to see Dr. Hammond to be "cleared" for anesthesia.
Then we ventured a few floors up to the ambulatory operating room. There was a sweet view.
We were called back and Liam was calm, cool, and collected until he was asked to put on a hospital gown. Full freak out ensued. He was screaming so loud that three nurses and the surgeon showed up. They told Liam he could just put his clothes back on. However, after another 45 minutes of waiting, a nurse showed up with a huge white suit for me to wear into the operating room. Once I had my suit on and was making jokes about marshmallows and astronauts, Liam became eager to put his gown on too. And then the surgeon brought him this surgeons cap with a Spiderman sticker on it. So, he was happy again.
And I don't have photographic documentation of the rest. As soon as we got into the OR he panicked. Complete panic. They stuck the sensors onto his chest and he tried to rip them off while also swatting his arms at anyone who came near him. I had flashbacks of our experiences at the dentist. So the anesthesiologist forced the mask on his face and through sobbing and panic he took a few breaths and then rolled his eyes back and passed out mid scream. It was crazy to see. Then I was shooed out of the room. Twenty minutes later I was called back in from the waiting room. The splinter was out and Liam was starting to wake up. When he woke up, he was really groggy at first and then immediately fixated on his IV and how it was "bothering him". He wouldn't even accept crackers and juice until the nurse took the IV out. After that the doctor showed us the splinter. I couldn't believe that it had been in his foot. I would say 1.5 cm was a conservative estimate of its length. And it was about as thick as a toothpick. After Liam polished off his crackers, we put his clothes on and left. We went to Lynda's to pick up Nora and she also fed Liam dinner. He must have been starving because he ate about 75 shrimpies in the 30 minutes we were there.
By the time we got home Liam was back to his regular self. He was limping around again on his bandaged foot and was eager to unwrap the gauze. When we did, it was amazing to see that the "boo boo" on his foot was barely larger than the entry point of the splinter had been. Liam took a bath, we slapped a bandaid and some Neosporin on there and now he's sleeping soundly.
All that for a splinter. The End.
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