My brave little boy

Yesterday, Alex had to take a trip to the OR at the local children's hospital. This was his fourth surgery, at the ripe, old age of 7! It was nothing major, he just had to have tubes removed from his ears. (Putting them in, and losing his adenoids was surgery number 2.) All of his surgeries have been minor, but still not something he looked forward to. Having experience with general anesthesia, he knew what to expect, and he knew he didn't want to do it. He asked a few times why we couldn't just leave the tubes in, he didn't mind them at all. But they were not coming out on their own, and causing all sorts of irritation. They had to go. I promised he would be spoiled rotten that day, but that didn't seem to change his apprehension. The spoiling started the night before. He couldn't sleep, so he was treated to a very long back rub, until he drifted off. He was quite the trooper in the morning. He got up and dressed without complaint. He didn't even mind not eating or drinking, he knew the drill by now. He wasn't so happy that the girls were dropped off at Uncle Joe's house. (He has 3 chihuahuas...the girls were thrilled with the arrangement!) But still he didn't complain. I could see his nervousness increase as we waited to get called in for the pre-op procedures. Still, no complaints. Once he was "dressed" we went into another pre-op room that had a PS2. That was cool... until the anesthesiologist showed up. He knew the good times were coming to an end. After a few minutes of talking, including my husband asking how long he had been on duty, it was time to head to the OR. Alex was so brave! He quietly chose the yellow Hummer power wheels to drive to the OR. He almost took out a few nurses in the hall, but did a nice job parking. We walked into the OR together, and he went right to the table, climbed right up, and laid down. I sat next to him and held his hand. I could see he was trying not to cry, he was being so brave! I place my hand on his chest, and I could feel his heart beating a mile a minute. I felt so sorry for him, yet so thankful that I could be there with him. They placed the mask on his face, and the Doctor told a few lame jokes. He even got a little smile out of Alex! As I talked to him,his little eyelids fluttered shut. "He can't hear you anymore." I was told. I kissed his cheek, and gave him three squeezes on the arm, our secret "I love you". Then I was escorted out of the room. Even with a minor procedure, I can't tell you how strange it feels to leave your unconscious child on an operating table. I did a good job sucking it up, and I didn't even cry this time! The surgery was quick, and went well. We were called into the recovery room a few minutes before he woke up. He was little confused. One minute mommy's standing over him in the OR, the next minute mommy and daddy were standing over him in a different room. After the initial confusion, he came out of the anesthesia better than in the past. He was very thirsty, and ate a popsicle, and some apple juice. I knew we'd be seeing them again..and we did on the car ride home. Some things never change. He's feeling fine today, and we've told him how proud we are of him. He has so much courage. He's learned the hard way that being brave doesn't mean you're not scared. It's doing what you have to do, even though you're scared out of your mind.