5 Surgeries by Age 5

On Friday Evan had his 5th surgery. This was one pretty chill--removing the plate and screws that were put in for his osteotomy in March. Afterwards we had this conversation:

Me: Now you don't need to have any more surgeries!
Evan: Do I need any surgeries that aren't on my legs?
Me: No, you shouldn't need any kind of surgery.
Evan: Good, cause if I had surgery that wasn't on my legs then I would be scared. But if I had surgery on my legs I wouldn't be scared because I've already done that.

This kid is TOUGH.

We had to wait about 2 1/2 hours because the doctors were coordinating Evan getting an MRI and the hardware removal under one anesthesia. They had to wait for the surgeon and the MRI machine to be ready at the same time. It was worth it to me, though, to save us time and save Evan the anesthesia exposure. They had lots of cars for Seth to ride around the halls in, and we watched lots of Blippi on dada's phone.

Evan chose his dad to go back with him this time while they put him out. The two procedures took a little over 2 hours and then we were invited back to the recovery room to see Evan. He woke up grumpy, crying, and uncomfortable, but after doses of fentanyl, morphine, and oxycodone along with some orange Jell-o and apple juice, he felt much better. On the way home he was starving (he had fasted all day which was quite a feat when surgery didn't start until 2:30), so he had some snacks in the car and we stopped at Taco Bell for dinner. He sang songs on the way and was basically back to his full energy after a big dinner. It was such a different experience from last time. 

I was bummed that we were (once again) sent home without a wheelchair for him to use. I figured he wouldn't be able to go to school Monday because he didn't have a chair. Well Sunday afternoon he just up and walked around the house. No assistance. No big deal. He walked fine at school Monday and I cancelled his wheelchair order. He blows my mind sometimes.

He will be in walking boots for two weeks and has been told not to run. No jumping for a month. Nobody told him not to do drop kicks with a soccer ball so that was his activity of choice at recess on Monday (*eye roll from mom). The doctor said it was good we got him in now because his bones had already grown around the plates and they had to chip it away. You'd think that would cause some pain, but Evan keeps insisting it doesn't hurt. He's going to be super ready for the Walk-n-Roll in two weeks!