My two littlest had surgery on Monday. I had so much anxiety in the months leading up to this day. I hated that it had to happen and I hated that I had to keep it a secret from the girls. But the biggest source of my anxiety was the anesthesia. The thought of putting my girls under general anesthesia scares me for a couple of reasons.
First, my oldest, Ava, had to go under general anesthesia to have glitter removed from her cornea (long story: Part 1 & Part 2) and had a horrible reaction coming out of anesthesia. I didn't know how Sidney and Clara would react to it.
Second, this past June an article was published by researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital that claims: "Surgical anesthesia given to children under the age of 4 years may be associated with reduced gray matter density in certain brain regions, leading to lower IQ and poorer language development."
Well crap.
My husband and I talked with several doctors including our pediatrician, another pediatrician, the ENT performing the surgery and an anesthesiologist to try to weigh the pros and cons. Obviously, you know what we decided.
We may never know if the anesthesia has had an affect on their brains, but the good news is the surgery was successful, the girls did not have as bad a reaction coming out of anesthesia as Ava experienced and both girls are pretty much back to normal already.
My heart goes out to those parents whose children have to go through serious surgeries. And multiple surgeries. I don't know how they do it.
I'm so blessed to have my girls back.
No comments:
Post a Comment