Surgery time

 Oh those darn Havard genes....they don't come from the Gottlieb side!  Poor Landon was born with the Havard crossed toe gene.  Scott has it, his dad has it....and come to find out another aunt and several cousins have it.  Scott and his dad's I don't think are as severe.  Scott's are crocked these days, but were never as crossed as Landon's.

Landon has always commented on his toes and wanted to know why they were crossed, when no one else's are.  I mostly thought it was cosmetic and that he'd learn to get over it, but as he got older he'd occasionally comment that they hurt or felt like they were poking him.  I even noticed the nails on the "tucked under" toe becoming deformed.  A visit to the orthopedist confirmed Landon would have to have surgery to repair the crossed toe. 

Luckily it was to be a short surgery.  The orthopedist would snip the tendon under the middle toe, releasing the tension that had been causing it to cross.  Once that toe could relax, it would naturally straight out the second toe.  The only bad news was that he would have general anesthesia and be put under.  I wasn't thrilled about that.  The majority of Landon's complications as a preemie were respiratory and airway related.  To this day, he still has a "floppy" airway, which results in stridor/high pitched inspiration noises while sleeping and during exertion.

 Landon knows daddy goes to the hospital everyday for "work" to do anesthesia, so we played this up as him getting to go to the hospital for anesthesia.  Luckily he bought that story with not many other questions or concerns.  Here he is after being checked in and changed into his gown.  At the children's hospital, they do everything they can do make the experience as pleasant as possible for the kids (and parents) - they gave him a toy, a hat and even a super-hero cape!

They also gave him "happy juice" to drink before he left us to go to the operating room.  The liquid versed basically relaxed him enough so they could wheel him away from us without even batting an eye!  It took probably 15-20 minutes to full kick in, but by then he was slurring his words, talking silly and emphatically stating that there were two televisions in our room (there was only one tv :)

 After what seemed like an eternity, they finally said he was done and called us back to see him.  He was awake, but did not look happy.  It turns out they had to intubate him during the surgery/put a tube down his throat to breathe for him, instead of using a less invasive airway device, because he couldn't protect his own airway.  However, as a result of using a more invasive airway device, he basically had airway spasms after they extubated him, requiring a breathing treatment to resolve.  Not to mention the pain associated with having both feet cut open.  He was not a happy camper.  I was on that recovery nurse like white on rice making sure he had two extra doses of pain meds!

By the time we got home, got the pain meds and some food in his system, he was feeling much better.  His little feet were wrapped up in dressings and ace bandages.  We received strict orders to keep him off his feet for up to a week to let the incisions heal and prevent swelling and tearing.  (It's only been 1 day and I'm already seeing what a challenge it is!)

We've tried to keep him busy with movies, computer games, coloring and rides around the block in the wagon...but he is still getting very antsy!

 Today we tried some science experiments with baking soda, vinegar and food coloring. 

 It was definitely a hit!

I'll have to keep hitting up Pinterest for indoor activities this week if I have any hopes of keeping him occupied....it's going to be a long week!  

In all seriousness though, I am so grateful and blessed that everything went well and that he had no complications!! From such humble beginnings to a strong fighter, he must be meant for greatness!