Pre-op complete, check-in is at 6am

First off, I just wanted to thank every single one of you that have sent messages, texts, emails, etc to Lizzy or myself. It is so reassuring to hear from friends and family and about others who have gone through what we are now. Knowing that we know someone who has either had ASD, or had their child's surgery performed in the same hospital is definitely helpful. It eases the anxiety a little.

As for the day's events: Today's pre-op took a total of about 4 hours, 6 family members and a bunch of tissue.

After arriving at the hospital a little before 8am this morning, Wyatt went through a series of tests to assure he was in tip top shape for tomorrow's surgery.

The morning consisted of:

• a general checkup with the anesthesiologist's nurse practitioner
• Wyatt became friends with her fast. He used to be scared of the stethoscope but today had no issues as they worked together to find his heart
• A couple of X-rays
• I had to hold his arms for this since Lizzy is pregnant. He actually did really well and even yelled Cheese the whole time as we told him we were taking pictures
• A blood draw
• I stayed out on this one. I don't do well with needles, especially as they go into close family members. Wyatt sang old McDonald through the tears of the blood draw joining Lizzy and her parents in tune. 
• a visit with the child life specialist
• she is going to be the godsend as she helps us keep Wyatt distracted throughout his recovery. The two girls have rhyming names... Sara and Kara. Coincidence?? I think not.
• an EKG
• he wasn't so sure about this until the nurse let him put the stickers on
• a review of the overall events tomorrow with the surgeon's nurse practitioner
• this was good because she walked us through everything including how they communicate, what types of medication he will take post-op, and just a general understanding of what tomorrow involves. 
• a visit with the social worker
• I feel bad because by the time she came in, Lizzy and I were mentally spent. We even sent Wyatt back to the hotel with his grandparents as he was over it. She tried to reassure us about it all, but we just didn't have the emotion to react. We even passed up a tour for tonight just because we didn't want to wait any longer. 
• Through each event Wyatt's manners were in full effect as he complimented them by telling them "good job!" That's our little trooper!

Now we have to try and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to suck. Friday will also suck. Sleep will be minimal especially the first night. I'm already mentally exhausted and we haven't even shown up for the surgery itself yet. 

We will arrive at 6 for check-in. by 7:15 they will cart him back for the surgery. So keep the well wishes coming. They help. They really do.