Bye Bye Belly Button - Surgery Update

After a consultation with a Pediatric Surgeon in early December it was decided that Carson needed to have surgery to repair his Umbilical Hernia. His surgery was scheduled for December 31st.

We were all a bit nervous that morning but thankfully surgery was scheduled for 7am which didn't allow us too much time to really think about it.

We arrived at the Surgical Center at Dell Children's Hospital and Carson was his normal happy self making all the nurses and Grandma Karen laugh.

After surgery the surgeon explained that although he had hoped he wouldn't have to remove any skin, it appeared that it was unlikely to return to its normal state so he went ahead and removed the stretched out skin. This resulted in a larger incision above the initial incision. The good news is that the added incision will likely disappear into his new belly button.

Carson did really well with the surgery. He cried just a little in the recovery room. I don't believe he was in any pain at all. I think the tears were more from the confusion and anxiety associated with the anesthesia. He slept most of the day in my arms. When ever I tried to lay him down next to me in the bed, he would wake up and cry. I guess he just wanted me to hold him, which of course, I had no problems with!

The surgeon warned us that the day after surgery would be the worst for him. Believe it or not, the picture below is the morning after surgery. Carson was up and about just like it was any other day! He was smiling and full of laughter all day long. You would have never known he had just had surgery! He really enjoyed playing with the balloons that the Gordon family brought him :-)

BEFORE

AFTER

We are very glad to have this behind us, although we all miss Carson's belly button...especially him. He loved to play with it!