Waking up at 4:30 AM

Waking up at 4:30 AM to go off shore fishing can be pretty exciting, getting up at 4:30 AM to take one of your children to the hospital for scheduled major back surgery is also exciting and will definitely send your anxiety level into orbit. On the other hand, My 17 year old son Jordan, was ready to go. He was bouncing off the walls and at one point announces” Come on let’s do this thing.”

July 12, 2010 at 4:30 AM my wife and I woke our 17 year old son, Jordan, to take him to a 5:30 AM check in at Wake Med hospital in Raleigh, NC. He was scheduled for a spinal fusion with implementation that was expected to last 2 ½ hours. This procedure was necessary because Jordan has severe scoliosis. Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine. In most cases children are treated with physical therapy and a sleeping brace. In Jordan’s case his curve progressed to 60 degrees with a rotation. Surgery isn’t even considered until 40 degrees of curvature. Because Jordan had both the curvature and the rotation he experienced chronic back pain and little to no lung capacity in his left lung. Often times with severe curves internal organs are affected.

Once signed in they took us back into the pre-op area pretty quickly. Jordan got a fashionable backless gown, a gurney and an IV. His Mom and I got chairs. The set up nurse asked several basic questions. When was the last time you ate? Are you allergic to any medications? Do you know what you are here for? At 6:00 AM Jordan got a surprise, his girl friend, Jesse, joined us. Now instead of talking our ears off there was a lot of kissing. Jordan ad Jesse not Jordan and his parents. Then the anesthesiologist came in to speak with us. He asked several basic questions. When was the last time you ate? Are you allergic to any medications? Do you know what you are here for? Then he asked if we had any questions and he was off. Then the scrub nurse came in and she too had some questions. When was the last time you ate? Are you allergic to any medications? Do you know what you are here for? There was a pattern developing. Then Dr. Mankin came in. He is Jordan’s surgeon, he too had questions. When was the last time you ate? Are you allergic to any medications? Do you know what you are here for? One begins to wonder if these people ever speak to each other. Dr. Mankin went over the procedure one more time and said basically 30 minutes to prep him and 2 ½ hours maybe 3 for the procedure, 3 to 3 ½ hours total and then off to recovery. 5 minutes later they took Jordan away and we went to the waiting area. Nothing left to do but play the ukulele.