Solomon's pathology results

I took Solomon to the doctor (his surgeon) this morning and he got all 7 stitches removed from his cheek.  I must say he was very brave!  It was obvious that some of the stitches were hurting as they came out, but he screwed his eyes up tight and kept silent.  The doctor marveled he had never had a young child handle that procedure without crying before.  Yay Solomon!  A stoic warrior in the making!

The pathology report came back and nothing malignant was found, thank God.  The cyst was a "ruptured cyst" which is explains the second cyst that was found.  The doctor hopes that he removed everything and there was nothing he couldn't see that had spread, so that Solomon doesn't have to go through this again.

Healing should take about 6 months and Solomon will have a very cool/tough looking little scar.  He can said it's from when he was a pirate doing all that sword fighting!  (He's actually quite vicious with a play sword.) 

The doctor told me to be sure to put sunscreen on the area, before Solomon goes outside.  Because the UV rays can slow healing and make the scar more pronounced. 

Solomon has a little bandage on his face now, but after it comes off, we don't need to put anything back on.  He has a follow up appointment in 6 weeks, but the doctor said that if the area looked really good, then I could just cancel the appointment.

So ... now back to our regularly scheduled program ...  (Hahahaha - and what would that be?!  Life is a roller coaster for sure ...)

Solomon's surgery

Solomon and I left home in the wee hours this morning and arrived at Rex Hospital at 5:30 a.m.  He was fascinated how long it stayed dark in the mornings!  (He usually doesn't wake up until after 7:00.)  Today was the day he was scheduled to have the cyst on his cheek removed.

There was lots of checking in and waiting in different locations in the hospital:

Solomon and Lammy (confiscated from Tabby) in the 2nd waiting area

After about an hour it was time to go to pre-op.  The nurse asked lots of questions and then gave Solomon a most fashionable hospital outfit to wear:

super sporty socks

double ID bracelets - I got to wear one too

The nurse brought him a blanket that had been warmed - he loved it!:

Solomon and I had a lot of fun talking each other while we waited.  It occurred to me that that was something that we rarely had - extended and uninterrupted talk time!  He asked some questions about Lilly at the hospital.

 The anaesthesiologist was concerned about how Solomon would react when they took him away from me so she gave him some sort of relaxing medicine to drink.  He got a bit silly from it.  Another nurse then pushed Solomon on his hospital bed with wheels to the surgery area.  He thought a bed with wheels was pretty interesting!  I got to walk with them and then stay until time for surgery.  They were very punctual and took him at 7:15 - right when they said they would.

Surgery took about an hour or so, and then the surgeon came to talk to me.  He said that when he cut in to remove Solomon's cyst, he found that there was a second one starting to grow, below the first.  So he removed that too.  (Pathology is testing them to be sure there was nothing malignant.)  Because he had to make a bigger incision than planned, he used regular stitches to sew up Solomon's cheek.  He will have the stitches removed on Monday.

Apparently when Solomon woke up, he started asking for me.  A nurse came to get me as soon as they thought it was OK to bring me back to him.  Another nurse was standing and holding him and he was so groggy but his expression was "Who in the world are you and why are you holding me?"  They had me climb right up on his bed and then handed him to me.  Awwww ... he was extra snuggly. 

Then an older nurse pushed us to another department.  She was super fast!  I felt like we were flying down the hallways on that bed with wheels.  Solomon's cuteness brought all sorts of smiles and waves to him from people walking by.

Then he got a little time to recover:

A couple nurses complimented him on being so good during the whole process.  One said he was the best behaved 3 year old they had ever had in there.  (Score!  That was a "mommy moment" for sure!)  Another said if all little kids acted like Solomon, then she would be happy to work in pediatrics.  (I guess most kids are probably really scared while there.  Solomon was some - but he is like me - and holds in his emotions pretty well.)

Then it was time to have a small snack, get dressed, and then leave the hospital!  We got rolled out in a wheel chair.  That was a bit weird to me but they insisted I sit in it and hold him.  We drove out of the hospital parking lot at 10:00!

The inflated glove was a turkey - Solomon thought it was so neat

He fell asleep on the drive home and then napped for a couple hours.  His face was a bit sore when he ate and he was slower and wanted to be held more than usual.  But I think his recovery is going nicely.

Thank you so much, all of you, that prayed for him!