The First Surgery – We Made it Through!

Mason’s first surgery was a scheduled lip adhesion surgery on March 9, 2006, at 3 months old. He was scheduled to be in surgery by 12:30 p.m. We had to get him up early that morning at 5:15 a.m. so he could eat one bottle before surgery. 

When we arrived at the hospital at 10:30 a.m., as instructed, I checked in. We were then shown to the room where Mason would wait for surgery before being taken to the operating room and where he would be brought back to us following surgery. Mason wore a cute little pink hospital gown. I am sure he won’t think it is so cute once he gets older! He was perfect the entire time he waited to go into surgery. 

I was beginning to get anxious while waiting for Mason to go into surgery, because I didn’t know what to expect when he came out. Mason was finally taken back to surgery at 3:00 p.m. due to a back up in the operating room. Kevin and I were able to walk Mason back to the doors of the operating room, but had to leave once we reached them. I kissed Mason multiple times and hesitantly handed him over to the doctors. This child was happy and healthy, so what in the world was I doing handing Mason over to the doctors for, when he was not in any pain? But, I knew it was the best thing for Mason. 

Mason cried when I handed him over. I had to turn around and tell my husband to tell me to keep walking, or else I would turn around, pick him up, and take him right out of that hospital. Hearing Mason cry while we were walking back down the hall away from him broke my heart. 

The next two hours of surgery were the longest two hours of my life. We waited for Mason back in his hospital room. I tried to read my book, but found myself walking around and pacing the floors. The nurses did a great job of checking on Mason’s progress and filling us in the whole time. My best friend Julie, who is from St. Louis, arrived 10 minutes before Mason was brought back to us, to help keep us company while we waited. I don’t know what I would have done without her there. 

Pretty soon, we were greeted at the door with the nurse holding Mason bundled in blankets. All we could see were the blankets and IV. The first thing she said to us was, “Now, if you don’t like the way he looks, we can fix it.” She then turned Mason toward us. The moment I saw him, I started to cry and could not stop.

A Dramatic Change of Face


Mason right after his lip adhesion surgery

Mason was brought back to us at 5:45 p.m. He was groggy from the anesthesia, his face was puffy and his arms were in splints to keep his hands from going in his mouth. Right where Mason’s wide smile had been was a neat little line of Durabond glue on his face, and inside his lip were dissolvable stitches. 

I took my son from the nurse and sat in the rocking chair, and the tears came in full force. I cried because he looked so beautiful. I cried because he was in pain. I cried because I was relieved. I cried because I mourned the loss of the wide smile I came to love. I cried because I was overjoyed with the new smile that was to come. My emotions were all over the map. I was shocked at the transformation that had taken place in less than two hours time. I couldn’t stop crying because Mason would moan pitifully, and I didn’t know what to do for him other than hold him and love him. 

My husband is a very strong person. He took Mason from me, and had me go down to the cafeteria with my friend to get us all some supper, so I would have time to compose myself. When Julie and I returned to Mason’s room with our supper, Kevin had tried feeding him some of his bottle. He had taken about an ounce of formula and that was all he wanted. Mason just laid in our arms and quietly slept. 

At 8:30 p.m., we were allowed to go home. We put Mason in a little red wagon and took him from the hospital to our truck. We had decided to stay in St. Louis that night just in case we needed to get him back to the hospital. We went to our hotel to get settled. As I set up Mason’s play pen and put him to bed, my friend Julie took Kevin to Walgreen’s to get Mason’s medications filled. He was put on Tylenol with Codeine for pain, and penicillin to prevent infection. 

The first night after surgery, Mason woke up twice, once at 12:30 a.m. and then at 5:30 a.m. for a bottle and pain medicine. That night, I kept waking up and would check on him to make sure he was doing all right. My emotions were shot, and I was so tired. But I couldn’t rest, as I was afraid that I wouldn’t hear Mason cry. I know that sounds silly because he was in the same room as us, but I was constantly on edge. I wanted to make sure he was comfortable and in no pain. 

The following morning we took him to Dr. O’Brien’s office because we thought he had lost his appliance because we couldn’t see it. As it turns out, Dr. O’Brien had made a new one, and it was already in his mouth! We felt incredibly silly not knowing this, but were happy that we took him to be looked at just in case. We then headed home. We couldn’t wait for our family to see Mason, so we stopped by Columbia to see my mom and sister, who both work at State Farm, so they could see Mason’s handsome face. They could not get over his transformation and couldn’t wait to hold him! 

In the weeks that followed, Mason had healed nicely, and he even gave his first “new” smile. He always had found a way to wriggle out of hiss arm splints, and that was the hardest part of his recovery! We could never keep them on him! You never will forget the way your child looked before surgery, but after you see the dramatic change that takes place, you will easily fall in love with his new face. I was worried about how hard it would be for me to get used to Mason’s new look, but it was not an issue. I was so happy he healed well and that he had no complications.