Hernia Surgery

Archer woke up Mom and Dad this morning screaming, which is not his normal behavior, and it was difficult to calm him down. Dad looked at his hernia and it was the largest he had ever seen. He could not reduce it by hand as he normally would. Mom made a call to the pediatric surgeon whom Archer was going to see next week to discuss when to schedule the hernia surgery. Archer had already made the decision to have it today. The Kumfer family headed to the hospital to meet the surgeon and had him give a final look to see if Archer indeed needed surgery. The surgeon reduced the hernia though he admitted it was fairly large and said it would be wise to go ahead and perform the surgery, along with a circumcision, later in the afternoon. Mom and Dad met with a couple nurses and the anesthesiologist who explained the procedure. Archer was then taken to the operating room as Mom and Dad said their goodbyes. The surgery did not last more than one hour and the doctor said that everything went perfectly fine. He spoke more about the process of the circumcision than he did the hernia repair. Archer was put on a ventilator during the surgery and he was off it as soon as the surgery was complete. He was then put on 1/2 liter flow of oxygen through a cannula. He was very fussy when Mom and Dad met him in the recovery room. He was able to take some water as he did not eat anything for the majority of the day. The Kumfers then moved upstairs to a pediatrics floor where they will stay the night to let Archer recover and have nurses keep a close eye on him. He has been very fussy when he is awake. This is common as the anesthesia starts to wear off. He is also very gassy, which is an affect from the anesthesia, and the gas could be making it uncomfortable near his incision areas. He is allowed to take Tylenol every four hours to help ease the pain. If all goes well then Archer should be ready to go home in the morning. Mom and Dad have been told that babies tend to thrive better, as in eating more and having less reflux issues, after such a surgery. Archer's overnight pneumogram study has been postponed until next week.