We arrived Sunday evening at the hospital, then the doctors sent us home Monday to come back Tuesday evening. William’s surgery was bumped from Monday to today because they could not get enough stand by blood from the blood bank on Monday. William has a blood type with uncommon antigens. He did get a half unit transfusion at about 2 a.m. Monday morning (hemoglobin count was 8.1) but there was only one and one half units left. Before that, there was also a bit of chaos regarding miscommunication between hematology and the surgeon team. Apparently, the surgeon team was consulted to perform a partial or full splenectomy. Needless to say, this was completely against what JT and I had discussed with William’s hematologist, well before the surgery. We were consistently against the partial splenectomy because there are not enough studies for the outcome with sickle cell patients.

I was well beyond frustrated and confused at this point. Dr. T. assured us that he would discuss the matter with the surgeons and explain what we wanted and why.

We returned back to the hospital last night. After three unsuccessful pokes to my son’s arm, one of the nurses was able to get an IV in William’s arm. Thankfully, William’s hemoglobin count remained high (in fact it raised from 11.3 on Monday to 11.6). We finally met the head pediatric surgeon this morning. Again, we hear the words partial splenectomy. Initially, a feeling of disgust rushes through my mind. I tell the surgeon that this is not the case. We explained to Dr. T. that we wanted William to have a full splenectomy. The surgeon says that he will need to confirm this with Dr. T. and if there is any further confusion, he will cancel the surgery. As the surgeon continues to prep us for the surgery and procedures, I start wondering what communication error to place this time.

Thankfully, the head surgeon was able to contact Dr. T. to confirm the full splenectomy request. Dr. T. apologized and explained that he conveyed this to the residents on Monday but it appears the residents did not pass this important information along to the head surgeons.

Fast forward to around 8:15 a.m. We took William to operating room preparation. JT, my mom and I, said a prayer over William, snapped a few pictures with our camera phones and called loved ones. I cried for a moment when the nurse took William past the double doors… where I could not follow. All during this time, William did not cry.

The estimated time for surgery preparation and actual surgery was two hours. The head nurse was very kind to call us in the waiting room throughout the procedure. She called us regarding anesthesia, after they put William to sleep and made the incision, when the surgery was complete and lastly when we could see William out of recovery.

Surprisingly, the actual surgery was only about 30-45 minutes and the rest of the time was preparation time. Dr. T. came to the waiting room to advise us he saw the spleen in the bucket. The spleen was bigger than his fist (a grown man). We later found out from the head surgeon that William lost only 2cc of blood. I was so thankful for the news that I gave Dr. T. a big hug. Relief flowed throughout my body.

When the nurse called us to see William out of recovery, I nearly ran through the halls to get to my son. William looked very tired, but he looked peaceful and he actually looked better in the face than after his tonsillectomy on June 28. I told William that I loved him and he briefly opened his eyes when he heard my voice. My heart melted everywhere.

Fast forward now. William is now in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). He is doing very well. If things go right with his breathing, stomach and other issues, he will be able to go to a regular room some time tomorrow. JT is sleeping with William in PICU and I am sleeping in the waiting room. Unfortunately, the PICU policy forbids two parents from sleeping in a PICU room with their child.

God is Good. My son is a strong boy… God has truly blessed me with amazing children. I want to thank anyone that has been praying for William and my family. I will leave it at that for now. Must get some sleep because I am exhausted.

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