The Nelson Family: Surgery

Sullivan was born with a cyst above his right eyebrow. We have known about it since the day after he was born. Then a month or so later we discovered another bump on his neck. Since noticing them, we've been monitoring their growth and consulting with his pediatrician on the next plan of actions. Sullivan's pediatrician advised us to wait until after he turned 18 months to ensure that his head plates were into the correct position. Over time the cyst on his eyebrow has grow and become more noticeable as he matures and his face thins out from baby fat. Most people say they didn't even realize he had a bump in pictures we took, however, if you have seen Sullivan in person, you would have noticed. At first, we were unsure whether we were going to remove them. But as they became more noticeable and larger, we felt it was necessary.

At Sullivan's 18 month appointment we again, like all other appointments, evaluated the bumps. This time his pediatrician gave us the go ahead and referred us to a surgeon. The next day we got a call from Dr. Wait's office and set up a consultation. The day after his consultation, the surgery date was set for February 13th at 7 am. It seemed like we have been talking about this for so long and then finally everything was happening so fast. I was excited for Sullivan to finally get these "bumps" removed, but then a part of me, even on the morning of surgery, wanted to cancel because I was scared if something would go wrong or he would be in too much pain. The procedure itself was explained to be very simple, however Sullivan would have to be put under anesthesia. This is something Mike nor I have never had to experience before, and now our 19 month boy would be.

So yesterday morning, at 5:30 am, we packed up in the cold and made our way to Covenant for Sullivan's surgery. We woke Sullivan up right before we left, leaving him in his jammies. As soon as we got to the hospital, he could tell this wasn't a normal Thursday morning. From the moment we walked out our door, Sullivan was very calm but quiet. I think he said maybe a total of ten words yesterday which only consisted of "no, momma, yeah and more."

The staff at Covenant was super and made sure to fully explain to us what was going to happen and also let Sullivan warm up to them. While waiting, Sullivan got to play in their children's waiting room which was a well stocked toy room. When 7:00 rolled around, we walked our little boy to the operating room doors and said our "See ya laters." Again our little boy amazed us, he did not cry once, that we heard of, but instead was very calm and quiet.

At around 8:15ish the doctor came out to talk with us. He said Sullivan's surgery went great. A little longer than expected (should have only taken 30 minutes) but he said Sullivan is doing well and he did a fantastic job. We learned from Dr. Wait that the cyst on Sullivan's forehead is a sebaceous cyst. This cyst was also larger than what we thought, just under the size of a golf ball. The cyst actually was underneath the muscle so that is why it took a little longer. We also learned that what we thought was another cyst on his neck was actually an enlarged lymph node. Both the cyst and the lymph node have gone off for testing and we are praying and praying the results that come back are good and normal. The surgeon said Sullivan is a very healthy boy which we should have little concern for abnormal test results.

Sullivan is doing very well. Yesterday was a quiet day with rest and light activity. He was "out of it" most of the day and his balance was off so we didn't let him walk by himself. Today is much better, he is almost back to normal. I'm sure he will be a 100% tomorrow. Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, calls and texts. Sullivan is our world and we are so happy to have this surgery over.