V-Day, D-Day

Well we all know tomorrow is Valentine`s Day, but you probably didn`t know that tomorrow is also the day Lilah is scheduled to have surgery. She has had a clogged tear duct since birth, and no amount of duct massage or breastmilk-soaked swabs have been able to clear it up.  This means she has to go in for what they call nasolacrymal duct probe and irrigation, a very simple, quick procedure, but one that does need to be performed under general anesthetic.  So for us, V-Day is D-Day.  This impending event is something I have been trying to put out of my head since it was scheduled in December.  Denial is one of my best defense mechanisms (along with procrastination, of course - the two really do go hand in hand).

On Friday the Surgical Day Care Department of BC Children's Hospital called me with the particulars: our surgery is scheduled for 9:50 am on Monday, and we are to present ourselves at the hospital at 8:50 am on the dot.  Lilah is not to eat anything after midnight tonight, and she is allowed water and/or apple juice until 6:50 am.  After that, no food or liquid is to pass her lips.  That should be a real barrel of monkeys.

So we'll have a hungry, cranky toddler on our hands, but it wouldn't be the first time, and it won't be the last.  It won't exactly be a picnic, but, armed with TV, a couple of new toys, and Daddy's iTouch with some freshly downloaded kid-friendly apps for the waiting room, we can survive for a few hours.

The things that make me most apprehensive about tomorrow are the unknowns.  How will she react to the anesthetic?  Will she be scared?  Will I be allowed to be there when they administer the anesthetic?  Will the procedure be successful?  How will she feel afterwards?  Will her eye be sore?  Will she forgive us for putting her through all this?

There is part of me that knows this whole thing really isn't a big deal.  But there's this other part, the mother lion fiercely protecting her cub, who's dreading tomorrow; who doesn't want to put her kid through this; who just wants it to be over and done with; who's wondering if she's going to be able to sleep tonight.  I am quite sure I'm being melodramatic about the whole affair, but when the mama lion roars, we must heed her call.

If you have any words of wisdom for me, please be sure to leave them in the comments section.