It goes without saying that surgery is pretty scary, Anyone of us would, I imagine, feel overwhelmed and nervous about the vulnerability of being put to sleep whist strangers operate on you. Can you imagine then the level of anxiety that a child with Autism has to face in this situation?
This was Archie’s reality just last week. He has asked me to keep the nature of his surgery private but is encouraging me to write a post about the overall experience. We both hope that this will hopefully support other children who may have to go into surgery themselves . If we can make one less kid feel anxious about the Hospital then we’ve done our job! 💪
Archie’s surgery was a relatively simple one, but the preparation before hand and the monitoring after have been, for us, the more difficult parts.
This was Archie’s first general anaesthetic and so we were obviously nervous. Couple this with his life long neurological differences and the contraindication’s of that, it was a big deal for us all. I have asked Archie to compose a breakdown of the day , in his own words (this can be found at the bottom of this post) and we have created a little bit of content to help support and encourage anyone who is in the same boat . Links here…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QOHNmL-X-S4
https://www.tiktok.com/@awesomearchie_/video/7364688728427711776
Here are Awesome Archie’s Hospital Hacks…. I realise that they aren’t really hacks but I do love a good alliteration 😉
👨⚕️ All relevant info will be given to you at your pre-op. If you follow the instructions to the letter ( ie food and drink consumption etc) you’ll be grand.
👩⚕️ Allow PLENTY of time for parking. Not being able to find a space near to the hospital is a stress that nobody needs the day of surgery!
👨🔬 Prepare your child in the way best suited for them😍 . Archie feels more secure when he knows EVERY little detail so, that’s what we shared with him. Gross but true!
👩🔬 Pack as many distraction aids as is possible. This means that whenever inevitable delays occur, your child can still be gaming, building LEGO or colouring etc. This makes the whole day a lot less stressful for everyone.
👨🔬 If like Arch your child is having a general anaesthetic, try you tube for little preperation stories. Archie watched this one…… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_InWeAjt88&ab_channel=What%3FWhy%3FChildreninHospital
but there are many more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYsi9WD3AD8&ab_channel=UniversityHospitalsBristolandWestonNHSFT
👩🔬 And as best as you can, try to at least appear calm. Ian and I were TERRIFIED the whole day but I managed to hold it all together until Archie came home then I had a blooming big cry. Archie needed us to be his backbone and we were proud to that for him 🙂
Archie’s Surgery day…by Awesome Archie himself.
I was a bit frightened when we first arrived at the hospital, but something that helped me was bringing things that I like to do at home, such as playing on my Nintendo switch.
We went into the children’s ward, and the doctor assigned us a bed to relax in prior to the surgery. The nurses came in and asked me a lot of questions, but if I was not comfortable enough to answer myself, then my mother was allowed to do it for me. After all of this, the nurses/doctors came back and put “magic cream” on my hands to numb the area as for it to not hurt when they put the cannula in.
When it was time for the actual surgery, the doctors wheeled my bed to the surgery room, and the anaesthetist put the cannula in my hand. Not looking at it helps very much but it did not hurt at all. I then began to feel slightly dizzy, then I fell asleep. Before I knew it, I was wide awake eating toast, and getting ready to go home. I just had to have my blood pressure and oxygen level taken a few times to make sure that I was health enough to sleep at home and not have stay in.
The whole day was easier than I thought it would be.
By Archie. c
