Paraumbilical hernia

Who doesn't love a post that has HERNIA in the title?

Ryan has had a paraumbilical hernia for several months now. The downside of it was that it was slightly painful and it had a risk for infection. The upside was that he got out of moving families in and out of our ward with our church.

He went to the doctor who recommended surgery. I had the brilliant idea to wait until the baby was born so he could have more time off at home with our little Sam. Little did I know that I would be having surgery too (a C-section) and we would have similar restrictions with lifting and both be on pain medications. Luckily my mom would be coming to lend a hand to take care of me, the baby AND Ryan. We joked that we would have different sounding bells to let her know when we were ready for meds and lunch. She was game for anything as long as she got to be with Sam. Luckily for her, I healed quickly from the C-section.

My mom watched Sam while Ryan and I went to Duke Hospital for his out patient surgery. Ryan's main concern was getting his IV as he is very squeamish when it comes to needles. He did a great job and I got to kiss him in pre-op before he was wheeled away. As they were wheeling him off, the anesthesiologist gave him some medication "that was like Jack Daniels." Ryan said, "Well, I am Mormon and don't drink so this is the best I can get."

I waited patiently while he was in surgery. It was too small for it to be laproscopic but they did need to intubate him as the surgery was in the abdomen. He ended up with a few stitches and a new INNY belly button.

I came back to post-op room to see Ryan coming off the anesthesia. He was a HOOT. He was acting completely manic. He was yelling, "DUKE SUCKS. I know, I work here!" He was telling the nurse from Ohio State that she should have gone to BYU. He said, "What do you mean you don't know about BYU? It was #12 last year in football. Ty Detmer played for BYU."

When the docs made their rounds to see how Ryan was doing, I asked if he would be able to pick up the baby. They asked how big the baby was. Ryan said, "My baby is FAT. We need to put him on Adkins."

He was very entertaining. I wish I brought my video camera.

He has healed nicely and has returned to work.