We had one bad, one good experience, in terms of surgery. When she was in for her first, at almost 2yo, the nurse woke Li in the middle of the night after surgery to give her some painkillers orally. (Why you would wake a nicely sleeping child, I don't know ... ? I'd have just put it into her IV, which was still in place, but I'm no medical professional). She cried terribly at being awakened, swallowed the medicine, and then quickly threw it all up, crying more as a result. I'd never seen her get sick to her stomach before -- it was the first time and getting sick to her stomach was a shock for her, too, I think. I'd also not had a child projectile vomit on me before
and never realized the astounding physics involved. That was pretty horrible for her. And yet, she was up and about the next morning, smiling and playing at home by 10 am, she healed beautifully.
The second surgery, at 3, was much better -- I let them know of her reaction to the medicine the previous time and they altered the approach to painkillers, going her something while still under anesthesia that lasted throughout the night. Her surgery was late in the day, I think it ended about 6pm, she and I stayed up, told stories, watched videos, and played board games throughout the night (I figured then she wouldn't be placing pressure on the incision sight as she slept) and she was released early in the morning after they removed the bandages. I've previously posted photos of her (literally) leaping and frolicking actively at about 10am the morning after surgery, smiling from ear to ear. She slept like a log the next night. The incision healed in a snap. I kept her home from school for 3 days as a precaution against bumping against the others on the playground, but she was fine.
It's no small thing for a child (or anyone) to have surgery. I'm concerned whenever anesthesia is involved, whether it be on the dentist's chair or in a hospital. And no, people haven't died of CI surgery or complications from the surgery, but that doesn't mean there's not a risk in any surgery. As there is in anything we choose to do: place a child in a car, cook a meal in our homes, send a child into a school. But we can mitigate those risks we face as we live our lives with proper preparation (washing carefully, vaccinations, seat belts, smoke alarms, helmets).
