Cole’s having his biennial colonoscopy, upper and lower, on Monday. Besides his diagnosis of cerebral palsy, he has Crohn’s Disease. He was diagnosed when he was about three years old after a bout of a bad breath eventually led us to our GI for testing. Crohn’s is an autoimmune disease that effects the intestinal tract, and also greatly increases the risk of developing colon cancer.
Cole’s been fortunate in that he’s fairly asymptomatic (Crohn’s can be debilitatingly painful), and so far he’s got a healthy gut…no polyps. However, he does have to have regular colonoscopies and endoscopies. They view things from both ends.
I know the two procedures are fairly risk free (and having recently turned 50 am due for my first), but I tend to get nervous whenever he’s under anesthesia. It just makes me uneasy until I can go back and sit with him in recovery while he comes out of the purple haze. He’s a bit like Alex the Lion in the first Madagascar movie when he’s shot with a tranquilizer…groggy, and hallucinating, and then passed out again…rising slightly and then out again…Sammy Davis Jr. singing the Candy Man.
Cole is also prone to seizures, which doesn’t necessarily mean anything when it comes to going under. Only a small percentage of kids have seizures while under, and it’s generally harmless. For me, it’s just one other factor that makes me feel uneasy about him going under.
He handles all of this in stride. He’s always been pretty chill about having to have surgery or procedures or blood drawn or whatever. It’s simply part of the life he knows.
I try to take example from his calm and generally do a good job of keeping my unrest to myself. I’d never want him to know I feel anxious about anything he’s going through. I want him to feel like he can look to me for support and strength. Because that’s what moms (and dads) do. We stand by our kids…
I love your brain 
Sending prayerful thoughts and well wishes to Cole for his procedure and recovery!!