Hi! I'm Sammy
This is the story of when I had my heart operation
The doctor said that my heart wasn't working properly,
so I needed an operation.
One afternoon, I went to the hospital to meet the nurses and find out more.
I was a bit worried about it, but they made me feel a lot better.
The nurse took me and mum into the play area,
which was amazing!
There were so many toys.
We met a lady whose job was a play specialist,
she told me everything about the operation,
and I asked her lots of questions.
She was super fun!
Next I had some tests to make sure I was ready for the operation.
First, a nice nurse took my temperature,
and then she measured how much oxygen I had in my blood,
with a big peg thing on my finger.
Then the nurse poked a long cotton bud up my nose,
and at the top of my leg to check for germs, it was very ticklish!
The blood presure test was a bit strange.
The nurse put a bandage sort of thing on my arm, and then it got squished.
It felt weird, but it didnt last for long.
Next was the bit I was most scared about, the blood test.
Before the test, the nurse put some magic cream on my hand so it didn't hurt.
He got the blood out with a tiny needle, the smallest one I've ever seen.
One test was in a dark room, with sparkly lights. It was called an echo scan,
and I could see my heart on a TV.
And then I had an ECG, which is when you
have stickers with wires put on your chest,
and have to stay very still like a statue.
The nurse said the test shows if the electrics in my heart are working OK.
The last one was an x-ray, where I had to hold my breath,
and stand very still.
The radiographer who takes the pictures, could see my bones on the computer.
Which was cool!
and then that was it! All the tests were done, and I could go home.
On the morning of the operation, I had to get up very early
I was a bit hungry, because the nurse told me I couldn't have any breakfast.
This was so I wasn't sick when I had the operation.
Mum and dad helped me pack my bag, and then we went to the hospital.
I was nervous, but I spoke to mum and dad, and they made me feel much better.
When we got to the hospital,
a nurse brought me a name band to go around my wrist.
Then I met the anaesthetist. That's a difficult word to say!
She said she'd help me stay fast asleep for the operation,
with some special medicine, through a mask on my face.
or a tube in my hand.
The anaesthetist helped me choose which one.
She said I could have a pre-med, which is medicine to make me calm,
but I was feeling OK, so I said no.
I talked to the surgeon as well,
and he told me he'd done the operation on lots of other children.
Mum and dad spoke to him too.
Next, I had a wash with special shower gel,
and the nurse helped me put on a funny backwards robe,
and then I was ready.
Here I am, just before the operation, with mum and dad.
The anaesthetist told me she would be looking after me
when I was asleep, which was nice.
Then she said that it was time for the operation, and checked that I was OK.
Then the weird bit happened.
The doctor put the mask with the medicine on my face,
and asked me to count to ten.
All I remember was counting to five, then I fell fast asleep.
After the operation, I woke up in a place called the Intensive Care Unit.
I had lots of wires on me, and tubes sticking out of my tummy.
It was a bit scary, but mum and dad were there, so that made me feel better
Mum said the operation went well,
but I did feel achy and sore and tired.
I slept a lot when I was there.
I also had a tube in my mouth so I couldn't talk, and felt a bit thirsty.
But mum said it was normal, and it was helping me.
After a while I was feeling better, so the nurse took out some of the tubes,
and I moved to the High Dependancy Unit.
I still felt quite tired,
but I read books and watched lots of videos with mum and dad.
When I was feeling even better, I moved to the ward with the other children.
This was really fun, because we could play with all the toys.
Then, one day the doctor said I was doing really well, and I could go home!
Saying goodbye to my new friends at the hospital was a bit sad,
but I was so excited to see my friends at home.