Surgery in progress!

We got Akins as prepared as we could. The hospital had provided a coloring book that showed all that would happen from the magic juice to calm him down, to putting the mask on with the puff of gas that will put him to sleep. Lorea sat down with him and read the whole book to him. We have been telling him that after he wakes up he will have a new belly button. He still seemed unsure of the whole deal and then last night he told me (it was not a question) "you will leave me there". I explained to him that he is my "goofy boy" and who would be my goofy boy if I left him there? This still did not pacify him. Finally, I got him to understand by explaining that he makes me laugh and who would make me laugh if I left him there. Keep in mind he has been left at least four times in his life. His mother left him, the lady who found him left him (unless she was his mother), The police officer left him twice at two different orphanages). So, from his perspective people leave him and they do not come back. He is certain this will be the case too.

We are at the hospital now. We got here this morning, he got his armband, a little panda bear that also got an armband that matched his and the magic juice that made him pretty high. We asked the doctor to give his panda bear a new belly button too and she said "I don't know how to do that" and she looked to my mother for help on that one. I said "that's a Grandma thing right"?

He went off to surgery at about 7:10am. Lorea, Mom and I wait.