Having to undergo an operation is a scary experience, even more so if the patient is really young.

Earlier this year, I had to put my one-year-old son on the operating table.

While the surgery was for his own good, I felt sad that someone so young had to go through it.

When Justin was first diagnosed with this particular congenital abnormality, I, as a parent could not help but be concerned, even though well-meaning relatives whose kids have gone through similar surgery told me it was ‘very common’ and that the doctors and surgeons see it all the time.

The thing is, when it happens to your own child, the emotions you experience are very different.

You are not just feeling for someone whom you read about in the news or from stories related to you third-hand by another party. Everything just hits so much closer to home.

But he was a little trooper. Even in the waiting room, when the doctors administered sedatives for Justin and he was changed into hospital draps, he still went about his own way playing with the toys there.

You could see he was fighting the drugs trying to keep awake.

When the time came for him to be operated on, I held him tightly as I carried him into the operating theatre (OT).

Mind you, I have never seen the inside of an OT before, except on TV.

So it was all rather daunting to me, as I walked into the big and brightly lit room, with the operating table where my little baby was going to be 'cut open' set right there in the middle of it.

As instructed by the hospital staff, I held him close and sung him song to try to get him to sleep.

I could see him fighting sleep, as the curious boy was trying to take in as much as he could about his surroundings.

But once they put the ‘gas’ mask over his face, my little boy's eyes quickly closed after a couple of breaths his little eyes closed and his response to our calls was a dazed “uhhhh...”.

With that, I was ushered out of the OT.

As if sensing my anxiety, the nurse who was led me out told me not to worry and that he was in good hands.

She then asked if there were any complications, would I want to be informed or should the doctor make the call.

This was what got me thinking, as worst-case scenarios began playing out in my mind as I waited.

The wait was agonising, and I can’t even imagine what my little boy was going through.

Thankfully, we got the call to tell us that the operation went as expected and to come see him, as he was kicking up a fuss in the recovery area.

Being the toughie that he is, Justin was up and about in no time, with no hint that he had been operated on just earlier.

Back home, he didn’t even need the extra strong medication that he was given, which were given to us should the pain be too much for him to bear.

Justin has since fully recovered and is back to being as boisterous as ever.

I am just relieved that my son came out of this without any major incident.

I believe this was in great part due to the wonderful staff at the hospital for the excellent job they did on Justin.