Today we met with Dr. Jill Benchell, Keyan's Psychologist, it was our last appointment before the surgery. Keyan has been feeling more anxiety about the surgery itself, what his friends may think about his surgery and if the surgery is going to work. He also has had strong feelings about why his bladder is not like everyone else's. Dr. Benchell talked to Keyan about the specifics of the surgery and answered questions ranging from 'what will my room be like' to 'is it going to hurt'? Dr. Benchell also gave Keyan some strategies about how to answer questions from other children about his surgery and reassured Keyan that it is up to him to decide what and how much he wants to tell them. Keyan has decided that he is going to tell his classmates that he had stomach surgery and if they ask what was done exactly he will say 'I was asleep during the surgery, I don't know what they did', or 'I don't know what they did in my stomach, ask my mom'. She also assured Keyan that Kevin and I spoke with many doctors and learned all that we could about his bladder so that we could choose the type of surgery that has the highest likelihood of being successful. Lastly, we talked about why his bladder is not like everyone else's, how there are other children born with Bladder Exstrophy (Keyan is always shocked that others are like him) and that everyone in the world is made up differently. We had a very good session and will continue to support, comfort and answer any questions that Keyan may have.