I was right, those last six weeks went by way too quickly! It wasn't until Tuesday of this week that we were positive that we would be cleared for surgery. RG & Ryleigh had been sick with a cold and Emily had picked up the sniffles so we were unsure whether we would be able to proceed. The pediatrician gave us the green light and we were good to go for surgery on Thursday.
Wednesday was Halloween and we had to meet with Dr. Bauer and his nurse at 3:00. Since the appointment and the surgery were both on the far north side of Chicago we would be spending the night at RG's cousin's house in Northbrook. Ryleigh would stay home with my parents to go trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. To celebrate the holiday Emily wore her puppy costume into the Doctor’s office and they thought that she was just the cutest; I’d have to agree :)
Dr. Bauer came in to have a look at Emily and discuss his plans. He would be inserting two large tissue expanders, either 500 or 750 milliliters. He would also try to excise the larger satellite on her left forearm. It is currently the size of a nickel but would increase in size as she continues to grow. He said that removal would be dependent on where they would have to put her IV, so it may or may not happen this time around. After Dr. Bauer left we sat with his nurse for about an hour to talk about the procedure and how we would need to care for her after the surgery.
Dr. Bauer came in to have a look at Emily and discuss his plans. He would be inserting two large tissue expanders, either 500 or 750 milliliters. He would also try to excise the larger satellite on her left forearm. It is currently the size of a nickel but would increase in size as she continues to grow. He said that removal would be dependent on where they would have to put her IV, so it may or may not happen this time around. After Dr. Bauer left we sat with his nurse for about an hour to talk about the procedure and how we would need to care for her after the surgery.
After leaving Dr. Bauer's office we decided to 'treat' ourselves to a nice dinner at Ruth's Chris, after all Thursday would be our 4th Anniversary. I was a little apprehensive taking a 6 month old into such a nice restaurant, but she did great! She slept the entire time. While at dinner we got the call from the hospital to tell us that we would be the first surgery of the day and that we needed to be there at 6 am.
That night Emily did not want to go to sleep. I don't know if it was being in a new place or if subconsciously she knew that something was coming. I finally got her to sleep around 10. Since she had gone to sleep so late I was hesitant to wake her up to give her a bottle at midnight, but since this would be her last bottle until after surgery I had to do it. Good thing that I did, she took a full 8 ounces! And fortunately she went right back to sleep.
I tossed and turned the rest of the night and 5 am came all too quickly. We left Emily asleep while we got ready and packed up our things. By 5:30 we were in the car and on our way to the hospital. Once we got to the hospital there wasn't much to do but sit and wait. A few nurses came in and took Emily's vitals, had us sign some forms and changed her into the smallest hospital gown that they had, that was still way too big for her. Dr. Bauer and the anesthesiologist came in around 7:15 just to talk through the plans once more. The anesthesiologist explained that they would first put Emily to sleep with sleeping gas and then they would insert and IV into her foot and do a caudal block in her lower back. This is similar to an epidural and would numb her from the waist down. This type of anesthesia would minimize the need for narcotics.
Around 7:30 the nurse came back to get us to take us to a pre-op holding area. We waited here with Emily until close to 8:00. Emily was bumped from the first spot of the day by a little girl who had a cleft pallet corrected the week before. They were doing a quick procedure to remove her stitches. Emily was in pretty good spirits this whole time. I figured that once she was awake she would want a bottle and start to fuss. Fortunately for us she never really did. The OR nurse came to get her around 8:00. I had a knot in my stomach watching the nurse walk away with her, but I knew that she was in the best hands.
RG and I decided to head to the Cafeteria for a bite to eat while we waited. I really wasn't in the mood to eat, but knew that it could be awhile before our next chance to eat. After we ate we headed to the surgical waiting room where we passed the time by playing on our phones. It wasn't long before the phone rang and it was for us. RG spoke to the nurse and they said that she was in recovery and that everything had gone well. Now we just had to wait for her to wake up before we would be allowed to go back and see her. This seemed to take FOREVER! After 45 minutes Dr. Bauer came in and met with us to tell us that everything had gone well. The only issue was the IV. He said that half the time she was in the OR was spent trying to get the IV in. They tried in both feet, both hands and finally ended up with it in her head :( He said that he had inserted two 500 milliliter tissue expanders and had filled one to 65 milliliters and the other to 70. Our first fill won't be until Friday the 9th back at Dr. Bauer's office.
Not long after Dr. Bauer left they called and said that she was awake and we could come back. We had to walk down a long corridor to get to the recovery room. I could hear her screaming from the end of the hall. When we entered the recovery room the nurse was sitting with her in a rocking chair and she was just screaming at the tops of her lungs. The nurse quickly got up so that I could sit down and hold her to try and calm her down. They covered the two of us with a few layers of blankets to try and warm her up. We tried giving her some milk, but she didn't want anything to do with it. After about 10 minutes of rocking I was able to calm her down and she was back to sleep. Those 10 minutes were probably the worst so far. It's so hard knowing that there is nothing that you can do to make them feel better. It wasn't long before the nurse told us that they would be moving us to a room. They brought a wheel chair for me to ride in with Emily and as soon as I stood up Emily started crying again. Any slight movement would bring on a crying spell. For the next hour and a half RG and I alternated sitting with her in the rocking chair trying to comfort her. We were finally able to get her to take some milk; she had to be starving at this point since it had been at least 12 hours since she last ate.
At this point we were still unsure if we were going to try and go home or if we would stay the night. All we had done was sit in a rocking chair with her and feed her. I was afraid to even move her, none the less change her diaper, any of her dressings and not to mention trying to put her into a carseat! The nurse told us that we only had 2 hours, after which they would have to admit us. RG went to grab some lunch and the nurse came in again to check on us. I ask her to help me change Emily’s diaper. Emily was not happy about this at all! We decided to change the dressing while we were at it. It looked like one of the drains was draining into the drainage tube, but the other was just leaking out onto the dressings. The nurse said that this can happen and it makes a mess, but isn’t anything to worry about. Over the next hour we were able to feed her 6 more ounces so they were able to take her IV out. Around this time RG and I decided that we should go home. We would be much more comfortable there and there really wasn’t anything that the nurses were going to do for her that we couldn’t do ourselves.
At this point we were still unsure if we were going to try and go home or if we would stay the night. All we had done was sit in a rocking chair with her and feed her. I was afraid to even move her, none the less change her diaper, any of her dressings and not to mention trying to put her into a carseat! The nurse told us that we only had 2 hours, after which they would have to admit us. RG went to grab some lunch and the nurse came in again to check on us. I ask her to help me change Emily’s diaper. Emily was not happy about this at all! We decided to change the dressing while we were at it. It looked like one of the drains was draining into the drainage tube, but the other was just leaking out onto the dressings. The nurse said that this can happen and it makes a mess, but isn’t anything to worry about. Over the next hour we were able to feed her 6 more ounces so they were able to take her IV out. Around this time RG and I decided that we should go home. We would be much more comfortable there and there really wasn’t anything that the nurses were going to do for her that we couldn’t do ourselves.
We have been home for three days now and Emily has been improving a little more each day. She has been sleeping for 5 – 6 hour stretches at night and napping regularly throughout the day. We are staying on top of her medications alternating infant’s Tylenol and infant’s Motrin. She is definitely sore and we have to be careful as to how we pick her up, but we are learning. Our biggest issue so far has been that the antibiotic they have her on has given her some very explosive diapers!
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| Surgery ain't got nothing on me! - 2 days post surgery |
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