We hit up the toy room for a little while. Talked to the anesthesiologist, the OR nurses. At 6:30 she got some Tylenol & Versed (to help her get relaxed before surgery). Dr. Troia came in at 7:05 to talk to us briefly. He even brought Livi a toy. A beany baby bear. We were told to expect about an hour for surgery & the same for recovery. So we prepared ourselves for a 2 hour wait. With her prematurity history & reactive airway history for which she had taken steroids for a while, they wanted to do an albuterol treatment during pre-op too. They gave her a mask to play with in the morning so she was comfortable with it for the "happy gas" she got before surgery. So during her albuterol treatment she used that mask to give "Melmo" a treatment too!
Livi was getting pretty loopy by this time from the Versed. She was giggling up a storm. Throwing her head back. She got the hiccups. She was funny. Everything was ready to go. At 7:20, they came in with a big warm blanket, scooped Livi up out of my arms.... and away she went. They did it very, very quick. Hard for mama & daddy. But much easier & less traumatic for her. She took her new Elmo & her lovie to surgery with her. I heard one "mommy!" and that was it. Then our tears started. We just sent our baby off to surgery! They gave her some "happy gas" to get her sleepy before starting her IV (which they told me took a bunch of pokes). Then they put her under general & intubated her. They told us later she never cried & she enjoyed pushing all the buttons on the wall on the way back to the OR to make the automatic doors open.
At 7:35 they called us from the OR to say they were starting. Knowing that it was going to be a long day & that neither Jeff nor I had eaten. I went down to the cafeteria to get us some breakfast & stopped by to say hi to my friend Laura. At 7:55 they called to say they were half way through already. I was still out getting breakfast, so Jeff texted me. At 8:10 I called to ask Jeff what he wanted to drink from the cafeteria & Dr. Troia was in the room, surgery was done. He did stop back by later since he missed me. He said he was proud I was comfortable enough to go down & get breakfast, but wondered where his was. Ha. {Honestly, it was more like if I just sit here & wait I'm going to go nuts. I have to get out. And if I go all day without eating, I'm going to get sick.} He said her muscles were very tight, so he moved the muscles pretty far back. And that it went well.
She spent her time in the recovery room rocking with one of the recovery nurses, sleeping all sprawled out on her lap. She also got a present from the OR/recovery nurses. An Abby Cadabby dolly to go with her Elmo. I really liked that they carried her to & from & snuggled her so much. I was worried they would wheel her out & in on a bed or in a crib crying. They brought Livi back into snuggle with us at 8:45. So our 2 hours we prepared for was really only 1 hour & 25 mins. It went very fast. We were SOOO glad to see her!
She had her eyes open. Though she was completely in a daze. She knew it was mommy & daddy, but beyond that she was pretty out of it. We rocked & snuggled. Her poor swollen & very blood shot eyes for the brief time we got to see them today looked very straight. We will follow-up in 6 weeks at which point we will know for sure how accurately aligned Dr. Troia was able to get her eyes.
She had a whole leg wrapped up for her IV. And bloody tears. They said her tears will probably be blood tinged for a few days. By this evening already they are looking so much less bloody. And her eyes will look blood shot for 1-2 weeks. They said sometimes after this surgery kids get nauseous because their vision is different. Not to mention the anesthesia. They had given her some apple juice to sip on & within the first hour, both Jeff & I were sitting in apple juice vomit soaked shirts. Oh well. (Just an FYI for other parents, pack yourself an extra shirt.)
Her IV leg
My poor sweet baby. Look at those lips turned down :( So sad.
Very dilated, very blood shot eyes. She has not let go of her lovie or her Elmo for 1 second since they took her back for surgery. To this minute she still has them both. She also would not let go of the sippy cup they gave her.
They got her some more zofran & she zonked out to sleep. We all closed our eyes for about 20 minutes. She was so sleepy & after the nausea, we stuck around for a while because they needed to make sure she would at least keep down some juice or a popsicle. So Livi had her first popsicle. Or first lick of one, she wasn't very into it. Dr. Troia had a clinic in Boys Town that day, so he stopped back up to see her before he left since we were still there. Otherwise we would have had to go see him in the office on our way home. He always sees patients later in the day, same day of surgery. Incase something comes up, I have his office, home & cell numbers. We will chat next week to check in & then go see him in 6 weeks.
We got another dose of tylenol, took out the IV (which was pure torture) & were heading home around 12:40. We didn't have any sunglasses to bring for her, so she got to wear mine home.
Its been a rough afternoon/evening. Maybe worse than I expected? When we got home she was sleepy. She cuddled up nicely on my chest. But she kept having outbursts of crying fits. Like nightmares from the day. Later in the afternoon they got worse. She would "wake up" and get almost manic. Kick, hit, flop around. Want "DOWN!" Cry, scream. We tried to console her, but she was unconsolable. So we just tried to let her have her space but keep her safe. It would go on for about 1-2 minutes then, just like that, she would be back sound asleep. She was never really awake for these episodes. This went on for about 2 hours. We were starting to get concerned & then finally she slept for an hour straight & woke up over it.
Finally around 6:30, I got her to drink some juice... by bribing her with fruit snacks. Fruit snacks are a great thing to have for your first "solid" food right? She drank a whole glass of juice, ate a pack of fruities & kept it all down. I call that success. She had a pretty good evening. Minimally tearful. I even got a few smiles out of her. She panics when we trade off holding her between Jeff & myself. Its pretty brutal. But its because she is scared, because since that time frame immediately post-op, she has yet to open her eyes. She is awake. Ate. Smiles, with a lot of encouragement. Talks. But won't open her eyes. They are pretty swollen, more so than earlier in the day. And a little bruised. I've been trying to put a cold washcloth on them, but she won't let me. Its not that she can't open them, she isn't trying to. She just doesn't want to. I don't blame her. I'm sure they feel like sandpaper. And Dr. Troia said she will have some light sensitivities for a while too. I did call Dr. Troia tonight just to make sure that it was normal for her to still not have opened her eyes. No one mentioned that to us before discharge & I didn't ask since she had them open in those first hours. He said it is common not to see them open for 24 or so hours. We can get her some artificial tears to help moisten her eyes. And call him tomorrow. First he said, call me tomorrow if she is still not opening them. Then changed his mind & said, no go ahead & call me tomorrow either way, I want to know how she is doing.
Now she is zonked out on the couch with daddy. I am 99% sure we wouldn't be able to put her down in her bed even if we wanted to. I feel bad for her I couldn't put her down anyways. And we have to keep her from rubbing her eyes, which I know she would do if left alone. So for at least a few days she'll be sleeping with mama & daddy.
No sand, rough play, or swimming for a few weeks. Otherwise no real restrictions.
Her brothers have been awesome. They had a good morning/afternoon with GG. They have talked about Livi's Elmo doll, but to my amazement neither of them has made any attempt to steal it from her. They bring her drinks. Sit nicely by me & her. No jumping on me or trying to lap steal. I really think they have some ESP & know whats going on. We've told them Livi has owies in her eyes. And that she got an Elmo to make them better. Not sure if they understand any of that, but tonight (knock on wood) it appears they really know something is up. They were sweet angels. Thank God!
Thanks for all the love & prayers.
Now we're just praying for a good day tomorrow. A fast recovery to her old self. And an awesome check-up in 6 weeks.
Blessings to you all, especially Livi! Hope she has a quick and speedy recovery!
ReplyDeleteThinking and praying for a quick recovery! She sounds like she's been pretty strong through this whole thing!
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