We went in for surgery on Monday morning. We had to be there by 10:15am, so we thought she was going to be having surgery shortly after. I can't explain how after all this time, we still never remember that we have to be there 3 hours prior to surgery, however, we forget this every time. We packed for a week long stay, just in case, because they had not told us how long they expected her to have to stay.
We went through registration, then we went through triage, and then straight back to her pre-surgery room, as usual. The nurse running her through triage was a little on the rude side, not sure why. But thankfully, when we got to her pre-surgery room, she had the same nurse she usually has. She's always very nice.
Clara got into her gown and socks, and got into bed. Johnnie had gone down to get breakfast for me and him, and got to the room just a few minutes after we did. Clara did her usual, she flipped through all of their kid's channels until she found something to watch, while me and Johnnie ate in between nurse and doctor visits to the room to talk to us about the procedure.
From the door to the floor, we see the check in guy, the registration guy, the triage nurse, the head nurse for the floor, the tech, the anesthesiologist, the surgeon's nurse, the surgeon's head nurse, and the surgeon. A lot of people in and out of that room in a short time. Clara pretty much just stays in the tv or phone and looks to me to answer all of their questions. I have to make her answer some of them, just so she will speak to them.
They give these kids what we all call the "goofy juice" or Versed, to keep them calm before surgery. They can get a bit anxious I guess. After about 10 minutes or so after getting the "goofy juice", she's a big ole' goofball, laughing at everything and being totally silly. This time she had me laughing so hard that I didn't have a chance to worry (or cry) as they were taking her back to the O.R., (I cry every time once she is out of sight, but not this time). When they took her down, we went to get lunch. The food we had for breakfast was horrible. The gravy over the biscuits tasted like spam and the eggs were hard. Yuck! So we hoped lunch would be better. We got to the cafeteria and saw that they had Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, so we thought if we got those, we'd be sure to have a good lunch. Nope. We got back to the room and ate, and they made us both sick. I guess they had been sitting out too long or something.
Dr. Burstein came in first. He said surgery had gone great and she was doing very well. He told us again what he had done and gave us some cream to put on her incisions. A little while after he left, a lady came in to take us to Clara's overnight room.
We went up to the second floor, where we met her nurses and got to settle into her room. The rooms were awesome! They're doing a lot of construction in the hospital right now, so they switched plastics to the old ICU floor/rooms. They're very large in comparison to the old rooms, with a comfy sofa bed, a desk, a tv, and a personal bathroom that's really big. The best part for this particular room though, was the fact that it sat above the main floor of the hospital. So when I was sitting in the bed, I could look down on Clara's favorite fish tank, the security desk, and the whole open area of the first floor, including the door where everyone comes into the hospital, (I love to people watch). ;)
Clara came in soon after we got to the room. She was in and out, as expected. She said she wasn't in any pain at first, but after a few hours the pain started creeping over her. She wanted to watch tv every time she came to. We don't have cable, so she was happy to have the Disney channel. She kept the tv on the entire time we were there. :)
On our way up to the room earlier, I had seen that they were giving away stuffed animals to the patients. So I went back down after we got settled into her room and got her a little stuffed horse. She gets a new stuffed animal for every surgery. This time we weren't going to have the money, but God provided one anyway. That was really great, <3 and she was very happy with her new horse. She loves horses almost as much as she loves wolves.
My brother and his family came to visit her. It was a huge treat for her. She was so happy to see them, and they brought her a cute little stuffed wolf, (cause wolves are her favorite animal), and she got to visit with her cousins who she loves dearly.
Johnnie had to leave when visiting hours were over so that he could come home with the babies. Mom and Daddy can't handle them during the night because of their (the babies) odd sleeping habits.
So it was just me and Clara for the night. We had dinner and watched tv, and then she wanted to get on her laptop. So she spent a few hours on her laptop in between sleeping. I went to sleep once she was settled in with her laptop, telling her to wake me if she needed anything at all. She woke me only so she could go to the restroom or if she needed me to feed her her drinks from her syringe.
They let us go after breakfast the next morning. The doctor came in and talked to me, but I was sleeping and wasn't fully awake while she was talking to me. I can only imagine how that had to have looked, me trying to talk back to the doctor as I'm steadily in and out of sleep. LOL Oh well. I'm sure it happens a lot. ;)
So later, the nurse had to relay everything the doctor had said to me. :)
Since she's been home, she's been sleeping a lot.. she's been asleep more than she's been awake. She's swelled up pretty badly too, which she usually does after a surgery like this one. But she's been hurting with this one too and that is unusual for her. She usually doesn't need pain meds more than a day or two after, but she has been keeping up her pain meds this time.
Her grandparents (Johnnie's parents), sent her a get well package that brightener her whole day. They sent her another stuffed wolf and she was in heaven! And the Minecraft coloring book sent her over the edge, lol, she was one happy camper. She's been cuddling that wolf and coloring in her book every time she wakes up. :)
Now she's in the livingroom, on her laptop, waiting to eat dinner. Johnnie said she's been up at night wanting to watch movies. I think her sleep schedule may be off a bit. :/
If you read this, please pray for healing for her.
Goofy Juice
Clara Smiling
On her laptop, talking to her sister.
Talking to Mary on the laptop, with her ice pack to her face.
Ready to go home
The view from my bed
We're home. :) She's sound asleep, with her Daddy right beside her.