Pre-Op

We had a motto for today:

"Let's Do This."

E was ready. We brought her favorite buddy, Mr. Pink, with us--he was having a procedure too.



She was fine up until the anesthesiologist carried her away. She thought I might go with her to the procedure room, but that isn't customary, and it was never really talked about. I'm sure she cried, but I never heard it. My heart broke just a little when I saw my brave girl go through the double doors, but I honestly believe this is a very good decision. My nerves were okay; this procedure didn't freak me out hardly at all--SDR sure did, though. Everything after that seems to be a cakewalk. ;)

An hour and a half later, I got called in to the recovery room. I was a little surprised; I didn't expect E to be crying so much. She was in a stupor, given her sedation; I also know from previous experience, she has a hard time with feeling woozy. She whined and cried constantly that her throat hurt (intubation during surgery), and her feet hurt to move. She had prickmarks down the back of her yellow-stained legs (from percutaneous lengthening of the hamstrings), and her feet were casted in a 90 degree angle at the ankle (after traditional lengthening of the gastrocs), encased in hot pink. The nurse gave her some morphine and fentanyl; she quieted down. She also gave her an oxygen tube, which she taped to blow gently in her face (oxygen saturation drops after patients get morphine). After a minute or two, E's eyes popped open. She grabbed the tube. She finally spoke something intelligible:

"That thing is annoying."

WELL, if there was any doubt I'd see my typically E that afternoon, not anymore.

I worried how I would get her home, given her pain; she had to ride in a carseat to get home, and I had to move her several times. She never once complained. I think she just wanted to get home.

Once there, we propped her on the couch and put a pillow under her knees. She rested; we watched some movies, but mainly I gave her liquids as tolerated and rubbed her stomach. Using the bathroom was difficult, as it was a two-person job. Annette and I traded duties with the kids--one of the priorities was making sure squirmy Vivian didn't crawl all over E. I gave Elena tylenol+codeine--which she'd had trouble with in the past--and after one bout of vomiting, we gave up on it. She tolerates Valium, so she's on that every 8-10 hours as needed.

Later in the evening, she was ravenous; she hadn't eaten anything all day. After inhaling pizza (I didn't think that was a good idea, but oh well), fritos, pretzels, and a bunch of other things, she seemed more herself.

She slept all night the first night.

Overall, A LOT EASIER than I expected.