Adyson's surgery

The night before her surgery Adyson was playing with Loryn's barbie car and wheeling it all down the hallway and into the kitchen. She was very energetic and was so cute playing all night. Little did she know that she would be having surgery tomorrow...

Yesterday was probably the most hardest day of my life! Sending your child off to have major surgery is near to impossible...

Morning of the Surgery:

Following the pre surgery instructions I woke Adyson up at 1am to have her last nursing session. She was to have no food after that. I put her back to sleep and was woken up at 4am to her crying. It was perfect timing because I was going to have to wake her up again around then to give her some pedialyte. She drank a small bottle and a half. She was to have nothing after 4:40am. We finished getting stuff together, took showers, packed the car and headed out to the hospital.

Pre Surgery:

We arrived at the hospital at 6 am per instructed and checked in to the outpatient surgery. We sat for a little and realized we should go ahead and bring the stroller back to the car (we have a double stroller and it is a tank!) Ben brought that back to the car and I got Adyson out of her car seat since at that point she had woken up and was curious about all the kids around. Most of the little ones around us were having tubes put in. The nurse called us back, she put a bracelet around Adyson ankle, and put one around Ben and I's wrist.

We got back to the room they asked when the last time she ate was and if she had a wet diaper etc. Ady was getting a little cranky because she was getting hungry and was very tired. She got to play with daddy with the toy piano and mommy got to pump. The anesthesiaologist from yesterday came in and let me know that there would be another anesthesia dr doing the surgery. I was so nervous and scared and little Ady had no idea what was coming. Poor baby..

A nurse that assists Dr. Sargent came in and spoke with us about the surgery. Another nurse brought in her little gown she had to change into and we changed her diaper and her gown and were ready to go. They gave her something by mouth to help her not care and get sleepy.

Next they brought us back into another place in the hospital where we met some of the other nurses and residents that were going to be in on the surgery. It started becoming more real and I just started to break down and cry. How was I going to hand over my baby to these people?

Dr. Sargent came in and did a quick look at her and her papers and said "ready to go?". Ben and I gave her kisses and handed her to the resident who then walked away and we walked out to go wait. I cryed like a baby. Nearly impossible feeling knowing your little baby girl is about to have that kind of work done on her. I know she needs it done but it doesn't stop the feeling of knowing I put her here.

THE WAIT:

Ben and I went up to the PICU waiting room to check it out and see were we needed to be. There was only one other lady there a latina lady who didn't speak any english. My dad and grandma arrived shortly after and we all decided to go wait in the Ronald McDonald room on the third floor. It is very nice and set up for families that have children going through medical circumstances like Adyson. It has a kitchen and living room with tv and a library and bathrooms with showers. It is a very nice place and comfortable to wait in. The nurse called us every hour to update us on her progress. It was very nerve racking. Dr. Strait came down after he was done with his part of the surgery. The two main surgeans were dr. Sargent, the plastic surgean who was responsible for making the incision, reshaping the skull and putting the bones back on and sewing her up; Dr. Strait, the nuerosurgean who was responsible for taking the skull bones off and monitoring her brain during the surgery. We met Dr. Sargent before the surgery, he was brief (he doesn't have much bedside manners, but is an incridible surgean). Dr. Strait let us know that the surgery went perfect, there were no complications and she was doing well. He said Dr. Sargent was finishing up and would be done in a few minutes. So we packed up and headed back up to the 4th floor PICU waiting room so we could see her briefly before the wheeled her into the PICU. Kathi dropped the kids (Loryn and Elijah) off at Marci's house and arrived just as we were waiting for Ady to come down.

The wait is over:

I twisted my hands till they hurt and made myself dizzy going back and forth from the room and looking down the hallway waiting for Ady to come. Finally here she comes and it just broke my heart. She looked swollen already. The resident was manually pupping her air tube and that made me nervous. I was thinking of course I want to see my baby but first and for most I want her taken care of "get her in the room and hook her to the machine!". We had about 30 seconds and they took her in. We then were told it would be in 30 minutes or so before we could come in and see her.

Post Surgery:

We were able to see her after a little while. Told her we were there and took some pictures. They said she would be resting for awhile so we decided to go get lunch. We ate at TGIF, my dad and grandma headed home after that and Kathi, me, and ben went back to see Adyson.

After lunch we went back and visited Adyson for a little bit then I went and checked into the Rondal McDonald house and Ben went home with Kathi to pick up the kids. I went and saw Ady for 30 more minutes before leaving to go home to visit the kids. It was nice to see them and give them lots of hugs. I sure missed them all day. Ben and I came back togeher and visited Ady for another little while before calling it a night and going to sleep early. The nurses were incredible, so nice and understanding. I truly believe we have the best PICU nurses anywhere! It was hard to leave Ady overnight but I knew there was nothing I could do and she really was still drugged up and sleeping.

One day down ...