So we had palate repair surgery Monday August 5th! I am going to share with all of you the craziness leading up to this day and everything that happened the day of surgery and the week after.
So I was completely sick to my stomach the almost two weeks leading up to surgery. I always get like this. We showed up to the hospital to do pre-op two weeks prior, as soon as I seen the Children's Surgery Unit I immediately got nauseas! My Nanny was with me and she laughed at me because the same thing happened for lip repair. They gave me a date and I immediately thought I had a stomach flu.
So the next week (the week before surgery) I would make a list of things I needed or wanted to take. I told myself if I started packing sooner than the day before! We would just rent a moving truck and move down there (which is going to be funny when you keep reading). So the day before my husband and I both came down with a common Texas summer time allergy issue. His lasted 2 days mine of course lasted 5! So we were just being lazy the day before and finally started packing about 2pm.
What did I pack:
For him and I, I packed enough clothes for 5 days! Clothes that could get bloody the first two days! Laptops, toiletries, my husband made me pack some Charmin (he doesn't like the cheap stuff! LOL), When I delivered Adley, Jason had an allergic reaction to the detergent the hospital used so I packed him pillows and blankets. I just took my pillows! Flip flops to wear around the room, cash for vending machines, comfy clothes, just the normal "Weekender Bag"!
For Adley:
I packed 10 outfits, 10 sets of jammies, socks, hair bows (Necessities), strawberry pedialyte (the hospital only had clear and who likes that??), formula (even though the hospital provided it I am glad I did because they only had two boxes of her kind left) Diapers, wipes, 5 blankets, two towels, her minnie, her monte cleft bear, her 2 light up toys, our life saver THE IPAD! It really seems like more than that but I guess in a hospital room it is cramped so it felt like more.
We left our house at 4:15 and met my parents down the road at 4:30! My parents and my nanny followed us downtown! We got to the Children's day surgery floor, we got checked in right at 5:30am, watched RIO until they called us back! Once we got back there they put us in a play area, weighed her, checked her temperature, had her put on a hospital gown, Etc. While we were waiting for the doctor to get there we were playing with her! Well there was another family in the playroom with us! They had a little boy about 5! He was coming in to do a sedated MRI or CT I cant remember! He had a brain tumor that was removed and he had some scar tissue that was giving him problems, they were also checking to see if anything had come back! TALK ABOUT GIVE YOU A REALITY CHECK! Seriously our issue was so minute compared to what they had been through. He was so sweet! So were his parents! The head of anesthesia happened to get our surgery that day! Her and her sweet assistant came in looked at Adley listened to her breathe, checked her pulse ox, ran over their check list and they were ready! They gave her some happy meds, Dr. T stopped and made fun of me a little (I am always making him crazy) told me everything would be great and he would see me in a few hours) put her on a gurney and away they went! They were out of there right on time at 7am!
She was finished with surgery by 11am, we were in the PACU for about an hour! The nurses in the PACU are always so sweet! They were holding Adley when we walked back. She was the only patient in there at the time. About noon our room was ready and we headed upstairs to the 8th floor! We were in the Roger Clemens floor of the hospital everything was all about baseball up there. The first day Adley would wake up moaning but I am still not convinced that was from pain. I think it was more from the anesthesia. She was pretty well sedated on Morphine for the first day. She had a stitch that was in her tongue and it was pulled out and attached to her face. That was the worst part. Thank goodness they took it out first thing tuesday morning. They weaned her off the morphine on Tuesday morning as well. She started taking oral pain meds once the oral pain meds kicked in I started trying to give Adley pedialyte by mouth through the syringe with the catheter on the end. She only took about 1 or 2 CC's the first time then wanted a break, shortly after I tried again and she took 2 ounces, then 3 ounces but would not take her cup back that first day. We had a really good nights sleep the next night she slept about 9 hours which she normal sleeps 12.
She was finished with surgery by 11am, we were in the PACU for about an hour! The nurses in the PACU are always so sweet! They were holding Adley when we walked back. She was the only patient in there at the time. About noon our room was ready and we headed upstairs to the 8th floor! We were in the Roger Clemens floor of the hospital everything was all about baseball up there. The first day Adley would wake up moaning but I am still not convinced that was from pain. I think it was more from the anesthesia. She was pretty well sedated on Morphine for the first day. She had a stitch that was in her tongue and it was pulled out and attached to her face. That was the worst part. Thank goodness they took it out first thing tuesday morning. They weaned her off the morphine on Tuesday morning as well. She started taking oral pain meds once the oral pain meds kicked in I started trying to give Adley pedialyte by mouth through the syringe with the catheter on the end. She only took about 1 or 2 CC's the first time then wanted a break, shortly after I tried again and she took 2 ounces, then 3 ounces but would not take her cup back that first day. We had a really good nights sleep the next night she slept about 9 hours which she normal sleeps 12.
Of the things I packed what did we use:
Well my husband and I used the normal stuff for the days that we were there!
Adley on the other hand used Exactly 2 shirts and 1 pair of shorts.
Haha! Funny I know!
Her IV was in her foot so honestly it would have been more of a pain to put shorts on her than not too!
The first day, she was asleep 80% of the time, and still bleeding so I just let her go without a shirt like I got her back in recovery. The second day she wore a shirt and a diaper, and the third day she wore a shirt, and shorts when we were headed home!!!!
Hi…My name is Karl Schonborn and I really enjoy reading your blog posts. I was born with a cleft lip and palate and know firsthand about the difficulties many children experience as a result. My childhood was fraught with taunts of “Harelip” and bullying, but with courage, humor, and my family’s love, I overcame the shame, handicaps, and personal losses that might’ve defeated others less resolute. My memoir, Cleft Heart: Chasing Normal, will be released in October. I currently update my own blog and would love if you could check out my postings at KarlSchonborn.com. It’d be great to connect on twitter (@KarlSchonborn) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CleftHeartChasingNormal). I am always looking for new people to follow and connect with through social media! Thanks for your time and for the great posts on your site.
ReplyDelete