Surgery Fun

Yesterday was a long day.  But my hope is that it will change my child's life for the better.


We got up about 4:15 after our alarm clocks both decided not to go off at the time they were set to do so.  Left here around 5 and headed out into the darkness on our long trek to Kansas City.  


Because Craig was driving and not I, we got there in plenty of time.  I think we passed through security around 7:27 a.m.  Then we began the hurry up and wait of being in the hospital.


Anna was nervous but anxious.  We just got sat down and I offered her my ipod to listen to while she waited in the outer waiting room.  She asked, "Is it God songs?"  


"Yes, it is God songs."  I told her. 


 And as soon as she got the earphones into her ears they called her to go to the inner sanctum waiting area.  We talked to her doctor in the hallway as she was being weighed and checked in.  He wanted some x-rays before surgery so we made the trek down to radiology.  The radiologist saw her school t-shirt and asked if we were from there.  We replied that our kids attend school there.  He grew up just down the road in a "town" that is basically a church and a few houses. There may also be a bar.  So he knew the incredibly little town that we are from and that seemed comforting and homey.


They took some pictures of her knee and off we went back to the inner sanctum.  Then it was off to the lab for a required blood test and back to, you guessed it, the inner sanctum.  


From there the parade of docs, nurses, and staff came in to give us info and have us sign permission forms for surgery.  The child life gal came in and showed Anna  pictures of the operating room and recovery room which is their protocol.  I love that about a children's hospital.  We've spent a lot of quality time at this hospital in the past so we're pretty familiar with the routine.


We got a portable DVD player and Anna chose "The Bee Movie" to watch while we continued to wait in the INNER SANCTUM.  Finally, around 10:30 (an hour later than we were told) we took the trip to where we said goodbye.

Ready to go!


The surgery went great and Dr. L showed us an x-ray of her knee with the four HUGE screws in it in the consultation room after he was done.  We are supposed to get a disc of it so if we do I'll post it here.  It looked very painful.


Anna was in quite a bit of pain when we saw her in the recovery room.  They were debating whether to keep her over night since she was loaded up on pain meds and still complaining of pain.  But she really wanted to go home so she rallied.  


After eating a bit and then getting sick we got our meds from the pharmacy and headed home.  She had a rough trip home still getting sick a couple times.  


Once we were home and she was in mom and dad's bed resting she was MUCH better.  By bedtime she was able to eat some soup and crackers.  She even hobbled around on her crutches eventually.  I think if the percocet wasn't making her dizzy she would be able to walk around without them.  The best medicine seemed to be watching her netflix pick of The Toast Of New Orleans starring Mario Lanza and Kathryn Grayson from 1950.  It is basically a bunch of loud opera singing which for some reason she adores.  The rest of the family and our dog, however, just tolerated it so she could be happy.


This morning she had toast and tea for breakfast and is anxiously awaiting tomorrow when the wrap comes off and she can take a shower if she has water proof bandages put on her wounds.  


The surgery they did was to put four screws (two above and two below) just up to the growth plates around her good knee.  This will slow the growth in that leg ideally so that her CP leg can try to recoup some of the 2.7 cm disparity in length between her two legs.  They also shot some more botox into her CP leg to help give her some flexibility (the REAL reason that botox was put into medical use, I believe.  And you thought it was for wrinkles).


And now, I'm happily off to my real life of overflowing laundry and taking care of this sweetie.