Last Monday, November 15, Fannie Bradley had surgery at Scottish Rite. Surgery was at noon so we got there at 10:00 am. Poor thing could not have a bite to eat or even a sip of any liquid before hand so we came prepared to divert her attention away from the hunger pains.
This child has somehow become OBSESSED with Elma (Elmo) in the past few weeks. We don't know how she even learned who Elmo is and we don't have any Elmo toys in our house. She has only seen Sesame Street, once maybe twice tops. From the time she gets up and sees him on her diapers to the time we lay her down at night, she repeats "Elma" all.day.long. I am not a huge character toy lover but thought we could bend the rules. She is just so darn cute when she says Elma and especially when she catches a glimpse of him.
Sooooo, Monday morning at the hospital was like an Elma themed Christmas Morning provided by parents and all 4 grandparents. She got a stuffed Elma, little Elma figurine and his friends too, DVD, books and a sippy cup.
FB had her birthmark (epidermal nevus) removed from her forehead/head and a lipoma removed from her back, by her plastic surgeon, Dr. Joe Williams. He is one of the best in his field and just we love him. She also had a branchial cleft cyst removed from her neck by her ENT, Dr. Erik Bauer. We love him as well.
For the past month, I have been working on getting this operation set up and coordinating these two doctors in addition to taking FB to lots of doctors appointments and pre-op appointments. Another reason for the blog vacation.
This picture is right when they brought her back to the room. The calm before the storm that was about to hit. They said she did awesome during the surgery.
There is a several hour lapse in photos as things got a little hairy. The nurse kicked out the 4 grandparents, nurses were in and out, and our main nurse called our anesthesiologist. He showed up in addition to the anesthesiologist who was on call next, to talk about a game plan for the rest of the afternoon. FB's blood pressure was high, she had a fever, her oxygen levels kept dipping, her limbs (but not her trunk--so weird) were flushed bright red and then she projectile vomited all over John. I screamed. Loudly. I had never seen or heard anything like that in my life, especially coming out of such a small body. I ran to the nurse's station and started screaming. We cleaned FB up and had to take off her dirty hospital gown, that she never put back on! Since the grandparents had been sent away, John's mom decided to run to our house and let the dogs out so she was able to get John a change of clothes. We impressed the nurses with his quick change of clean clothes. It's nice living in the same zip code as the hospital!
Late afternoon, they decided it was best if they kept Fannie over night and by this point we were happy about this decision. We couldn't imagine taking her home in the state she was in, so they wheeled her to a room.
In her room
Our naked girl who refused to wear the hosptial gown
We could tell she was about to fall asleep so we had to put the arm restraints on, she was not happy about that.
I apologize for the FULL diaper but we couldn't keep a dry diaper on this girl with that IV pushing fluids through her. We had to change her diaper every hour.
Finally at rest. She wouldn't let us put the oxygen mask on her face so we had to prop it up close to her nose and mouth.
After her nap, she ate some yogurt and ice cream.
Daddy and his baby girl
Our Gorgeous Girl
John and I both stayed the night. The couch in the room folds out to something that is probably 5 inches wider than a twin bed. We both laid on that, together, all 12.5 feet of us. I didn't sleep. I laid there and stared at her monitors all night. At the beginning of the night, she was not on oxygen but her levels kept dropping and when they drop below a certain level the machines start beeping. So I would rush over to her and not long after me, her nurse would rush in. By the end of the night, they had her back on oxygen.
Tuesday Morning, the plastic surgeon PA came by to check on Fannie and took off her turban. I cried. I know she will heal but it is still alot to take in.
By this point, the swelling and bruising are starting to set in, especially in her eyes.
The 4.5 inch incision. We weren't expecting it to be that big.
Dr. Williams did not have to shave much hair (Thank you!) and everyone, medical or not, who has seen her says the incision looks great. I am not so sure about that. It pains me to look at it.
We lube it up with antibiotic ointment twice a day.
I put a bow in her hair trying to make her look like the old Fannie but it didn't do much good. Poor thing's forehead is so swollen it is pulling her eyebrows up so high that she can't even close her eyelids all of the way when she sleeps.
Using the remote as a phone and still won't put her gown on!
They had just taken her IV out and we were waiting to be discharged when she passed out, eyes open.
E.T.
We got home at about 6:00 on Tuesday evening. That night, when everyone was sleeping, FB threw up in her crib. Thank goodness she was on her stomach. She then proceeded to get sick a total of 6 times in 2 hours. I was on the phone with her ENT at 4:00 am. He thought it might be the antibiotics she was on. John headed to Kroger immediately to stock up on Pedialyte. It was a looooong night. Wednesday morning I got on the phone with the plastic surgeon's office and they switched up her meds and that did the trick.
The rest of the week and weekend have been low key as this week will be also. This might be one reason I am in the mood to blog, we are basically on house arrest! Everyday, Fannie is starting to perk up more and act more like herself. Her sleep is still not back to normal, at night or napping during the day, so I am back to the newborn rule of sleeping when she sleeps. I was more exhausted last week than I ever remember being when she was first born.
Our main goal right now is to keep Fannie comfortable and keep her busy little hands off her bandages and incisions.
Tuesday we have a post op appointment with her ENT. The post op with her plastic surgeon is 3 weeks after surgery.
Oh and how could I forget this tidbit...when we went to the ENT pre-op, the PA was examining Fannie and gasped when she saw her tonsils. Evidently they are huge and touching.
She asked us if:
she snored at night = Yes, sometimes (Dad does)
she was a mouth breather = Yes, sometimes (Mom does)
she paused between breaths = Yes, sometimes (Mom does)
she feel asleep in her carseat = Yes, sometimes (Dad does)
So the PA is wondering if Fannie has sleep apnea and ordered for her to participate in an over night sleep study. So that was scheduled for late December. Well, after all of her oxygen issues after surgery, I pretty much think we did our own sleep study last Monday night and the results are not good! But the ENT urged us to bump up the sleep study so it is now on December 21. So depending on those results, FB may be having her tonsils and adenoids removed. Putting this child under again makes me want to commit myself to the loony bin so I am trying not to think about it. Standard protocol for anyone under 3 having this surgery is a minimum one night stay in the hospital so that is comforting knowing that we will have extra care and not just be sent home.
Lots of you are praying for us and we can't express our gratitude for that. We are strong believers in the power of prayer. This has been much harder than we thought it would be. Thank you for everything: the meals, notes, texts, emails and phone calls! It means so much. My friend Ali keeps reminding me that FB won't remember any of this and that really helps me through the day. I don't want her to ever know this kind of pain.
“Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your
righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”
Isaiah 58:8
