Surgery Day

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

After a long battle with a few ear infections that would

not go away even with every antibiotic she could possibly be

put on including injections, colds, croup, and now C-diff...

a nasty illness caused by antibiotics, and several weeks of

cloudy fluid on her ears, today is the day that

Alexa will have tubes put in.

It was very early (6:30 am) when we headed out the door.

More importantly though...Alexa hadn't eaten since

midnight and now that I woke her and dressed her...she

was itching for a bottle. Needless to say, we knew we

were in for a long car ride to the surgery center.

We were the youngest patient which means we

were scheduled first. But, you need a doctor in order to have surgery.

Luckily, the many nurses, anaesthiologists, and who knows

who else that we saw who were all on time and did there part.

So at this point, it was a matter of waiting for the doctor to arrive.

Alexa went back and forth from sitting on her little bed/crib to

crawling into my arms. She did as good as can be expected.

A bit fussy, then happy, then very cranky, then she would

calm down...then she saw her bottle and that was the end of that!

So, Rob and I did what we could to keep her happy.

The nurses were great. They all kept coming in

which helped because Alexa was able to

become more familiar with them.

And then...my worst fears...it was time to say good-bye.

We gave her her blanket, hugs, and kisses, and an few extra

hugs and kisses from mommy, then the hard part...I had

to hand her off. There she went into the OR. Of course,

I peeked around the corner and watched until I couldn't

see her anymore. Then the waiting began.

Boy did the wait seem like forever! I just stared at the clock in

the waiting room. It was the longest 18 minutes EVER!

Everytime I saw a nurse round the corner I was ready to jump up.

Finally, the side door opened and her doctor came out in full

scrubs. Of course, I thought the worst thinking something

happened ...she is walking towards us in full gear. She sat

down, only to inform us how the procedure went. It was a sigh

of relief at that point as tears were flowing down my face. She

told us Alexa did great, but she did have another ear infection.

(Rob and I did expect it as the day before she was stuffing her

thumb in her ear!) The doctor continued talking but honestly,

I have no idea what she was saying. She left and there we sat.

Minutes later I heard screaching and screaming and I knew

it was Alexa...not to mention we were the first to go so it

had to be her. There we sat helpless...listening to her belting

at the top of her lungs. Finally, a nurse came out and called us

back and I bolted all the way into the recovery room and

grabbed her right out of the arms of the nurse who was holding

her. They had a rocking chair ready for me and Rob prepared

the bottle once they gave the go ahead that she could have it.

It was a rough next 45 minutes, but we all managed to get thru

it. Then, finally, we were on our way home and

Alexa fell fast asleep once in the car.

A big Thank you to everyone at the surgery center for

taking such good care of us and Alexa!