Post-op update!
It has been 9 days since our LO had two surgeries; one for strabismus
(crossed eyes) and another to replace the tube in her ear that fell out
soon after being placed one year ago. And, before I get to the details, I
am happy to report that everything was a success!
I will start with her ears since the explanation is simpler. Basically, she has had chronic ear infections since she was 4 months old. Last year, not yet 2yrs old, her ENT placed tubes in both ears to encourage better fluid drainage in order to help prevent infection. By the time she had her follow-up, 3 months later, one had already found its way out of her ear and we were dealing with the first of many more infections. Once the decision was made that she would be having eye surgery (requiring anesthesia), and after her eardrum partially ruptured causing us to have her ear vacuumed out twice in a week (not fun!), her ENT agreed to place a new tube in for us.
Now, strabismus surgery... I myself had this surgery around her age, and it didn't go entirely well. My eyes were infected by the next morning, they did not heal as well as the surgeon hoped and even my revision surgery was not 100% successful. I have certain issues with my vision but nothing impairing. So, needless to say, I was much more nervous about this process than I was her ears! Not to mention that the ears are about a 15 minute procedure and the eyes take closer to 2.5 hours! It wasn't something to take lightly, but I knew we were in very good hands!
In fact, both doctors and both anesthesiologists saw us before and after surgery which is not always the case and very appreciated! Even the nurses said we won the jackpot with our medical team. I agree!
The LO had to fast from midnight onward, with the exception of water/apple juice. Not easy with my little second breakfast eating hobbit! We had to register at 6:45am to be operated at 8:45am. Lots of RARE tablet time distraction! The first patient was late so the doctors discussed their options with our LO. Originally they were supposed to do her eyes and then her ear, but they changed it around thinking the ear first would be best so as not to move her head around too much once the eyes were operated. Fair enough! Going in to surgery was a piece of cake, for the LO and not so much Mom and Dad, as the anesthesiologist bribed her with Paw Patrol! She jumped into his arms and went off, without looking back, before we made our way to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. We weren’t really hungry, but we knew it would be a long day and we needed to get our minds off of what was going on in the OR.
As soon as she was out or surgery we were called back to meet with her Ophthalmologist. We spoke about aftercare and then snuck in to see the LO in recovery. She wasn't awake yet so they asked us to leave, but not to go too far. And, thankfully we didn't. She woke up soon after terrified, in pain, screaming, crying and asking for Mama with every gasping breath. We raced to her side, and I held on to her while the nurses tried to inject morphine into her IV to soothe her pain. Unfortunately, she was thrashing so badly that she pulled out her IV and blood was running everywhere. An oral dose was given and the blood was cleaned up while she calmed down in my arms. She rested for close to 2hrs after this ordeal, but you could see that she was in pain as she winced frequently and let out tiny sobs with blood stained tears. I jokingly referred to her as our little stigmata.
We had a wonderful nurse assigned to us during this time and our ENT came to visit as well. But, unfortunately, our assigned nurse had to go onto emergency rotation and we were given a new one. Let's just say, I wasn't impressed with her! She made us feel like we were over staying our welcome, reminding us that this was day surgery and "most families leave within an hour". I reminded HER that our LO was on morphine and, therefore, required additional time in recovery. Still, she persisted. We eventually started to get her dressed, hoping it would be comforting to her to go home, but she started wailing again. After some time, she eventually gave in to the starvation and ate a cup of ice chips and half a popsicle. She was intubated for surgery and we could clearly hear the hoarseness in her cries, the the cold was soothing. Once she started to come around, we got a second popsicle for her, discharged from the nasty nurses "care", and made our way home for a week of recovery.
I will write more about recovery, and back to routine, soon. Just know that we are all good!
I will start with her ears since the explanation is simpler. Basically, she has had chronic ear infections since she was 4 months old. Last year, not yet 2yrs old, her ENT placed tubes in both ears to encourage better fluid drainage in order to help prevent infection. By the time she had her follow-up, 3 months later, one had already found its way out of her ear and we were dealing with the first of many more infections. Once the decision was made that she would be having eye surgery (requiring anesthesia), and after her eardrum partially ruptured causing us to have her ear vacuumed out twice in a week (not fun!), her ENT agreed to place a new tube in for us.
Now, strabismus surgery... I myself had this surgery around her age, and it didn't go entirely well. My eyes were infected by the next morning, they did not heal as well as the surgeon hoped and even my revision surgery was not 100% successful. I have certain issues with my vision but nothing impairing. So, needless to say, I was much more nervous about this process than I was her ears! Not to mention that the ears are about a 15 minute procedure and the eyes take closer to 2.5 hours! It wasn't something to take lightly, but I knew we were in very good hands!
In fact, both doctors and both anesthesiologists saw us before and after surgery which is not always the case and very appreciated! Even the nurses said we won the jackpot with our medical team. I agree!
The LO had to fast from midnight onward, with the exception of water/apple juice. Not easy with my little second breakfast eating hobbit! We had to register at 6:45am to be operated at 8:45am. Lots of RARE tablet time distraction! The first patient was late so the doctors discussed their options with our LO. Originally they were supposed to do her eyes and then her ear, but they changed it around thinking the ear first would be best so as not to move her head around too much once the eyes were operated. Fair enough! Going in to surgery was a piece of cake, for the LO and not so much Mom and Dad, as the anesthesiologist bribed her with Paw Patrol! She jumped into his arms and went off, without looking back, before we made our way to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. We weren’t really hungry, but we knew it would be a long day and we needed to get our minds off of what was going on in the OR.
As soon as she was out or surgery we were called back to meet with her Ophthalmologist. We spoke about aftercare and then snuck in to see the LO in recovery. She wasn't awake yet so they asked us to leave, but not to go too far. And, thankfully we didn't. She woke up soon after terrified, in pain, screaming, crying and asking for Mama with every gasping breath. We raced to her side, and I held on to her while the nurses tried to inject morphine into her IV to soothe her pain. Unfortunately, she was thrashing so badly that she pulled out her IV and blood was running everywhere. An oral dose was given and the blood was cleaned up while she calmed down in my arms. She rested for close to 2hrs after this ordeal, but you could see that she was in pain as she winced frequently and let out tiny sobs with blood stained tears. I jokingly referred to her as our little stigmata.
We had a wonderful nurse assigned to us during this time and our ENT came to visit as well. But, unfortunately, our assigned nurse had to go onto emergency rotation and we were given a new one. Let's just say, I wasn't impressed with her! She made us feel like we were over staying our welcome, reminding us that this was day surgery and "most families leave within an hour". I reminded HER that our LO was on morphine and, therefore, required additional time in recovery. Still, she persisted. We eventually started to get her dressed, hoping it would be comforting to her to go home, but she started wailing again. After some time, she eventually gave in to the starvation and ate a cup of ice chips and half a popsicle. She was intubated for surgery and we could clearly hear the hoarseness in her cries, the the cold was soothing. Once she started to come around, we got a second popsicle for her, discharged from the nasty nurses "care", and made our way home for a week of recovery.
I will write more about recovery, and back to routine, soon. Just know that we are all good!
Comments
Post a Comment