Surgery

I'm a little off on my blogging schedule because we're going out of town tomorrow, but I wanted to get an entry in for this week before we take that trip. Tuesday of this week, Evie had surgery.  I haven't mentioned it before because I didn't want to get anyone worried.  About a month ago as she was wandering the house in a state of undress (as I feel kids should be free to do), I noticed a strange bulge on her lower abdomen, took her to the doctor the next day, and was told it was a hernia.  We followed up with a pediatric urologist who confirmed, so we scheduled surgery.  The earliest they could do was the 15th and since that still gave us a week to recover before he first full day of school, I figured that was the best time.

I reminded Evie this past week that she was going to be having hernia surgery soon and asked her if she wanted me to tell her about it the night before or if that would make it too hard for her to sleep and she wanted me to just come in and get her up one morning and tell her then.  She said knowing about it beforehand would make it too hard to sleep (which I think was a wise choice), so Tuesday morning, I went in at 5:15 am and told her today is the day we go to the hospital.  She said, "Okay, Mama," and got out of bed.  Now, I find that absolutely amazing, because, if it were me as a child, I would have been crying and hysterical.  But not my toughie.

I let her stay in her nightgown and we got in the car and headed out to the hospital.  Seth couldn't come because he's just started a new job and can't be off, so it was just me and Evie.  We got her checked in, and there was Granna.  So we three sat together for a little while before they called Evie back for prep, and Granna helped her get her non-slip socks on and we sat and talked.  Well, Evie mostly sleepily watched TV.

About an hour later, it was time for us to go back.  They only let one person in the operating room to be with Evie while she went to sleep, so Granna parted company from us and I went with Evie.  She was enjoying the experience of being wheeled through the halls, I think, and when she was asked to move from her bed to the table, she did so with no fuss.  I had to put a mask on, so when I came into the room after that, I had to tell her it was Mama, and that seemed to comfort her - I think she had just started to get a little nervous.  The anesthesiologist started giving her gas and he combed through her hair soothingly while I rubbed her shoulder.  They had told me it's not uncommon for kids to get upset, cry, their eyes to roll back in their heads and to do other things that startle and worry parents, but Evie just slipped right off into dreamland as peacefully as you could want.  They said she would easily be their best patient all morning.

I wiped away some of my own tears, kissed her, and went out and joined Granna to wait.  A few minutes later, Grannadaddy came and we updated him on the goings-on and called Grandma Jeanne who was anxious to hear how things were going.  About an hour later, the surgery was over and her urologist said everything went great, no other hernias, and we'd be going home soon.

They called us back as soon as she woke up and Grannadaddy and I found her bleary-eyed, drinking some apple juice.  She had some thick-tongued responses to our questions and seemed dazed, but pleasant as always.  Grannadaddy shed a few tears, which I should ask him to explain what made him cry, but I was just relieved and happy everything turned out well, so for once, I didn't cry.

Grannadaddy and Granna swapped out and before I knew it, the nurse was saying we could go home.  Granna helped get Evie ready while I pulled the car around.  She rode in a wheelchair down to the car and we did okay getting her in without too much pain.

She spent the rest of the afternoon a little out of it, lying on the couch watching The Land Before Time and asking for Granna.  We discovered that things worked best if I picked her up and carried her in a sitting position, and that she had a hard time sitting up by herself.  Granna came over later while I went to get Evie's medicine and they watched a repeat of The Land Before Time.

Evie did pretty well over night, though she did cry out a couple of times.  I made sure to stay on top of her medicine and she's done better the last couple of days.  The first 36 hours she was basically lying around, but even by Wednesday evening she was ready to get up and move.  We went to Granna and Grannadaddy's house for dinner yesterday and Evie was down in the floor playing a game with Grannadaddy.  She was subdued in comparison to her usual activity level, but still more active.

Kathy brought her a cheetah since Evie's recently been fascinated by cheetahs and their speed.  She had told Kathy that she has everything she wants, except for a cheetah.  And now she has one.

Today, Evie's done pretty well, and we are getting ready for a road trip.  At first I was nervous about scheduling her surgery so close to the eclipse trip, but then I figured we'd have a pediatric emergency medicine doctor (Aunt Aimee) and nurse (Tia), and an adult emergency medicine doctor (Uncle Ryan) and nurse (Tia's friend Allie) on the trip, so we'd probably be fine.  I'm glad this ordeal is behind us and glad Evie's recovering so well.