Thursday, October 28, 2010

ANNA HOME RECOVERING FROM SUTURE REMOVAL

We traveled to Chattanooga on Sunday night to get ready for Anna's suture removal scheduled for 7:45 a.m. at T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital the following morning. We had to arrive at 6:15 a.m. on Monday so she was very tired.

We got a good laugh with her when the nurse came to give her some "sleepy juice" to help her relax before going back for surgery...she was acting really silly and acting like the room was spinning around.


They had to put her to sleep using gas so that Dr. Sargent was able to remove the sutures without her causing any damage. Dr. Sargent removed the sutures and placed the Dermabond glue over the area that had currently had stitches. She had some drainage and bleeding when she came back to recovery, more than I expected. She had a really difficult time after the suture removal. It seemed to bother her more than the actual surgery, possibly due to the anxiety of having to go back to the hospital and anticipating another procedure. I believe the area around her nose being so tender really caused her some discomfort, too. She did not want to travel back home after the suture removal because she was so tired and asked if we could stay that night at the hotel. We opted not to go home and she slept all afternoon. She wanted to go sit by a waterfall in the pool area when she woke up, so we spent a lot of time walking her around the hotel Monday afternoon to keep her comfortable and take her mind off of the surgery.
We are at home and just trying to keep Samuel and Daniel away from her so that they don't hit her face. We are having to use the special bottle to drink from that we used in previous surgeries for the next two weeks and we are having to watch her carefully so that she doesn't scratch her face. I just had to put her "No-No" arm restraints back on her because she is trying to scratch her nose where it is healing. We will probably have to make her wear them quite a bit for the next week...we are trying not to use them when we can sit by her, but that is difficult to do all day long. I am so nervous about Anna hitting her face by tripping or falling...pray that I would be able to relax so that everyone else will be able to. :)
Daniel turned 1 year old today so the kids are looking forward to celebrating his birthday the next few days. It is so hard to believe that he has grown so fast! Life is truly a vapor!

Keep us in your prayers in the days ahead!
The church has blessed us by bringing us food this past week-they have been such an encouragement through this entire journey. Our testimony is that of David's..."I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1 What a blessing to be part of the family of God!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

ANNA IS HOME RECOVERING FROM SURGERY









Anna and Samuel at the Ronald McDonald House the night before surgery playing chess...actually, they are playing with the chess pieces
Anna with Daddy, Mommy, and Samuel at the hospital on the morning of the surgery
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UPDATE FROM SURGERY OCT. 22: Anna is at home recovering from the surgery to lengthen the columnella and to revise the scar tissue above her lip. We are pleased with how well she did-she is such a strong little girl! We were worried that we would not be able to proceed with surgery due to a stomach virus that she had throughout the night on Monday, but after calling the anesthesiologists on Tuesday morning, they informed us that they would probably be able to do the surgery as long as she was keeping fluids down throughout Tuesday up until the surgery on Wednesday morning. She was able to drink fluids, eat popsicles, and keep crackers and a few shortbread cookies down on Tuesday. We traveled to Chattanooga on Tuesday night and stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in order to be there early Wednesday morning for surgery.

Anna was very quiet while we were waiting in the recovery room waiting for the surgery to begin, but did not seem real anxious or upset. This surgery was much harder than the others for us from the standpoint that she was so much more aware of what was going to take place and she understood so much more about being at the hospital and having to see the doctor-we agonized that she had to anticipate so much at such a young age.


Dr. Sargent explained that this surgery was a "stepping stone" in order to be able to do other revisions to the nose probably during the teenage years, so the procedure in itself will not be the finished product. We could tell a huge difference in the appearance of the nose, even though she was very swollen when we saw her in recovery. Her nose does not look as flat at the tip and I think the procedure makes her look a little older.We were amazed at the amount of sutures that were underneath the nose...many more than we imagined, but we are amazed at the handiwork of Dr. Sargent. It is truly like a potter taking a lump of clay and creating something beautiful-our prayers were answered that the Lord would guide the hands of the surgeon...It is truly amazing what he has been able to do over the course of the last two years. We are so grateful for his work and his dedication to cleft patients!


When Anna woke up from the anesthesia, she was a little irritable and just wanted to be held. She did really well when she became a little more awake and alert and wanted some "pink Gatorade" to drink...no other color would do, so Daddy made a special trip to find any pink liquid at the hospital so she would take in fluids. The nurse was very pleased that she was taking fluids so well, and we decided to go ahead and be discharged but opted to stay another night in the Ronald McDonald House so she could rest instead of traveling for two hours after such an exhausting ordeal from the virus and then the surgery. She was really tired from the lack of sleep on Monday night, and then a very restless night on Tuesday due to her nights and days being mixed up. She rested really well at the Ronald McDonald House on Wednesday night following her surgery and was surprisingly asking to eat cookies, as well as dry Frosted Flake cereal that night. She continued to take in some fluids and did really well, not appearing to be in a terrible amount of pain. The fact that she had had such a rough time on Monday night with the virus was a huge concern for us as parents as far as her recovery, but I have been amazed at how resilient she has been today after we came home.


She rested really well on the trip home from Chattanooga, and has wanted to play and has really had lots of energy throughout the day today. She was so excited to see baby brother Daniel, and we couldn't keep him away from her. She wanted her "cuts" (scissors) to cut and glue with when we got home. She loves to cut out tiny pieces of paper and glue them on another piece of construction paper! The funny thing was that the doctor told us that we could remove the "No-No" arm restraints that keep her from bending her elbows as long as we were with her, so she would not scratch or hit her sutures, but she WILL NOT allow us to remove them...she wants to keep them on.


Anna is resting now and we know the biggest challenge we will face the next few days will be to keep her from being too mobile and trying to make her rest, but we rejoice that she has felt so well today and has had the energy and playfulness that describes her so well! Thanks for your continued prayers for our baby girl...we are so blessed to have so many friends and family members lifting us up to the Father!