Zuri is 21 months old and has officially completed her first (and hopefully last) surgery. Our day started bright and early on Monday. Usually when I wake her up she is a total grouch and cries. Oddly, this time I woke her up at 5:20am and she was ok, I left her in her pajamas and changed her diaper and gave her Dora and kept things pretty calm. I brought her out to the car and I told her we were going to the hospital to have surgery. I have been telling her this, but I know she has no idea what I am talking about. We got to the check in at 6:00am. We did the normal check in procedure while Zuri was wanting to play with a wagon (note the must have's: Basketball, Dora, Dog and Donkey were in the bag, along with the video player and a few books)
After check in we headed upstairs to the waiting area. We waited here for a bit. Zuri and Pedro played, Zuri also got some stickers.
At about 6:40am they sent us back to pre op. The biggest ordeal was that Zuri didn't want to get weighed. I think she definitely associates it with the doctors office! She weighed in at 27.75lbs. And measured (standing) at about 36 inches tall. The nurse commented that she looks and seems so old for her age. After doing those things, we needed to change Zuri into a gown. She wasn't super happy about this, but she got it done and was fine with it. The nurse needed to put on her hospital bracelet and Zuri didn't like this either. The nurse put one on Dora so that Zuri might like it, but it wasn't too much of help. The nurse was nice though and decided that taking blood pressure and other things at that time were not necessary because Zuri was pretty touchy about stuff. She did love the hospital socks and wanted them on throughout the whole hospital stay.
Zuri then ran around playing. She loved the wagons, big trucks and a fire truck.
After meeting with the anesthesiologist and doctor they said they were ready to go. I dressed up in a white suite and carried Zuri to the operating room. She was fine during the walk and was laughing and talking. When we entered the operating room she seemed to know this wasn't right and started to cry a bit, nothing hysterical, but some crying. I had her give me a kiss and I laid her down, I took one hand and the nurse had her other hand. The process of putting the mask on and putting her to sleep wasn't too bad. She went to sleep, I gave her another kiss and left the room, it was 7:45am.
I went out to the waiting room and Pedro left to get us some breakfast. At 8:20am the doctor came out and told me that Zuri had done great. He said her tonsils were bigger than he realized and her adenoids were blocking her whole airway. I was happy to hear this because I was hoping she really needed the surgery. At 8:50am we went back and Zuri was just waking up. She needed some oxygen and laid in my arms for awhile.
She was really groggy and the nurse told me that she had just given her some morphine. Not my first choice to give her, but I guess that is what they usually do. Her breathing was pretty shallow and once she was awake a bit more they moved us to our room.
Up in the room we sat in a chair for a long time. Zuri would wake briefly and cry for a second and go back to sleep. She threw up twice, even after they had given the anti nausea medication. She drank a bit and slept until about 11:45am. She wouldn't let me lay her down, she wanted to be held.
When she woke up she was actually decently happy. She talked, had two popsicles and seemed pretty good. Pedro left to get us lunch and when he came back Zuri wanted our lunch. I wasn't sure this was a good idea with her throat, nausea etc, but she was adamant about wanting some of our food. So, I gave her some of the bread from my sandwich and Pedro gave her some too. She also ate about half of a dunkin donuts muffin I had gotten her. Then she wanted down to go get my bag of cheetos which I had hidden from her, but she is clearly too smart for that. We got the nurse and asked to remove the IV from her foot because it made it impossible for her to walk. She took out the fluids wire (left the IV in for later) and Zuri ran to the cheetos. Zuri wanted to go for a walk and carry the cheetos. We walked the halls for a long time and she ate almost the whole bag of cheetos (crunchy). I was definitely worried it would all be coming back up. I then gave her some water and she drank about 6oz. We played with a wagon and in the play area with some big trucks.
People kept asking me if she was there for a sibling surgery because she was being such a good girl.
Holding the ball and cheetos
It had been a long time since she slept, but naps at home are difficult, naps at the hospital would be impossible. We went back to the room to try to keep her relaxed. At around 3:00pm the nurse came in and said she didn't need the IV for fluids because she was drinking well. The nurse told me she would be back around 4:00pm to give her some ibuprofen (I said no to narcotics unless she needed them). 4:15pm comes and no nurse. At this time Zuri was becoming psychotic. Not from pain I don't think, but from tiredness and hunger. At 5:00pm, we called for the nurse to bring pain meds. She brought them and we ordered her food (which was an ordeal because the orders in for her said liquid only and we wanted to give her something more than liquid since she had already eaten!). I ordered a variety of things, but she liked the chicken noodle soup and a chocolate milkshake.
At about 7:00pm, I told her it was time for bed and she drank some milk and laid down in the crib and went right to sleep. Pedro left to go home. I went in about 10 minutes later with a nurse and she put on the pulse ox sensor on her foot, since that was the concern and a reason to be staying at the hospital was to make sure she was breathing ok. Drugs and surgery make breathing more shallow and oxygen levels can drop.
I went to bed around 8:30pm on a tiny sofa that was not comfortable. Luckily I am short enough that I could manage. At 9:00pm (4 hours after medicine and vitals) a new night nurse came in. She opened the door wide, so LOTS of light came in the room and told me that she knew Zuri was super tired from the day that she would be quick and quiet. Yeah right. She was not either of the two. I tried to not let Zuri see me because I knew that would make sleep a lot more difficult. But the nurse, besides doing vitals decided to change the foot the oxygen level sensor was on and I think she put it on too tight or something that bothered Zuri. Then she had to give a steroid to keep swelling down, in the IV, she struggled with this and eventually I had to get up to help keep Zuri calm. Well seeing me made matters worse because she wanted me to hold her. I was thinking at this time that maybe she needed more pain meds (tylenol) but by the time I nurse answered my "page" Zuri was calming down and going to let me lay her down on the bed. It was about 10:00pm before Zuri calmed down enough and started to sleep. After the nurse switched the foot of the sensor and Zuri went to sleep the alarm for her breathing kept going off. It was soo annoying. Her levels would dip down and bit and then go back up. At about 11:30pm the nurse came in and said that Zuri needed oxygen, not on her but next to her. This helped and we slept until the nurse came in for vitals at like 12:30am! I was thinking really? This was 3 hours not 4! This woke Zuri and she cried. I didn't get up and eventually she went back to sleep, only to have the alarm go off again because the oxygen wasn't near her face because she rolled over. UGH! I had to keep getting up and move the oxygen to where she was sleeping so the alarms wouldn't go off and her oxygen would stay ok. At 1:30am Zuri woke up and ripped off the sensor on her foot. I got up to put it back on but Zuri said no, took her blanket and laid down. I figured we would be better without it! At about 2:00am the nurse came in and put the sensor back on. This time it seemed to be ok and not bother Zuri. And miraculously the alarm stopped going off. I think it wasn't on right before plus Zuri was sleeping on her face. We slept good from 2:00am until about 4:30am when nurse came in to do vitals again (and again opens the door WIDE!). At 7:30am the day nurse peeked in and Zuri was still asleep so she left. She came back at 8:00am and 8:30am and since Zuri was sleeping each time she just left. At 8:45am she came in and Zuri was laying with Dora quietly, so she took her vitals and we gave her some ibuprofen. It was a LONG NIGHT!
The PA came in and talked to us and said that Zuri could go home (although watch the breathing) and warned me that Zuri might be in a lot more pain in the coming days. But she was impressed that Zuri was up and drinking water and eating ice. You could tell Zuri's throat and tongue were swollen from the surgery by the way she talked. But she sat in bed drinking and watching a video. When breakfast came she ate tortilla dipped in green chile, a blueberry muffin and ice.
Then I got her dressed and she wanted to ride the wagon up and down the halls, so we did this until it was time to go!
We came home and she was ok. A little fussy here and there, but she drank some more, ate cheez itz for lunch. I laid her down for a nap and she did the usual talking for about 1.5 hours then slept for 2.5 hours. She ate a little for dinner, drank a little slurpee, a little water and a little milk, then went to bed. I have given her advil and tylenol today and hoping we can manage with that.
Wish us luck in the coming days!
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