We went to see the cleft doctor we chose for Calli on Monday, May 6th. We really liked him! He is very experienced and has a great personality. He is part of a team that will see Calli all the way through her many surgeries as she grows: plastics, craniofacial surgeon, orthodontists, speech therapists, etc. We were excited about her first appointment, just to begin learning about the process and to see what he thought about her lip and palate.
He said we would repair her lip first, and then do the palate closure in about three months. He said there was no reason to wait and he wanted to get started as soon as possible so we could begin working on speech. When his nurse came in to schedule us, she asked us how soon we were thinking we wanted to do surgery. We told her he said as soon as possible, and she said, well how about next Wednesday, the 15th? Pretty crazy, but we didn't see any reason not to go ahead and get started, so we planned on that!
Last Wednesday we had to leave Lake Jackson at 4:30 am because we were supposed to be at Hermann in Houston at 5:30. Her surgery was scheduled for 7:30. We were so thankful that Kathy and Greg let the big girls have a sleep over at their house - and the girls were pretty excited, too! So much fun. Erin Martin also came to our house that day to keep the girls when Kathy had to go to work, and they had a blast.
We have been so impressed with Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital. All morning, everyone that would be involved in Calli's surgery came in to meet us, explain the part they would be doing, and see if we had any questions. We felt very well-taken care of!
Here are a few pictures we took pre-surgery. We were soaking up all we could of her sweet cleft face!
One of my most favorite pictures!
After waiting in the waiting room, we were taken back to the room where they got her ready for surgery. This is where we met all the nurses, anesthesiologists, Dr. T came and saw us, and we put her gown on for surgery. She started getting a little cranky back here because she had been awake for so long with no food, but the t.v. and being goofy with Dad helped distract her.
Dr. T's nurse that came to get Calli to actually take her back for surgery was so sweet and great with Calli. Even though she had been starting to fuss some, she was really liking this nurse and went to her easily. She went and got Calli a toy to hold and then just carried her back to the operating room! Calli didn't even cry at all when they left us. I loved that they just carried her back instead of wheeling her on the bed. They had given her some kind of mild medication to chill her out, but whatever it was helped!
Dr. T had told us to expect about 2.5 to 3 hours total surgery time. We got updates as they got her under the anesthesia and then as they started surgery. An hour and a half later, Dr. T came in the waiting room! I was reading and Randy was sleeping on a bench out in the hall. I stuck my head out and woke him up and he was so startled! He was a little out of it during our meeting with Dr. T.
I told him I was a little concerned to be seeing him so soon. He said if he is ever late to start worrying, but that if he is early it means things went well. He told us he was very pleased with how well the repair went. He didn't have to pull her nose down as much as he thought and he said it was just a really clean repair. He said he thought we would be very pleased. About 15 minutes later we were able to go back to see her in recovery.
She was in and out of sleep as she came out of the anesthesia. Her nose was pretty bloody, and when she was awake she was sad. She let Randy hold her.
The nurse there in recovery was with us the whole time. She was great. She told us kind of what to expect over the next few days, and told us what to worry about and what not to worry about. After about 45 minutes, Calli was awake and we felt fine about taking her home. The nurse took care of our discharge orders and we were free to go!
She did great on the car ride home. She slept on and off, still because of the anesthesia, and the drive went by quickly. We were home by 11:30 that morning! Crazy!
I took this picture on the way home. All our family was sad they weren't able to be with us, but I loved that she was covered by the quilt that had all their fabrics on it. They were praying for her and covering her even though they weren't physically there. We are so thankful for them, as well as for sweet friends that helped us with Kendall, Cooper, and even dinner that night. We are so blessed!
Check back soon for pictures of her lip as it has healed this past week!
No comments:
Post a Comment