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Friday, August 04, 2006

A long day, a rough night, but...

we're finally home!

I don't even know where to start...it's been such an emotionally draining week waiting for this procedure to happen and then be over with!

We were at the hospital for 10.5 hrs yesterday - the procedure was about 1.5 hrs ... most of the time was spent waiting for her to wake up from the medicine.

After we did all the preliminary paperwork etc we gave her some medicine (don't remember the name) but it basically was to make her sleepy ... or "drunk" in the nurse's words! And boy was my poor baby "drunk"! You could see it happening to her as her movements slowed down and she had less control. Then she would look up at me or Joe and say in this drunken sounding voice, "hi daddy..hi mommy" - it's really hard to explain in writing how this sounded, but it had us laughing each time she said this. When someone new would walk into our little cubby hole area she would slowly raise her hand and say "hi" with that drunken sound again.

She was finally out cold while they did the echo to check on the PDA again, then as soon as Joe laid her down on the bed she started stirring, trying to sit up, fighting the drugs ... and this was the part where they needed to put the IV in...she needed to be still. Oh yeah, she also had the emla cream on each hand and each leg so she was pretty numbed up there. They got the IV started, her hand all wrapped up and then got a dose of versed to put her out again.

I was doing pretty good not crying until the doctor performing the procedure had to give us the obligatory risk factors and of course had to mention the "d" word...which no parent wants to hear - no matter how low of a risk it is. Tears immediately pooled in my eyes but I tried not to think of that. This doctor was one of 4 who actually developed this procedure 20+ years ago, so that made me feel better.

We were able to walk her into the cath lab room where they were going to do the procedure. I carried her in there and as soon as I handed her over to the nurse I just lost it. It's so hard to hand your baby over and walk out of the room, no matter what is being done to them.

I have no idea what dosage levels mean but I heard they had to give her a little more than they expected to for someone her size/age. They started with 3 milligrams of versed, but she would still keep trying to stir and move her arms around and they ended up giving her a total of 5, so she was pretty doped up and knocked out. I told them it would be hard to keep her down! My little fighter!

We finally got to be with her in the recovery room where she slept off and on. Every time she was awake she would want to move her leg (it wasn't restrained so she could do this) but when she did, someone, (dad, nurse, grandma, mom) would straighten it out and hold it still..which in turn would make her mad and cry more. She would finally give up after a few minutes and go back to sleep. Repeat when she woke up again.

She was drinking a little bit of apple juice and water and keeping it down (the second time) so they finally let us go.

She was fine as we left the hospital and drove back to the hotel. When we got to our hallway Joe mentioned putting her down and letting her walk a little bit, so I did. As soon as she tried to take one step she collapsed...poor thing! She still had the effects of the drugs, hadn't been on her feet all day, had nothing to eat, probably numb in that area and was just not coordinated enough to walk yet. But she got mad when I picked her up to carry her the rest of the way and kept saying "walk." We got in the room where I deposited her on the bed. After much rolling around, fussing etc she fell asleep about 20 min later and slept solid for 2 hrs. Which of course meant she wasn't going to be ready for bed when we were! She woke up and devoured 3 sopapillas!

She kept trying to get up and walk around but she was so unsteady on her feet. It was making her mad that she couldn't just walk. I kept keeping my arms near her to try and help steady her, but she didn't like that either and that pissed her off! She was very irritable to say the least!

I finally laid down with her in the sofa bed at 10 and went to my bed at 1030. I just couldn't take it anymore! She didn't try to get out of bed, but she wasn't quite ready to go to sleep either...kept rolling everywhere etc. She was very restless and I kept getting smacked in the face, or kicked, or pushed. Then around 1230 she was up calling for me so I laid down with her for another 45 minutes...same restlessness from her again. Joe came to the bed and she snuggled up with him and immediately stopped crying..within 1o minutes she was out. Yeah my feelings were hurt! Little stinker. Then she slept good until about 6 am.

The hard part this morning was having to take off her pressure bandage which was pretty much super glued to her skin. They gave us these special wipes to help dissolve the glue and take it off, but it was still hard to do and she looked red and raw in that area when Joe was done.

So after all that - the procedure was a success, the coil was placed and stayed and the hole is closed. However, she does have a very "insignificant" mitral regurgitation (leakage) which means she will still need to take a dose of antibiotic anytime she has surgery/dental work.

Whew! Didn't realize I had so much to write...sorry for the long post!

If you made it this far...I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who thought of us and sent their prayers. It really meant a lot to know so many people were praying for Kayla's procedure to be successful.

Thank you.

26 comments:

Naomi said...

Glad to hear that you're home, I've been checking for updates.

Kayla is definitely a little fighter :-)

I hate that feeling of handing your child off to someone, even if it is just something minor.

Dori (Aviva's mommy) said...

Hugs for all of you, Aviva always had such a hard time coming out of anesthesia. It made me cry to see what she would go through. It is so hard to see our girls like that.

I am so glad she is doing better and you are home.

HUGS!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear everything went well. I remember Tiffany when they gave her the medicine which does make them act drunk. It was pretty funny how she was acting. That was the only funny part about the surgery to me. Tiffany had a hard time after it also. She would only let her Dad do the drops in her eye with no trouble. Dads have the magic touch for some things. Joe has it for sleep.Give the little one a hug from me. Take Care!

Barb said...

I thought of you yesterday, even while I was so tense about our little Addison having open heart surgery. I just hate it when these little ones have to go through things like this. And I completely understand how you felt handing your baby to that nurse and walking away. It's just not natural. So I'm very happy for all of you that you made it through and are back home. And thank you for all you sweet comments - I'm a little behind here but I never stopped praying for Kayla yesterday.

abebech said...

Oh, wow. I'm so sorry you all had to go through this, and so glad it was a success. I can't even imagine how hard that was for you . ..

Anonymous said...

So glad everything went well and that you are all home safe. I know what you mean about handing your baby off to someone for surgery. How can you NOT cry? That was nice of the doctors to give you some adhesive remover for her pressure bandages. I wish I had thought of that with Nate.
Give your "lil stinker" a smooch for me.
love you.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I forgot... I don't know Barb, but I was wondering how baby Addison was doing after her surgery. I hope everything went well, Barb. I'm praying for you too.

Unknown said...

I'm so glad to hear that you're home! It sounds like all went well and Kayla is doing great. Giver her a big hug from Shaylee!

Paulette said...

Man it really is a big ordeal when they have any kind of procedure. Especially when they dont understand what is happening to them, I prayed for Kayla and am so glad it went well. I prayed for mom and dad as well.
Blessings to all 3 of you.

Carole Burant said...

I'm late getting to everyone's posts tonight....what a relief to hear that everything is now over with and that it all went well! Poor little thing, I can just picture her trying to walk while still feeling the effects of the drugs. No doubt you're happy to be home:-) Hugs to all of you xoxo

Anonymous said...

Oh Michelle,

I an so glad to hear you are back up, I too have been checking for updates.

Please give Kayla a hug and kiss from Elainah.

And a hug from me to you too :)

Catch said...

I am so glad its over with and everything went well. Im sure you can all use a good rest now that you are home. You know what they say....there is no place like home.....aint it the truth? So happy that its all over with. Give Kayla a big hug for me, shes such a little fighter God love her.

Anonymous said...

Oh... tears & happiness & love & prayers! "Your little fighter"... yah! she is! She's so strong... hhmmm... wonder who she gets that from, strong mama??? I'm so happy to hear that all went well. WHEW!!!

Anonymous said...

Ok I cried when I read this. I am very glad that Kayla made it through the procedure. I am equally glad that you and Joe made it through too! Thank you for sharing this. As you know Becca while be going for a surgery and reading Kayla's success helps ease a little of the worry and knowing what to expect. HUGZ for you, Joe & Kayla, take care of you!

I am also spreading warm and fuzzies...I feel so lucky that we found each other's blogs. Kayla is such an amazing, beautiful little girl. Just the kind of child I would want my daughter to be friends with (why does the world have to be so large?!!?) The love you have for her makes your blog sparkle. I adore the videos and pictures and I always smile when stopping by here :) Have a wonderful weekend!

Anonymous said...

ugh Blogger is so mean to me today!

That was me chelle from http://soodz.com/blog :)

Michelle said...

So glad everything went well! :)
Hugs all around!

LJ said...

I read the previous post and I am 2weeks and 2 days older than you. lol
I'm glad all was a success with the procedure!! Hooray!! I had no doubt that it wouldn't be! She is a fighter (and a stinker too, lol). Glad to have you back home.

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Sooooo glad all went well!!

Overwhelmed! said...

Oh, I'm so glad the surgery went well. I'm not surprised that you found yourself physically and emotionally drained after the fact!

I think I would've lost it too, if I had to hand over my little Snuggle Bug to a doctor for surgery. I'm so glad that everything went just as planned with Kayla!

I'm wishing her a speedy recovery and both of you some sleep!

The Mom said...

sooo glad you are home michelle :) And - that Kayla's PDA is fixed. It is always soo hard to hand them over to someone else. I bawled like a baby too.... I have to take antibiotics for surgery and dental work too (heart murmur) and it's no big deal :)

Hugs to your sweet girl - glad it is all done and over!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Michelle,

I'm away visiting my parents but wanted to check in and see how Kayla's procedure went. I'm so glad to hear she's home and safe. What a trooper!

Kari said...

Hurray the endless wait is over. I am so happy it is done and successful. I so understand how very hard it is to hand your child over poor you at least it is over. Tristan has had the drunk drug a few times for testing and he has a high tolerance and needed more than average too. I hope she is feeling better Tristan wasn't himself for a good 48 hrs after he had it. ~Hugs~

Amy Flege said...

michelle i am sorry i havent gotten to your blog until now! we were on vacation and i feel like i missed so much! sounds like kaylas procedure went well!! yeah!!! i cant imagine the anticipation and the nervousness you had to go through. My husband has mitral valve prolapse and has some mild regergitation as well. He is doing great so i wouldnt worry too much about kaylas!!! lots of hugs!!

Anonymous said...

I am so relieved everything went allright. She (and you) are so brave. We had to give Vincent a similar "fall a sleep medicine" when we did his lung scan, and he was doing what Kayla was doing. He would not rest, every time they tried to puff the air into his lungs he would stir and they had to redo it.

I hope you can relax now that the pressure is off you! Congrats once more and big hugs and kisses from me and Vincent to Kayla!

jotcr2 said...

That looks like it was a huge week, leading up to the procedure, during and afterwards.

I am very glad that it went well. How amazing that they can do a procedure on the heart, and have you out the same day.

Anonymous said...

Hey Michelle,
I linked you once again to a swedish DS forum site. You are my inspiration :-)
A mom was worried about the ductus surgery and I remember reading this about Kayla's and thought it would be good reading for her.
Hope it was OK.
Best wishes in the new Year, Christina