The Longest Day of My Life

I never wanted the day to come. I prayed CONSTANTLY for Eliza's eye to heal itself. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the Lord had a different plan and her surgery day came.

Eliza's surgery was scheduled for 12PM, this meant she could not have her normal diet any time after 6AM. So at 6AM I had to wake her up to eat one last time. I could have given her milk and laid her back down but I figured oatmeal would keep her full longer. I figured I would be fighting her to stay awake but she was running around her room like a mad woman. I am so happy she is too young to understand what was going on. After her oatmeal I laid her back down and she slept until 930. She was allowed to have clear liquids until 10 so we gave her some pedialite(GROSS) and got ready.

The hospital is about 40 minutes away and we had some errands to run so we headed out at 10. We made it to the hospital at 11 for check in. We sat in the waiting room for a few minutes then got to go back to the prep room. Eliza hung out, watched TV, played with the nurses and drs and waited for surgery.

We spoke extensively with the Drs and Anesthesiologist, with me begging to be with her the whole time. I really trusted these men. They were incredibly knowledgeable and very sensitive to Eliza's age.

As the time got closer they gave Eliza a little medicine to help relax her, I wish they could have given some to me. We switched Eliza into her gown and I put on a "bunny suit". They were sweet and allowed Eliza to take back any special things she wanted. She picked her paci, woobs(lovie), baby doll, and a kitty she picked out for her special hospital prize. They tucked everything snug in her crib and told us it was time. I started to shake.

I held Eliza and walked her to the operating room. They advised me before hand of how it would go, but I was never prepared. I sat Eliza down on a table as they started to get things ready. They had me confirm who she was, and after a mix up of her being a girl and not a boy like they thought, we were ready.

The Anesthesiologist put the mask over her face as she tried to fight it. We practiced with a mask back in her prep room but this time she didn't like it. As she wiggled back and forth to get away, she stared up at me. I continued to praise her, telling her how strong she is and how proud of her I was. Her eyes were scared, but she had no tears. Then it happened, she was out, her body went limp and they laid her down. I was able to give her kisses goodbye and broke down. They escorted me out and I cried the whole way back to the room. The poor orderly tried to comfort me but he knew I just needed time.

I made it back to Mark and we picked up our stuff and left for the waiting room, it was 1215. We received a pager and decided to go get something to eat. They told us the surgery only takes about 15 minutes so we knew we had to go quick. The line in the cafeteria was LONG so we needed to hurry. As soon as we sat down to eat our pager went off. I ran-seriously I ran through the hospital-up two stories and to the desk. They looked at me like I was crazy. Apparently the pager has a little screen on it that gives you messages, my message was "surgery has started". Oh, oops. So I went back to the cafeteria, where Mark had already finished eating and we laughed.

We sat around for a while, went outside trying to get cell reception and updated friends and family. We decided to head back up as surgery had to be done any minute.

We waited...and waited..and waited. Finally at 145 we were paged to come to the front desk, again I ran. We were put in a consult room and waited AGAIN. I was nervous, the surgery was supposed to be 15 min and it has been over an hour. After about 10 minutes the DR came in. He told us she was doing well, thank you JESUS, and they were able to remove the blockage. He said this was one of the worst cases he has seen. It took a lot longer to get everything out and make sure she wasn't going to need further surgery.

We were escorted back to the waiting area and were waiting for Eliza to wake up. We were told before surgery it could me minutes, or it could be hours, before they call us back. They said with children they let them sleep as long as they want vs waking them up like they do adults.

A woman called our name about 20 minutes later and hurried us back. She told us Eliza was incredibly upset screaming for me and was inconsolable. As I turned the corner to where she was, my heart sank. Never in my life was I prepared for what I saw or heard. She had her gown on but it wasn't tied on and she had taken it off accept for around her waste, she also ripped out her own IV. Her eye was completely shut and she was SCREAMING. This is a scream I have never heard, and I will never be able to get out of my head. I instantly picked her up, held her, talked to her, and begged God to help her. Mark grabbed a bottle from her bag and that helped. I handed her to Mark so he could help calm her down and I just stepped back and looked at her. Why did no one tell us how bad this was? They let us carry her to a recovery room and bring all of her things.

When we got to recovery my baby was doing better. As long as she had her bottle, even though she wasn't drinking it, she was OK. If we tried to take it away for any reason, she flipped again. She tried to hold every one of her comfort items at once. We had a wonderful recovery nurse who brought her stickers and helped calm her. After 10 minutes she was our girl again, she would say hi to us when she was able to get us in her sight, and talk to us about her kitty. I asked if I could change her diaper and the nurse took me to a changing station. As we walked we came across Giddy, a therapy dog, Eliza was in heaven. She sat and talked to the dog, telling him about her eye, and gave him hugs. I am SO thankful this woman and her dog were there, it was such a calming moment for Eliza.

After I changed her we headed back to the room to go home. We dressed her and packed up. Giddy came to say one more hello then we were on our way. Mark stayed in the back with her as I drove and she did great. She told us stories, watched The Wiggles, and held onto her bottle like no ones business.

When we got home she ran around like our normal monkey and ate some snacks. She was excited to see dog dog and kitty and just relax. She took a quick nap but was ready to run in no time. We took it easy around the house the rest of the night and laid her down for bed. We have to put some meds in her eyes but she is so used to that it didn't bother her. She slept all night and woke up this morning with her normal spirit.

I am so thankful she has come out of this as my spunky monkey. I pray her recovery is quick and painless and we will have no complications in the future. Thank you everyone for your prayers and well wishes!

Below are the pictures from her surgery. I didn't want to put them in the post in case some have a weak stomach. They aren't gory, they are just heartbreaking and pitiful. 


HERE THEY ARE, DO NOT KEEP GOING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE PHOTOS

Waking up and getting ready to go

Last drink before cutoff time

On our way

We made it to the hospital

Waiting

Still waiting

Practicing sitting in the hospital bed

Playing with mommies hair net

Showing daddy my new kitty

Getting sleepy

Just kidding, lets play

Like they even needed to mark which eye

Practicing with the breathing mask

All ready to go

Here we go

First snuggles after surgery

We get to go home!

After about 3 hours at home

Finally got comfy, watching The Wiggles

Looking good this morning

Back to her silly self!!