Leia's Surgery

At seven we were off to the hospital for Leia's hernia surgery. We were already in pre-op at 7:15, and Leia Rose was in fabulous spirits! Here's Leia Rose happy about her new "scrubs" that have kitties on them! It says, "Tired Little Tiger." In fact, Leia was so happy and that tipped the hospital staff off that Leia didn't "need" me, so they told me that I couldn't go back when she fell asleep. Leia was fine with that, . . . she was more interested in choosing whether she wanted a bubble gum or a watermelon mask. (She chose bubble gum.) I was absolutely in awe of Leia Rose when she left me. She had made friends with the anesthesiologist, and both of them skipped together all the way to the operating room. I was so amazed and speechless that, even though I was standing there with my camera, I didn't take a picture. What a kid, I'll tell ya'. What a kid!

Forty-five minutes later the doctor came out to the waiting room to tell me that everything went fine. The hernia was easily fixed, and they were able to laproscopically see the other side and, except for a muscle fold, he could see fairly clearly and said there wasn't another hernia there and that if one shows up, they'll fix it. What surprised me the most was that there was no aftercare. The only instruction was to not give a bath for a week, and showers only after 48 hours. Tylenol if she felt pain (which she never felt a single bit). The "bandage" just looked like a thick piece of opaque tape and would fall off on its own, while the sitches were inside and would dissolve themselves. He said they had just transferred her to recovery and they'd call me when she woke up. It took her a while, another 20 minutes or so.

They called me as soon as Leia Rose opened her eyes, and I was surprised to find her back asleep when I got there. She woke up with a complete blank stare, and then tried to turn over just like she would do in bed. The first thing she did was cough, . . . it was the breathing tube that caused her most problems. It really ended up hurting her throat. Then I asked her if she remembered what she was supposed to say when she woke up so she wouldn't be grumpy and she very quickly but quietly said, "presents." She was pretty sad/grumpy/tired when she was alert enough to talk. She was also pretty upset about the IV in her hand (which was the one thing I purposefully didn't prepare her for) and about the fact she couldn't feel her private parts (she kept mentioning that over and over). She was able to drink some apple juice, but she kept saying, "I want to go home." and "Mamma, can you hold me?" and "I can't feel my crotchie!" and "I want a wheelchair!" No matter what I did, I couldn't get her to smile. She smiled for the first time on the way home. We were so glad it was all over! (But I think Leia Rose was surprised at how bad the whole thing made her body feel.)

I'm afraid things weren't better at home. Leia did get sick. (That poor froggy carpet in the girls' bathroom.) And she also actually said, "I don't want to open any presents until I take a nap." Then she fell asleep for hours and hours. She would take another nap later (and another tiny one, I think), but that was the extent of her surgery issues. From there it was all up and up. And, can you believe it, she never had any pain at the site?!? Yay! : )

Leia Rose was thrilled to open a fun package from her Oma that had lots of stay-in-bed activities that we'd play with the rest of the day, like these stickers. Even "birdie wings" (palm fronds) from Florida!
. . . but the hit of the gifts was definitely this Love n' Care Kelly doll. She has chicken pox that you can make appear and disappear with cold/hot water!
And can you believe the gifts, again, from our personal shoppers Angela and Sondra? I had ordered some food to pick up, requesting that they call me if it could be done ahead of time because I wanted to cook a special meal for Leia Rose, who just had surgery. Well, they showed up not only with the food but also with a "Get Well Soon" balloon, a candy cane, and two cards! Leia Rose was in heave, . . . and feeling better at that, . . . jumping on the bed already?!?