I was thinking this evening

As we ran a quick trip to Target, I watched L run around smiling and chatting, including the obligatory request for candy at the checkout. If we had mentioned to any of the other shoppers that L had just had open heart surgery Monday, they would have taken one look at L and declared us liars with an expression of horror that we would make up such an obvious falsehood.

She's only complained twice today of a little pain and only slowed down a little this morning. Tonight I gave her a shower, which is not her favorite activity. She has a small dark spot where they ran her central line in her arm and a few little scratches. She has the surgical tape over her main incision and tape and gauze over the stitches from the drainage tube. I thought about taking the tape and gauze off, but I peeked at the spot underneath it and decided it could stay for a little longer. Did I mention that I'm a total wuss about blood? Or anything that might possibly have bled within the last...oh...year?

Tonight she is dressed in her princess pajamas, snuggled under her princess sheets and princess blanket and already dreaming princess dreams. On her stomach. That's one brave princess.

Home!

I tried to get on from late yesterday afternoon to late last night and couldn't get into the site, so this update is a bit late, but it's still good :-)

We're home!

L was done with all the wires by 10am when they finally disconnected her from the monitor and she spent the rest of the day walking up and down the hall, playing and doing crafts in the playroom, roaming around her room, and generally reveling in her freedom. She fell twice, the second she fell hard, caught herself with her arms, and learned the hard way that it really hurts to do that! It didn't make her much more cautious though and we still spent the day telling her "don't run!" and "don't sit like that" and "don't jump down". 3-year-olds just don't know what's good for them.

The hospital finally got the chest x-ray and all the paperwork done and let us go about 5pm. W took L home, and Mom, K and I stopped by Target to pick up L's prescriptions. Target had the pain killer, but they didn't have the diuretic, so they found it at another pharmacy across town. I dropped Mom and K off at home, picked up W and our insurance card and raced over to the over pharmacy, getting there 1 minute before they closed. Whew! It was such a neat little mom-and-pop place and they were so nice.

On the way home, we stopped at OTB and had a quiet dinner where W and I could finally just relax and talk. We picked up Mom some ice cream on the way home, then we all collapsed in bed, so incredibly thankful to have *everyone* home.

This morning, L is happy, but she's hurting a bit and has been content to sit still. She's still her ornery self and just told me, "Water doesn't make me feel good. I want juice!" Of course, Your Highness.

I'm about to break out into song

In college I was in a musical, Fiddler on the Roof. After spending a huge part of every day one summer in rehearsals, the songs are pretty well ingrained into me. There's one this morning that keeps ringing through my head.

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles
I was afraid that God would frown.
But just like He did so long ago in Jericho,
God just made a wall fall down.

Why this one? Because about 7:30 this morning, the surgeon and PA came in, popped out that chest tube (which caused one little squeak outta L which Dr. B said was the best any kid has ever done), and announced that if we pushed, L gets to go home this afternoon! The last labs were drawn around 5am, she just finished her last round of antibiotics, and then she can get off the rest of her tethers and go for a walk and to the playroom for activities and to the cafeteria for lunch.

Miraculous.

Day 2 and a Regular Room

This morning found Lydia sitting up in bed, watching Finding Nemo, and eating a big breakfast. She was exactly alert and happy, but she was a whole huge lot better than yesterday. She spent most of the night falling asleep, turning over to her side, trying to turn over on her stomach and getting mad that the nurse wouldn't let her, crying while they turned her over on her back, then falling asleep again. Repeat. Over and over again.

She has had most of her lines and tubes removed, including the pace maker wires, so we have no more worries about rhythm issues. She's down to the one chest tube and an IV line sticking out of her left forearm, but it's not attached to anything. She has an oxygenation monitor on her finger and some sticker monitors on her chest to measure her heart rate and breathing and that's it.

She was moved to the step-down unit after a little less than 24 hours in the CVRU and has been waking up more every minute. She finally got a set of child-sized hospital pajamas, she's sitting up, drinking water, eating graham crackers, and reading princess books with Daddy.

Now the issue is that she's getting far more interested in the stuff attached to her and the buttons on the bed. She's still too weak to do much about them, but it won't be long :-)

If you'd like to come visit, give us a call and I'll let you know the room number. Our cell phones actually work in here, so we can be reached.

A Quick Update from the First Day

The CVRU people have been so wonderful and have allowed us to stay with L every moment. Which means that I haven't had time to post. I did want to post a quick update no before I fall over from exhaustion, allergies, and stress.

L did very well in today and is progressing as expected. She has earned herself a reputation for being a determined little fighter, though. When we walked in, there were 3 people around her trying to hold her down. Her arms were strapped to the bed, but she still managed to get her hands on her breathing tube and tried to yank it out. They quickly decided it wasn't necessary and removed it. The first thing out of her mouth was "Wake up!" as in I want to wake up and get out of this bed. Every few minutes she fought and struggled, then she would calm down and sleep for a few minutes, then start over. She managed to pull out her catheter and once she got herself turned over onto her hands and knees, which hurt (obviously) and couldn't get herself righted. They have since kept her fairly well sedated with pain killers and something to stop the agitation. She finally calmed down enough that they removed the restraints, one IV, and the forehead sticker that measures the oxygenation of the blood to the brain (technology's amazing).

She slept most of the afternoon and evening and was still out of it, but they said she ought to be awake and demanding breakfast in the morning.

A Successful Surgery

We just got the news that L is out of surgery. Dr. B said things went very well. They were able to do just the partial sternotomy (incision only on the lower part of her chest) and repair the 4mm hole using a patch from the pericardium. The post-repair EKG showed all the valves and rhythms operating exactly as they are supposed to be and there were no issues with bleeding.

They were getting her ready for transport to the recovery unit and they'll call us in about an hour when they get her settled, so we can see her.

Praise God.

First Update

We got up very, very early, grabbed the bags and the daughter and made our way across town to the hospital. I learned the interesting fact that there are lots of traffic lights near us that flash yellow at that hour.

They led us back to the pre-op area where they provided L with markers and told her to *write on the sheet*. Hello?!? Don't teach her that! After awhile they came back in with a medicine cup with a tiny bit of liquid in for her to drink. Within minutes after drinking that stuff, L was tottering around. The nurse anesthetist brought the wagon piled it with blankets and tried to sit her in it and buckle her in. Trust me the buckle was required since the child was floppy by that point. They finally just laid her down and she disappeared down the hall wearing a goofy grin and working hard at her princess wave.

The child life specialist escorted Grandma, W, and I off to the special waiting room where there's an attendant at the desk who passes on updates from the OR. We got our first update at 8:15. They had made the first incision at 7:45am and things are going well so far.

I had brought 2 books, my laptop (very important), the Christmas cards to address, and sundry other little tasks to keep busy. So far, it's been tough to find time to even post this update as we've had several visitors drop by and keep us company. I did have to make a trip to the cafeteria, which by the way is a soft drink mecca. They have almost any drink you could possibly hope to find on tap. I left with a Coke and a bagel. My stomach feels queasy either from drainage or nerves, probably a little from column A and a little from column B. My new BFF, Sondra, brought me a 1/2lb bar of "therapy" chocolate. Gosh, I love her.