Wanted to update the blog for anyone that is not on Facebook or was unable to follow our updates throughout the day yesterday. First of all we couldn't have asked for thing to go better than they did, I truly feel the doctors were able to accomplish everything they set out to. We got to the hospital a little before 9am and were back in pre-op shortly thereafter. The nurses did all their pre-op questions and vitals, and then we spoke with the anesthesiologist. He told us that Maddie's case is pretty easy on their part because they are able to hook everything up through her trach verses have to intubate her, the only thing was that since Maddie's trach is uncuffed, meaning that she is able to talk around her trach that they would have to swap it out with a cuffed trach for the procedure. If they didn't do that then the gases would escape and the surgeons would be reaping the benefits of the anesthesia and might get a little sleepy themselves! Basically what they did was stick a longer hard plastic tube with a cuff (a balloon that is inflated to keep it in place and not allow any air to pass by) into her trach hole that in turn stuck out away from her actual trach about 6 inches and then hooked her up to the good stuff. We were told that she would come back to us exactly how she left us, but of course she did not, so we had to work with the nurse to uncuff the temporary trach, get it out and put her normal trach back in. Once again, I feel as if I should send the hospital an invoice for my services provided.
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| Watching TV waiting to get going. |
Anyway, back to the actual surgery! Dr. Buchman was running late (Surprise! Surprise!) so the dental team came by and said they were going to go ahead and go first and that Dr. Buchman would go after them. I was a little nervous upon first hearing this because I was wasn't sure how well the dentist would be able to get in her mouth and work with the bars being such a distraction (haha...get it, distraction!) I know, I'm lame :o) But have no fear, the dentist told me it wouldn't be a problem and it wasn't.
The only thing that didn't go quite as we had hoped was the part where Maddie was actually taken back to the OR. Usually they give her a dose of versed, it kicks in, and she is totally chill and loopy by the time they take her from us. Well yesterday they brought her the medicine and she just didn't want to take it. This is nothing new to us, she has been boycotting medicine since her surgery in May - I think she just doesn't trust that it will taste good, cause let's be honest...it usually doesn't. Anyway, the nurse was a little pushy and just kept telling Maddie to do it quick or she would do it for her. Umm...sorry nurse, I know you don't know my little girl, but that tactic wasn't going to work. Next thing we know, Maddie has pushed the meds in and then spit probably about 3/4 of it out. I do think she got a little because she started to act a bit groggy, but was no where near how she usually gets. They brought the wagon over to transport her to the OR and she was not happy, was crying and upset and wanted her daddy. Ian was able to pull her down the hallway, and then the doctor took over from there.
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| Settled in the wagon and ready to head to the OR. |
From there we went to check in at the family waiting room where we got a cell phone so they could reach us if need be. We were pleasantly surprised that the OR nurses kept in contact with us throughout all of her procedures. I think we got a total of 3 phone calls with updates, which is 3 more than we got in May! The dentist got in, did their work, and were out to talk with us within about 2 hours. They were pleased with what they were able to accomplish and surprised all at the same time. Ian and I know how little Maddie's mouth opens, and we try our best to describe it to her doctors and other people, but until they actually see it I don't think they get it. The dentist was able to fill 6 cavities and ended up pulling one tooth. I know we will have to eventually do another surgery that will help Maddie to open her mouth more, but since her teeth have been addressed, I don't feel as pressured to rush right into that.
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| First picture post-op and not quite sure what's going on. |
Dr. Buchman was in and out within an hour. They called us a little after 1pm and told us that the distractors were out and that he was in fact able to do the frenectomy (even though the dentist said he would be surprised if Dr. B could get in there to do that, due to her small opening). From there, Maddie went on to get a CT Scan per the oral surgeon and then it was off to recovery. I'd say we were finally able to see her around 2:30 and she was very groggy and out of it. It took her a good hour to start to wake up and want to sit up. Finally by 4:30, after she kept asking to go home we were able to get her up, get her dressed, had her drink a little sprite, and assured the nurse she wasn't going to be sick and then we were on our way home!
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| Finally heading home! |
Maddie was pretty chill for a whole 5 minutes once we got home and then it was as if a switch turned on and she was back to her old self! She was excited to see her Pa-Pa, Jimmy, & Gma Ev and had fun opening the surprises they brought for her. I think we were all in bed by 10pm and got a solid ten hours of sleep...I can't even tell you how long it's been since we have all slept that well!!
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