Caroline's Surgery

In the pre-op room waiting

I have been so horrible about updating the blog. Caroline had surgery at Children's Hospital last Tuesday. She had three procedures done: Supraglotoplasty, Microlaryngoscopy and Brochoscopy. It all has to do with her "stridor" noise and narrow airway opening. We went in early that morning and she did so good. She has been sleeping very well at night, but I knew that she couldn't have a bottle after 4:30 am, so we woke her up at 4 am to have her last bottle. The procedure was supposed to start at 9:30 am, they didn't end up taking her back until noon. I know she was so hungry, but she was so busy looking all around she never once got fussy. The hardest part was handing her over to the surgery nurse. They took her back and sent David and I to the waiting room. We were starving, so they gave us a pager and would page us when and if they needed us. We barely got done eating and the pager went off. We went running to the surgery department and they said she was all done and did great. Dr. Richter took some pictures with a camera when he was in her airways. It was amazing to see the difference in the pictures of before and after. He did a snip to widen her airway and trimmed some extra tissue that was causing some swallowing problems. We were very nervous because she was supposed to be intubated for 24 hours, but he felt she did so well he wasn't going to do that. He did warn us that if she didn't eat within 3-5 hours, they would have to intubate her overnight. By this time, we were so anxious to see her. They sent us over to PICU and we had to wait until they brought her in there. I heard her screaming, so I was ready to go get her. When we got back there, she was in so much pain. Everytime she would swallow she would scream and stretch her arms and legs out. It was the worst feeling not being able to help her. We were holding her and talking to her, but she was hysterical. Finally, David told the doctor please give her something for pain. She had a small dose of morphine and she relaxed and took a short nap, waking up often with a small cry. When she woke up, we tried to feed her, at first she wouldn't take it. But, within a few minutes she had sucked down 4 oz., which was outstanding!! They kept us in intensive care through the night and she did great!! We were supposed to get moved to a room for one more night, but since she did so great they sent us home on Wednesday morning. She is breathing and swallowing so much better. I wouldn't say she is 100%, but major improvement and it will only get better with age.

P.S. The red spot below her eye is where she cut herself while throwing a fit.