Katie's surgery

We started our morning out nice and early.  We arrived at the hospital at 5:30.  Katie was all smiles and happy as can be.

She brought a bear with her and she got to stay in her pj until it was ready to get ready for surgery

She got to dress her bear up like she was going to be when she went into surgery.  The bear got to go with

Before surgery, she got to play in a playroom.  Her and her dad played a game of connect 4 before she venture into other toys.  When they had her change into the hospital gown, the two size she has were either huge on her or to small.  We decided at the end to put on the large shirt and the little pants which made it look like capri's.

Katie had picked me to go into the OR room with her, this is what I had to wear.

Dr. Welch came in before the surgery and did some marking on her.  He said most kids that have microtia have a ear that is very low that he has to move up and with this usually the hair line is low and he has to shave a lot.  He said that Katie's ear is high and her hair line is high so he was only got to take off a little bit of the hair.  Katie was very happy with that.

Katie is ready to go.  Before going in, she got to pick a flavor for the gas to put her to sleep.  She picked bubble gum.  When we got into the OR, Katie was trying to jump out of her bed and onto the operating table, she was laughing and having a fun time.  When they put the mask on, they told her she had to breath in and out hard and make this green balloon with a face on it get fat.  Katie thought that was the most funniest thing, so everytime she took a deep breath in and out, she started to laugh, which caused the rest of to laugh.  She then just went to sleep as she was laughing and taking another deap breath.  This was so much easier on me then when I did Jenny.

Katie was asleep at 7:30, we were told that this surgery would be a min. of 7 hours.  My neice Cassie came down and sat with Dave and I.  Katie was in surgery until 3:52 (8 hours and 22 minutes).  When Dr. Welch came out he had a huge smile on his face (he is a pretty smiley doctor as it is).  Said the surgery went great, they made an 3 cm cut on her left side, took out 2 1/2 ribs.  He said the ear looks very good and he is very excited for it.  Praise the Lord that everything went the way it was suppose to for the first surgery. 

Katie in the recovery room.  She arrived in there at 4:06.  She slept pretty soundly until shortly after 5, when the nurse Rosie (she was absolute angel, Thank you Lord), stated that we need to work on waking her up.  Right before that, Dave was talking to Katie's "subconscious" mind saying when she wakes up she will give him all of her chocolate candy at home. 

Katie just waking up, She opened her eyes and had that "deer in the highlight" stare.  We had to say her name a couple of times before she would respond to us.  Dave was the first person she saw and I was just on the other side of her.  The protective gear that she has on her ear is to hold the drain and pressure dressings.  She does have a new ear, it isn't formed completely, this ear is flat against her head.  In a couple of months she will go through phase 2 and 3 (surgeries) to make the ear stick out like her other ear. 

Waiting for her to wake up some more

Finally she got her popiscle stick that she has been waiting for since before the surgery (they told her she would get one after surgery)  She got 2 popicle sticks and 2 glasses of water within 1/2 hour after waking up.  We had to cut her off, I think she would have kept going. 

 

She was in the recovery room for 2 hours and 12 minutes, they said usually and hour to two, so she wasn't to far off. 

This picture was taken at 11:05 with her still up and wanting to color.  She had threw up right before this picture.  We had just took her to the bathroom for the first time and I think that upset her stomach because she felt better right away.

After the nurse gave her some zofran for her nausea and MS (morphine Sulfate) for the pain, she fell asleep peacefully.  I am Grateful for all the prayers and positve thoughts you gave to Katie today, they were felt and she had the perfect surgery and has done wonderful.  She is sleeping with the Giraffe that Grandma Margaret gave her.  This giraffe has a rice warm pack in the belly.  We warmed it up a couple of times and she said she really liked it and it felt good on her rib incision.  The brown and black animal you see that is from my Mom (grandma Jackie).  She loved the both.  She also got a stuff rabbit and a fleece tie quilt.  My sister and brother in law also visit which was very apperciated.

I couldn't get this picture to move, so it is out of order.  Monika, Jenny and my mom came to visit Katie, they gave her a fluffy dog and a ballon, Jenny had a fun time sitting in bed with Katie.  Katie showed them her remote for the tv, nurse and so forth.  Monika thought it was pretty cool.  They sat and watched Camp rock. 

Katie's room is a private room, It has a huge huge flat screen TV in it that she can watch tv, movies, games and go on the internet.  She also has a computer (I am using it right now), busy side street view outside her window( I like that), awesome looking lights.  I get to spend the night and get to sleep on a regular size bed.

Thank you Lord, for keeping my daughter safe while in surgery and allowing her recovery to be smooth.    Thank you everyone that kept Katie in their prayers today.  We felt them.