Poor Sami had a really….really….REALLY rough winter. She had 4 cases of strep throat within 8 weeks. To add to her dilemma she is allergic to 5 antibiotics! Of course- the ones who are best used to fight strep. Sigh….
She has been struggling with snoring and having problems breathing while she sleeps as well…getting up almost every night. We took a trip to see the ENT that put in Skylar’s tubes, and he recommended removing her tonsils as well as the adenoids.
Early Friday morning we loaded up in the car and made our way to Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago. She needed to be there at 6:30 am. Her good friends from dance who sadly have had their fair share of surgeries let her ask them questions, and helped her feel confident going in. She wasn’t really nervous at all! I think she was looking forward to feeling good after it was all said and done.
She took her doll Kit with her, and she even dressed her in a hospital gown.
Soon her nurse came in, and gave her a hospital gown and pajama pants to wear. Sami was not thrilled with the pajama pants at all…she said they were really uncomfortable!
Look at those smiles! She was not nervous at all! She sat and watched cartoons in between doctors and nurses coming in the room to talk with us as well as answer any questions we had.
Poor Matt was SO tired! He had worked a 16 hour shift the night before, and the few days before he had worked a lot as well. He spent most of the day doing this….
One of the neat things about going to a children’s hospital…they are totally in tune with kids…and THEIR needs. One of my instructors in college worked as a child life specialist, and I always thought it sounded like a really neat job. The girl who came in and spoke with Sami about her surgery was SO sweet! She asked her if she had any questions…gave her a special doll…and let her know everything she could expect to happen.
Sami chose cherry scent for her mask to be put to sleep with. Another great thing about children’s hospitals…no pokes while you’re awake! They put her to sleep with the mask THEN put in the IV! So nice!
She even let her paint her cherry scent into her mask herself!
Before we knew it the anesthesiologist was walking her back! We got to the red line which is where Matt and I would have to say goodbye to her. She grabbed the doctor’s hand…and just kept walking without even looking back!!! She wasn’t nervous at all!!! The doctor looked at her, and said “Would you like to give hugs and kisses?!” She said…”OH yeah!!!!” Ha! We soon found ourselves in the waiting room. They have a tv screen which display’s the patients number, and you can follow their progress throughout surgery. It was really nice, and I watched it like a hawk! (Her number was 3158)
When they called us back to the recovery room she was opening her eyes and fighting the nurse, but she wasn’t actually awake. She tried to jump out of the bed…got caught up in the cords….oye! She was so mad! She started crying that her throat hurt, so her lovely nurse gave her some morphine. It helped her relax, and she was able to sleep a little bit more. We had to stay in recovery for 3 hours. She ate a few bites of popsicle and drank some juice. Soon we had our discharge instructions, and we were on our way.
It was pouring down rain, and I was SO thankful we had used the valet to park! Matt drove us home, and Sami did this the whole way….
She has done SO well since coming home! It’s been a little over 48 hours since surgery and she has already decided she would rather have regular Tylenol instead of the Tylenol with Codeine. She has been watching movies, reading books, and coloring. She is eating pretty much anything she wants as long as its soft- like pancakes, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes.
A big thank you to Uncle Mitchell for watching Skylar for us Friday while we were at the hospital. To my mom and dad for taking Skylar for the weekend so I could focus solely on Skylar as Matt had to return to work.
She has had a few visitors stop by…who have brought movies, books, and slushies!
Two favorite visitors…Jorden and Tressa who played a few games with her….
It is Spring Break,so she isn’t missing any school. When the doctor told her she had to stay home from dance she was still hooked up to monitors, and her little heart started to race! Ha!
It is hard to see her down and not feeling 100% like herself,but I am amazed at how well she is doing!!!
