Procedure Complete

The procedure that we have been waiting for has finally been completed. As you can read from a previous post, we headed to Shriners Hospital last week at a very last minute pace. We did manage to change all of our plans and get her to the hospital on time. A 5:30 am arrival time comes very early in the morning! Nate and I both commented that it was the day that went on and on and on! I guess that's what happens when you get up before the sun!

Once we arrived at the hospital and got DOP checked in, we quickly realized this was not just a casual procedure. She was treated like an operative patient. We had to go through pre-op, procedure, doctor coming out to talk with us and recovery. It was all very official.

I do have to say that Shriners did an amazing job of preparing DOP for what was to happen. The Child Life Specialist arrived at 6:30 am and began walking her through about what would happen. They had a binder full of pictures that showed her each step of the way. After all, she was just here to take a nap (wink, wink). She got to see the 3 "stickers" that she would put on and where they would go. She saw the mask she would put on and even got to smell its cherry flavor! She saw the room she'd go into and where she would be when she was done "sleeping." We made sure that she knew where we would be all through the process. Certainly making sure we'd be there when she woke up.

Once in the pre-op room, they gave her a personal DVD player with whatever she wanted to watch. It was no question that Scooby Doo was on deck. Thank goodness for Scooby Doo because it got her "in the zone" and she didn't give a hoot what they did to her as long as she could continue to watch Scooby Doo! This "zone" allowed us to skip the medicine they sometimes give to help kids relax before the procedure. For that I was thankful because my thought was that the less medicine they gave her, the quicker she would recover.

Through all of this DOP had her "game face" on and did what had to be done. We've noticed from day 1 that she puts on this certain face that tips us off that she is "coping." She appears very calm, but we, as her parents, know it's just a facade that helps her get through. Nate and I both knew she was nervous, but her "game face" was covering it up to the average observer. Our thoughts were confirmed when more and more nurses and doctors began to congregate around her bed. We knew she was watching what was going on with the other patients in the room, but not letting on. Being no dummy, she knew it was her turn. Again, it was clear to Nate and I when she reached up her little hand to scratch her face and her hand was shaking. It was only a 2 second crack in the facade, but it did a number to my heart. That's when the protective Mama Bear in me came out. It was gonna take a lot for me to now burst into tears with worry.

Well, I managed to get through the rest of the "send off" without crying, but that time frame between when they wheeled her away and we saw the doctor enter the waiting area seemed to take forever! Thank goodness we were starving by this point and fill up some of our time with eating. Otherwise, I would've spent more time than necessary meditating on the "what ifs."

When the doctor came out and said everything went fine, I was relieved, but couldn't wait to be given permission to go into recovery with DOP. FINALLY the phone rang letting me know she was waking up. I must confess I had tears in my eyes all the way down the hallway to recovery. I just love that little girl so much! I couldn't wait to get in there and let her know that mommy and daddy were still there regardless of her response to the meds.

When I walked into the recovery room and saw her little body with all kinds of tubes, monitors, etc on her I couldn't wait for her to recover so we could get outta there. Since we've never done this with DOP, I didn't know what I was walking into. Would the meds make her wild and unlike herself (we've had that happen with one of our other kids) or would she be mellow? Thankfully, she was the mellow type and was ready to leave recovery within 10-15 minutes. Only one person was allowed in there with her at a time. Nate and I anticipated a screaming child that we would need to take turns comforting. We were done so quickly that Nate never even had to come into recovery!

I cannot skip by this one memory of this moment that stands out. When I walked into recovery, Daughter of Purpose, was waking up and had this look of "where am I" on her face. It was a look of uncertainty. There was nothing like that moment when she saw me and all uncertainty was wiped away. It was a look of relief that Mommy was here. Irreplaceable! I hope I never forget that moment.

It didn't take long for us to be out the door and to hear her little voice requesting an "Amburger." She was certainly back to herself. Praise the Lord. At that moment, I would've climbed mountains and walked through high waters just to get her that "Amburger!" Thankfully In-n-Out Burger was just down the freeway so I didn't need to!

After her tummy was full (she hadn't been able to eat since dinner the previous night) she dropped off to sleep as we drove home. She really was quite mellow for the rest of that day. The next day she was back to her normal, talkative self. It was strange to be done and on our way home by 10:30 am. Like I said, it became the day of eternity because we arrived home by 1:30 pm and still had to be parents to the rest of our kids until bedtime even though Nate and I were ready for bed way earlier than usual!

Now what did the doctor say as a result of the procedure? Honestly, nothing we didn't already know. Although he was able to confirm that she has the classic signs of having had polio. Since those signs began showing up in the first month of life, we are unclear as to whether she really did contract it so early in life or whether she got it from her birth mother. We're not sure if that is possible or not. We will address that question when we go over the results of the procedure with her doctor in March.

In March we will return to Shriners for a Surgery Consult. What that means is that we arrive there before the sun again, but this time all of the doctors and residents in the orthopaedic unit will be there. They will all go over her file, the results of the procedure and take a look at her. The purpose of this is two-fold. We will be attempting to see if there is anyone there with any other ideas for her and making a long-range plan for her medical care. Secondly, we will be doing this for the benefit of research. It will greatly enhance future patients with polio to have these doctors and residents learn from DOP's case. We are grateful for those polio patients who went before DOP so that the doctors at Shriners did not throw up their hands at our daughter, like the doctors in our city did because they said polio didn't exist anymore. It may be an early hour to be a part of research, but worth every minute to know that we will be making the difference in the life of another child.

1 Samuel 1:27 "I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him."