January 21, 2010 -- Day 1 Post-Op

Morning

We arrived at the hospital today just in time for rounds. Lily was doing fine, sleeping peacefully as the doctors and nurses discussed her. Dr. Satyan said that everything looked well enough to take out her Vent Tube. "Right now??" Tracy asked? "Right Now!" Dr. Satyan said.

Of course, we didn't want to be in the room as they do this. Lily will gag and cry and strangely enough, it's a lot to see. When we returned to her bedside from the waiting room, the doctors and nurses were still hovering over Lily. Dr. Jayasree came up to us and told us that they were having trouble taking the Vent Tube out. They were able to get the tube half way out, but then there was some resistance. Rather than force the tube out, Dr. Satyan pushed the tube back in.

Of course, after all we have been through so far, we got a little nervous. Dr. Jayasree told us that everything will be ok. "Is this normal?" Tracy asked. "No," she said, "but there may be some swelling or it may be getting caught up on the Replogle tube."

So in comes the X-Ray machine. They pulled the Vent Tube half way out again and shot some X-Rays of Lily (the kid has had more X-Rays than Carter has liver pills!)

Of course, now....We wait!!

About a half hour later, Dr. Caty comes walking in, classic smile on his face. "What is Lily up to?" he asks. "She keeps throwing us curve balls!" He tells us he reviewed the X-Rays and it looks like there's no problems. He said that the procedure more than likely caused a little trauma to her trachea which caused Edema (or swelling). He said when the Vent Tube comes out, they can put her under a mist tent, and that will reduce the swelling. "Let's get this tube out of her!" he says.

Tracy and I walk out again. This time, we stay by the door and watch them huddle over Lily. We jokingly wonder who is taking care of all of the other babies on the floor since there's about 9 doctors and 10 nurses crowded around Lily's bed. We see a lot of smiles and laughing, so we know everything is ok. Our thoughts are confirmed when Dr. Jayasree turns to us and gives us the thumbs up. We go back into the room and our beautiful Lily has the least tape she has ever had on her face. She looks so wonderful!! She de-saturated a little bit (down to 88 ---remember, 85 startes to raise concerns). But about 10 seconds and two or three big breaths later, she bolts up to 98 and stays there. Another hurdle cleared!!

As promised, Respritory comes in and puts a Mist Tent over her head. This will help her with the swelling. It looks like she is getting her own personal little spa treatment. I told Tracy she should paint Lily's toenails to complete the picture!

Evening

Lily is quiet for the most part. She is on rounds of Fentonol that keep the pain at bay. Even still, she sometimes opens her eyes and looks around the room. She'll catch our eyes and stare at us for a while as if to say, "This ain't so bad, Mommy . . . See what a big girl I am, Daddy?"

Once in a while she will stretch and make a little sound that is reminscent of a tiny dinosaur from Jurassic Park. It's cute in its own right, but we know it is a whine of pain and it is heart breaking. But Lily is our big strong girl and she is a hero to us! We just know she will conquer this and be home within a few weeks. Then no one can hold us back from spoiling her and holding her and waking her up from a deep sleep just to tell her we love her.

Goodnight, Boo Boo Baby!!