Then the day was a long slog until 3:00 pm. s dozed on and off as she watched TV on and off. She had morphine injected into her IV every 3 hours. G and I sat, talked, planned as we watched the clock. I sought momentary refuge in work from the endless wait. I tapped away on my laptop.
1:30 pm. The nurse came it to say that they were going to start prepping. s needed to be moved. Even with the morphine, any attempt to move her leg resulted in screams so they decided to just move the entire bed rather than putting her onto a smaller transport gurney. We navigated the hospital bed through hallways. She looked small in this large bed through wide hallways in a hospital.
Another Xray. Last night's realigning has put the bones in approximately the right location. That's a good sign.
We are brought to PACU as the anesthesiologist came to greet us. More doctors are introduced. Even more forms needed to be signed. Over the day and the night before, we've met many doctors of varying shapes who are associated/worked with our surgeon. We didn't meet him until a few minutes before surgery.
The surgeon was confident, quietly so. He reassured us that the breaks happened under the growth plates so recovery looks good. He delivered the blow that there needs to be another surgery to remove the screws that he was about to put in. So as s starts to recover from her injury and move on her own, she will need to come back for another surgery.
Then it was time to say goodbye. s was pretty brave. "You'll be ok. Mommy will be waiting for you when you get out." I said.
She nodded. I am not sure if it was agreement or the anesthesia started to work.
Her last statement as she began to doze off was whether or not she could have a sleepover with her best friends. I had to laugh because she would be thinking that.
We went home to clean up, to nap and to pick up g from school. We were on our way to the school when the doctor called and said that surgery went well (full minutes earlier than expected). 5 small incisions rather than 1 large one on her left thigh. We picked g up and went to the hospital.
When we arrived, she wasn't ready yet and has not been completely set up at the PACU. When we are finally able to see her, she looked angry. Her sleeping face had a grimace. I noticed blood on her clothes. They said that she had awakened too early and pulled out one of the lines. Nothing to worry about, they reassured.
She was sleeping but was coming around. We took turns sitting by her side while the other would be with g, doing homework.
I stayed with her that night as throughout the night, nurses, techs and doctors came to see her in what seems to be visits timed around the time when she finally has fallen asleep. She didn't mind most of the visits except the phlebotomist. By then, she was over being poked. She begged them to take blood from her IV line. Thankfully, the girl had talent and the torture lasted less than a minute. After that, she was all tuckered out.
I sat there, watching her. Sleepy but unable to sleep as the interruptions continued throughout the night and dawn. She is going to be ok. I didn't quite realize what laid ahead.
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