On July 6th, Lauren was finally able to have the first surgery to correct the macrodactly in her left hand. I was a nervous wreck for the days leading up to surgery, because I am always scared when my kids go under anesthesia. I prayed and bargained with the Lord to make the surgery go well, and it looks like it's time for me to pay up! Everything went splendidly.
The worst part of the day for Lauren was having to starve. Her surgery wasn't until 2:15 and she wasn't able to have any solid food from the time she woke up that morning. All she could have was Jello up until noon, and at first she thought that was great, but then even Jello wasn't fixing her hunger and she complained alot about being hungry. Ha, the next day when she woke up she said "Mom, I don't have to have MORE Jello, do I?"
Dad was able to suit up and go with her back into the OR, so she wouldn't be afraid. He stayed with her until she was asleep and then he joined me in the family waiting area. I tried to keep my mind occupied, but even my Harry Potter book wasn't doing the trick. But the surgery went well, and it lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Dr. Hutchinson came in to talk to us when it was all over and he said that it went as well as he had hoped for, but that she would likely need a couple more surgeries as she continued to grow. He had to cut and stretch a ligament in her finger and he put a pin in to keep it in place. Luckily he did not have to remove a nerve, which had been a huge worry for us. He splinted it, put a tape cast on, and covered the whole thing with Coban. I was shocked when I saw just how much bandaging was covering her arm, considering it was just her finger that had been messed up. But in order to hold the finger in place, he had to protect and keep the whole lower arm from moving.
I was so anxious to see her in recovery, and it broke my heart a little when I saw my spunky and spirited little girl so heavily sedated. It took about an your for her to wake up and realize who I was, and to my surprise, she had no problems coming out of anesthesia. It affects Devin and me badly and makes us very angry and hyper when we wake up, but Lauren opened her eyes just like Sleeping Beauty and just smiled. Then she got to eat a popsicle and all was well. Dad finally got to come in and she was super happy to see him too.
The next several weeks were a challenge in some ways because of her pain and keeping cast protected and dry. It put a real damper on our summer because she couldn't go swimming at all, so as a result none of us did much swimming or even playing outside in the water because it seemed that no matter what we did, the cast got a little wet each time.
Lauren was a real trooper through the whole experience and hopefully next time the doctor does another repair, she will be older and better able to handle the stress of being somewhat incapatcitated.
The worst part of the day for Lauren was having to starve. Her surgery wasn't until 2:15 and she wasn't able to have any solid food from the time she woke up that morning. All she could have was Jello up until noon, and at first she thought that was great, but then even Jello wasn't fixing her hunger and she complained alot about being hungry. Ha, the next day when she woke up she said "Mom, I don't have to have MORE Jello, do I?"
Dad was able to suit up and go with her back into the OR, so she wouldn't be afraid. He stayed with her until she was asleep and then he joined me in the family waiting area. I tried to keep my mind occupied, but even my Harry Potter book wasn't doing the trick. But the surgery went well, and it lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Dr. Hutchinson came in to talk to us when it was all over and he said that it went as well as he had hoped for, but that she would likely need a couple more surgeries as she continued to grow. He had to cut and stretch a ligament in her finger and he put a pin in to keep it in place. Luckily he did not have to remove a nerve, which had been a huge worry for us. He splinted it, put a tape cast on, and covered the whole thing with Coban. I was shocked when I saw just how much bandaging was covering her arm, considering it was just her finger that had been messed up. But in order to hold the finger in place, he had to protect and keep the whole lower arm from moving.
I was so anxious to see her in recovery, and it broke my heart a little when I saw my spunky and spirited little girl so heavily sedated. It took about an your for her to wake up and realize who I was, and to my surprise, she had no problems coming out of anesthesia. It affects Devin and me badly and makes us very angry and hyper when we wake up, but Lauren opened her eyes just like Sleeping Beauty and just smiled. Then she got to eat a popsicle and all was well. Dad finally got to come in and she was super happy to see him too.
The next several weeks were a challenge in some ways because of her pain and keeping cast protected and dry. It put a real damper on our summer because she couldn't go swimming at all, so as a result none of us did much swimming or even playing outside in the water because it seemed that no matter what we did, the cast got a little wet each time.
Lauren was a real trooper through the whole experience and hopefully next time the doctor does another repair, she will be older and better able to handle the stress of being somewhat incapatcitated.
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