After registering for the umbilical hernia repair surgery at 6 am, Monday, September 22, Seery was examined by the Nurse Practitioner. She then put on pajamas. We went into the pre-op room to wait for her surgery. We met with her surgeon, he told us how the surgery would be performed. The Anesthesiologist met with us next. Seery was really scared and nervous, so the doctor gave her some medicine to help her relax. At that point she was pretty loopy and had to sit in the wagon. She looked at her book until it was time to go back into the operating room. We were able to walk with her down one hallway and then said good-bye, and the Anesthesiologist pulled her in the wagon the rest of the way. We waited in the waiting room with all the other parents. Her surgery took twice as long than estimated. Her umbilical hernia was actually worse than the surgeon had anticipated. Her surgeon met with us and told us how the surgery went. I then was able to go to the Recovery room to see her.
After a few minutes Seery was then moved to post-op where David met up with us. Seery had a hard time waking up. This her fast asleep after her surgery.
When Seery finally did wake up she was upset that she wasn't wearing her pajamas so we quickly got her dressed. She was not happy about having an IV in her hand. She finally had a Popsicle and a sippy cup of apple juice. She was able to keep it down and then the nurse removed her IV. When she was finally discharged Seery insisted on getting dressed up, in a dress. She refused to ride out of the hospital in the wagon wearing pajamas! We got her home and she fought the need to sleep and would not take the prescribed pain medication. Luckily she took the Motrin.
Here is the picture of her surgery site.
It has been a challenge to keep our 3 year old still and resting this past week. It will take months for the internal stitches to heal, so we will keep a close eye on her to make sure she does not have too much jostling to her abdomen. She has had belly pain, but has been such a trooper. She has not been able to take a full bath yet. She has only had sponge baths. Yesterday afternoon however, she spiked a fever and was in a lot of pain. She had a hard time sleeping. Today she wasn't any better. She still had a fever even with medication. She was also in a lot of pain. She cried all day and wanted to be held. So I called her pediatrician they said to go straight to the hospital. Luckily, her incision is not infected. Her belly area is not too hard, there is some extra gurgling in her digestive track. Most likely it is a coincidence. She probably just contracted a virus, she is more susceptible to getting sick post surgery. So at this point we will keep a close eye on her. Hopefully she will feel better soon! She will see her surgeon at Primary Children's Hospital next week for another post-op evaluation. So we will see where the healing stands at that point.
