Adventures in Medicine

I'm overdue for an update about Keira's latest surgeries. June was a loooong month. To my dismay, her surgery date got postponed for 3 weeks. Not only did this mean having to re-arrange all of our schedules again, it meant continuing to essentially force-feed Keira much more than she wanted to eat and deal with the reflux/spitting up, etc. This was important in order for her to not lose weight before surgery. 

Since we had some extra time, we decided to go on a weekend camping trip (Keira's first), the weekend before surgery. I think, for the first day at least, she enjoyed being outside in the sun and the breeze, listening to the kids play, etc. She seemed overwhelmed and done with it all halfway through the second day. It didn't help that she got her first sunburn that weekend, too! Her weight was also down a bit on the day of surgery, but just within the limits to proceed as planned!

5 am. On our way to the hospital

Being back at the hospital was strange. Not quite homey feeling, but familiar. The smell of the sanitizer, the faces of many of the nurses and staff, the location of most things in the hospital room. That first day, for me, was a weird sort of relief, I think, in knowing that they were going to take care of her. I really only recognized that, though, in contrast to what Jeff was feeling. He was more anxious about the whole thing this time than I was. Not to say that I wasn't on edge a bit. I nearly cried when we went down to the cafeteria for breakfast, when K had finally been taken back for surgery, to find that it was closed for remodeling. 

K was in surgery for 5 hours. In total, there were 5 procedures: the button, the fundoplication, a hernia repair, tubes, and adenoids. This picture of Keira and Jeff's hands was shortly after she arrived in the PICU. They kept her on a respirator and quite sedated for awhile, so that she wouldn't disrupt her abdominal stitches.

The next couple of days, it was difficult to keep her comfortable. If she was too comfortable, her blood pressure dropped. If she wasn't sedated enough, she'd hold her breath (in pain, we think), and her heart rate would spike.

As the days went by, Keira got more and more comfortable, the cords attached to her started at 8 and trickeled down to 0, and they slowly started putting food in her stomach. The food was a tough issue and the main reason our stay stretched out to 8 days. Sedating meds and pain meds both slow down the digestive process, so waiting for that to pick back up took a while.

Day 5, we stepped down to the pediatric unit. The fact that Keira and I could both fit in the "crib" was a beautiful thing.

Day 6: We took her to the playroom. This is out on the patio. She got some fresh air and put her feet in the bead bin.

And on Day 8, we finally came home. Jeff and I were (are) both really exhausted, but K is doing great. She seems much more energetic. We notice her turning her head back and forth more and generally having more stamina. We continue to bulk her food up a little bit every day and though she doesn't always like it, we're moving at a pretty steady pace. She'd gained a pound already at her one week post op appointment! For better or worse, much of her therapy activities are stalled for the time being, just focussing on keeping food in at the moment.

The boys finally came home a few days after Keira did. They went on a wonderful vacation and while K was in the hospital they were doing stuff like this:

 And this:

Rough, huh? It actually worked out quite nicely to have them gone during that time, but I'm so happy to have them home. 

Look how happy!

Once again, we appreciate all the care and concern from the many people who love us (Bekah and Jeff) and love K. Your support (visits, texts, meals, cards, etc.) makes all the difference to us. If you pray, continue to pray for rest and peace and stamina for both Jeff and me. Life with K expectedly has it's highs and lows. For whatever reason, it's feeling harder to get back into a groove this time.