Surgery Underway- 9:00

Cora is currently down in surgery.  It's a little past 9:00 and we are currently waiting in the family lounge for the first update, which should come around 9:30.  So far this is good, since it means that all should actually be underway this time.

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to her at 7:30, and a little past 8:00 the Nurse Case Worker came up to tell us the surgery would be postponed for the other emergency surgery.  She had already been anesthetized, had a central line and had been intubated, so they kept us in the hospital overnight and scheduled for this morning.  Yesterday was so long, since we'd been up since 2:45 in the morning, and really didn't have a chance to try and rest during the day, with nowhere to really sleep and a roomful of people at her bedside hanging out.  I guess in the grand scheme of things, it's just an extra day in the hospital, so it's not that big of a deal.  But it was hard to go through all the emotions of getting prepared and sending her off only to have to do it again.

This morning's send off was a little less organized.  The nurses yesterday didn't seem to know much about what was going on.  In the chaos of everything with emergency surgery, her cardiologist didn't put many orders in for Cora, so her medication dose was skipped until the evening when we finally asked again and again.  Then a nursing assistant came in and gave her a sponge bath complete with lotion, when she was supposed to have a Phisoderm bath instead.  So, after asking again, we had to give her another sponge bath again this morning.  Since we fed her last at 2:00, this morning was pretty quick.  Up at 6:00 (although I can't really say that I slept much at all), a few cuddles, a few sweet little smiles from Cora, and then off to the room to wait for the anesthesiologist to get her yet again.  It actually was a little bit easier today, having gone through it already yesterday, but still hard to give her that last little kiss and put her in someone else's arms.


But I feel good about things today.  Cora was in good spirits.  I feel optimistic and am sure everything will be OK.  Even the anesthesiologist told us that he is excited to do her surgery, since he likes these types of surgeries:  they're relatively easy and usually have good outcomes for the little ones.

We weren't really supposed to ask, but it seems that the child that had the emergency yesterday has pulled through, though is not out of the woods.  But we saw his family this morning, and they seemed to be holding together pretty well; so we're hoping that's a good sign for them.

I am eagerly awaiting the first update and hope that maybe I may be able to sneak away for a mini nap somewhere.  After several days of sleep deprivation I know I'll need a break to be able to keep myself in one piece.  My parents brought my sister's home away from home, their beautiful school bus turned R.V.  So maybe if I know there's a little break I'll slip away for a much needed nap.  I know that things will seem better after a little bit of sleep.

Long day of waiting on Tuesday:

Cora and Grammy

Getting ready to go for real:

 

Bye, bye sweet girl!  See you on the other side of surgery!