My Pirate Princess

Today was the 5th time I've had to deal with anesthetics. Xander has had 4 different surgeries in his short life.. but today was Bella's first (and hopefully ONLY) time! It's amazing to me the differences in how kids handle surgery, and the anesthetics, and the recovery. I remember Xander's surgeries... the first 2 times, he was less than 2 years old... he woke up scared, disoriented and SCREAMING! The second two, it was like a completely different kid... I assume it was his age??

For Bella, all of the nurses said she was the "Perfect wake"... she woke up, opened her eyes, and just laid there looking around. No crying, whimpering, screaming...nothing... just laying there peaceful and content! She did great!

Backtrack....

(pics on left are BEFORE surgery- pics on right are AFTER)

For the last year, we've been seeing Dr. Cascairo for Bella's right eye. For the most part, at first, she had pretty good control of it. But when it would "go lazy," it was bad. All it took though was to say "fix your eye, Bella" and she would correct it. As time has gone by though, it has become harder and harder for her to correct. Often, lately, when we say to fix it, she just covers it up... I guess that's easier for her than to focus on fixing her drifting eye! So, I talked to our pediatrician as well, and we decided the best option would be this muscle surgery.

We got there at 715 for an 830 surgery. At 815, she got the Versed (sp)... the "loopy juice" as the nurses called it. (the pic on left is her barely holding her eyes open after the loopy juice!) She DID get silly...she was cracking me up! For the next hour, she was making me laugh. She'd caress her blanket and say "Oooo Blankie"... she'd stick out her tongue and start laughing... she'd sit up, only to fall right back down since she was light-headed... she was humming, then singing "lalalalalala" over and over again... she'd say "bear" "dog-dog" "bear" "dog-dog" - holding up the bear, then the dog, then the bear... you get the picture! It was sweet though- every few minutes she'd ask where Jonathan was! She loves her "big" brother!

Anyways, they took her back at 930 (an hour late...UGH) for her surgery. During that time, I visited the hospital's Starbucks!! (YUMMY) ... And I went to the NICU to see my friend Scarlett and her baby boys (they were born at only 26 weeks gestation, so they'll be there for awhile!)!! It was a nice visit! I got back to the waiting room about 10 minutes before they finished Bella's surgery!! The doctor explained everything to me... all the "what to expect" stuff... some of which I am glad he told me, because I think I would've freaked out a little bit had I not been forewarned!

I went back to see her at about 1045, and she was perfectly content....not necessarily happy, but content. The nurse said she was doing great! After a couple of hours in the recovery area, they let her go home! Then... about 5 miles from the hospital, she puked all over herself. That TICKED her off... she cried and cried for about 15 minutes before she fell asleep in the car!

When we got home, the doctor said we could remove the patch anytime, so I did that. She didn't like it at all either! It was icky... it was full of tears from her crying, but since her eye was bleeding a little bit, the gauze was nasty. You can use your imaginations for that one!!

Anyways, her eye is completely blood-shot... ... put some of the medicine in her eye... SHE SCREAMED! I tried to comfort her, but she didn't want to be held. BUT when I put her down, she didn't have her sense of balance yet, so she fell... then she cried again. Then I realized it was naptime... WAHOO! She's safe in her crib...so to bed she went!

She's in bed napping right now... I sure hope she wakes up happy. It broke my heart to see her so upset knowing there's nothing I can do for her. I just want to fix it, but I can't!

Please pray for my Pirate Princess...
I want her to be all better as soon as possible!