Update to surgery

I am finally getting a chance to write an update to all the drama that has ensued over the last 24 hours........

First off, the actual procedure of Madi's surgery went really well.  It took about 35-40 minutes or so, which, of course, were the longest 35 minutes ever!!!  I was all set to take her back into the operating room and didn't think it was going to be too much of a big deal.  Well, I was mistaken!  Because we have a family history of an adverse reaction to anesthesia, they have to use different drugs and they can't use the gas to put her to sleep.  So, I watched them put an I.V. in her while she screamed bloody murder.  Poor baby girl!!!  When I walked in there with her, I immediately started hyperventilating and panicking.  I thought I was going to throw up.

But, the 35 minutes flew by and next thing you know the Dr. was coming out and ready to show us pictures of the whole thing.  The procedure went well.....the bad thing we learned, though, is that her airways into her lungs have NOT improved since March.  Her airways have 25-50% blockage.  They figured it was because of the aspirating she was doing.  They figured it would improve over time since we were thickening her liquids and preventing any more further damage.  But, since March, they looked exactly the same.  He doesn't think we need to do anything about it at this time, other than watch it.

Recovery room.......

Madi had a tough time coming out of anesthesia in the recovery room.  For some reason, she had an excessive amount of drainage of fluid and it made it hard for her to breathe.  She was literally choking and drowning on her own mucos as she was waking up.  You can imagine the panic she felt so she thrashed around alot and cried.  The crying made even more mucos, which amplied the situation.  The recovery nurse forewarned us that we would probably have to go to the PICU if it didn't improve.

They ended up giving her a drug to "dry" up the junk.  It did seem to help and after another hour or so, we were on our way to our room for the night.

Everything was going okay for awhile.  Madi drank a couple of ounces of milk.  We were even starting to get a couple of smiles out of her!  I went out of the room for a few minutes and when I came back, Madi's face and arms were lobster red.  The redness was starting to spread down to her legs and it was really hot to the touch.  She didn't have a fever but her skin was really hot.  I tried to give her some Motrin because she was in a lot of pain but I only got a little bit in her when she started choking.  It was like she couldn't catch her breathe.

Needless to say, we had a room full of people in a short amount of time trying to figure out what was going on with her.  She seemed to be having an allergic reaction to something......what we didn't know.  They gave her a hefty dose of Benadryl in her IV and then everyone just watched and waited.  Her color slowly started to return to normal over the course of the next couple of hours.  The problem then was the reaction her body was having to the Benadryl.  The medicine suppressed her respirations and she was struggling to breathe.  They had the PICU team come down and evaluate her on 2 different occasions.  Whenever the PICU team was in the room, she seemed to do okay.  As soon as they left, she desaturated and her respiration rate was dangerously low.  Thankfully the anesthesiologist and ENT doctor on call rallied for her and insisted that she be transfered down to the PICU.

It was about 11pm before we finally got settled in her new room in the PICU.  It was a long night, as Madi was in a lot of pain.  They determined that they couldn't give her any narcotics for the pain, she desaturated and respirations were very low when they tried that with Oxycontin in the recovery room.

It is now around noon the next day.  We are going to be transferred back to the regular floor but when, I don't know.  They are still waiting on a room.

Right now, we are alternating between Motrin and Tylenol for the pain.  We are struggling with getting the pain meds in her, though.  She refuses to swallow the stuff and she already has aspirated the Motrin twice now.  We are going to try the Tylenol Suppositories to help with that portion.  I guess they have a Motrin that they can give in an IV form but it significantly increases the chances of having bleeding and complications.  So, for now, they don't want to give it to her.

She hasn't ate anything yet.  Not even puree or applesauce.  But, she IS drinking milk from the bottle, which is GREAT!!

Thank you to all of you that have posted your thoughts and prayers to us on Facebook.  I definately think the prayers have worked, as Madi is on her way to getting better!! 

I think the plan is to stay here another night just to make sure she doesn't have any more allergic reactions and continues to drink.