Day after surgery

The next day Cordelia was still very groggy. She would open her eyes for a little bit and then fall back to sleep. The first time she saw me that morning she extended her arms out towards me so I could pick her up. More than anything I wanted to swoop her up and snuggle her, but with so many things attached to her, I couldn't just yet. For a mother it was the worst feeling in the world. The floor doctor had come by that morning to show us the before and after x-rays. There was a definite difference. Her lung was now extended like it should and her heart was back where it belongs. Many people had told us to get out of the hospital and take some time for ourselves. After looking at the x-rays the doctor said this would be a good time for that. Cordelia was mostly sleeping and we couldn't pick her up so this was our opportunity. And for the first time in my life I was happy to have a cell phone just in case. I wanted to get a little something for the boys so we headed to the Mall of America. I knew I could find a little something at LegoLand for Rion. We also thought this might be a good opportunity to get some Christmas presents, but there weren't any good toy stores like I remember being there. We didn't buy very much at all. We did fill a huge Old Navy bag since we didn't pack enough clothes and there was some really good deals there. I did have one huge panic at Urban Outfitters when the cell phone rang. It wasn't a North Dakota area code so I searched frantically for Fred as I fumbled for the cell phone. Thankfully, it was my aunt wondering what we were doing for lunch. She then met us at the mall for lunch. It was nice to get away, but I missed the boys more than ever. We were already planning on catching a Twins game next summer and going to the mall. The boys will have so much fun at the Nickelodeon amusement park and Rion will go nuts over LegoLand. I was really wishing they were there with us that day.

The important questions

As we waited in the surgery waiting room we saw many parents talk to their child's surgeon. Most left the room, but as people left and more room was available many decided to just talk to the doctor in the waiting room. This was the case for one of the last sets of parents besides ourselves. They were sitting close to us and with the empty room we could not help but hear their conversation. There son had gotten his tonsils out and one of the first questions out of their mouths was, "When can he play hockey again?" A while back Fred and I had watch a mockamentary about hockey parents and these two could have been the basis for it. We must have heard the word hockey twenty times in the conversation. Then the doctor left and they got their laptop out and were figuring out how many practices and games their son would miss. It was all they could talk about. In the future if I ever get that crazy about my children's sports or activities I give permission to everybody to give me a quick swift kick in the head.

Day of surgery

On Monday surgery wasn't scheduled until 3:00 so it was a long wait until then. By then Cordelia was getting sick of her hospital room so we spent more time in the family room that day. After her nap and a bottle I decided to take her in the family room one more time because it would be awhile before she could play again. We were in there for about five minutes when the nurse came in and told us it was time. Once again, Fred was not in the room. He was down on second floor trying to get some paperwork done. We stopped there on our way to pre-op to get him. I think the wait in pre-op felt longer than the wait during surgery. I just wanted it to be all over with and that made it feel longer. Before surgery we had to talk to the surgeon, anesthesiologists, and nurses. Then the anesthesiologist came back to give Cordelia a "cocktail" which would relax her as they took her away from us and into surgery. It seriously took 30 seconds for the cocktail to work. Her poor little head started bobbing and she was smiling big and giggling. If I wouldn't have been laughing so hard I would have been crying as they took her away. I intended to have a big cry in the waiting room, but we were surprised to see how small and packed the waiting room was. Every other waiting room we had seen was big with not many people in it. So my crying would have to wait because I just can't cry with so many people around. We were also surprised by another modern convenience in the waiting room. A number was assigned to each child in surgery and on a big computer screen, each parent could keep track of where their child was at in the surgery. They updated the information when surgery started, when it was complete, and when the child was in the recovery room. They also made a couple of phone calls to the waiting room to keep us updated. The surgery took about two hours to complete. The time went fast because we kept our minds busy. I had a Games Magazine that I bought a couple of weeks earlier and still hadn't started. (I don't know why I thought I would have time to sit down and play games. Anyway, it came in handy that day.) Fred even helped me with some of the puzzles. I didn't know he was so good at crosswords until then. Since Cordelia's surgery was late in the afternoon, by the time the surgeon came in the waiting room we were the last ones there. He said everything went great and we would be going back up to third floor soon. There was the possibility of her going to ICU after surgery, but they were able to take the breathing tube out thus skipping out on ICU. This was a huge relief for me. We had a tour of ICU the day before and I was having a hard time there. It was almost too much to handle and it wasn't even my child hooked up to all those machines. It was really nice to be back in our private room. The rest of the day Cordelia mostly slept. When she did open her eyes, it wasn't for long. She had so many tubes and monitors attached to her. She had a tube down her nose that went into her tummy, two IVs (one from previously in her hand that wasn't hooked up to anything and one in her foot that was giving her fluids), a chest tube, an epidural, and a pulse oximeter on her toe that kept track or her breathing and heart rate. That night we spent the night at the hospital.

Minneapolis Children's Hospital

Not much happened our first weekend in Minneapolis. Cordelia's surgery was set for Monday afternoon and until then the nurses just monitored her and we tried to hydrate her as much as possible. She only threw up twice while we were there which was good. Although not much happened, the whole thing was overwhelming. We got a tour of the hospital floor we were on and we also did some exploring of the hospital on our own. I quickly learned that I did not pack enough for myself, but over packed for Cordelia. Everything was provided for her. Even toys and a stroller. There was also a free washer and dryer on the floor, which we had to use. We also used the family room often, which was stocked with toys and also gave everyone a break from the hospital room. There were also dvds to check out, which we took advantage of. As far as food there were a lot of options. The hospital cafeteria, a McDonalds, delivery and other local restaurants. The hospital also provided us with five nights at The Sheraton. The staff at the hospital was amazing. I am used to waiting forever to see anyone whenever I go to the doctor. Our first day there the nurse said the surgeon would be up to talk to us about the surgery. Thinking we had lots of time, Fred went out for a smoke. He missed half of the surgeon's explanation of everything. It was always like that. And when we asked the nurse a question or needed something, she got right on it. There was no waiting around for things there. I was also impressed by how modern and new everything looked. I guess that floor had been remodeled three years ago and it looked really good. We had a very nice futon couch in the room and the toys in the family room were all new and in good shape. It just made me feel like they really care for their patients.

Mr. Mom

Two days after Cordelia's surgery, my mom also had surgery, but this one was planned. I told my dad we could make arrangements for the boys so he wouldn't have them while my mom was in the hospital. He said that was ok, he could watch the boys. The day after my mom's surgery I made my nightly call home. I was trying to have a conversation with my dad, but he kept talking to the boys while talking to me. I could hear the boys in the background and my dad, "watch where you're going," and "don't do that boys." I had a deep satisfaction in hearing my dad trying to deal with the boys and have a phone conversation. Another night my dad told me he was exhausted. And I smiled. Big. Now I never want to hear him ask me why I haven't done such and such or when am I going to do whatever. And yes, I know my house is messy. Maybe now he has an idea why. And he didn't even have all three kids or a job to go to and then come home to another much harder job. My mom is also getting much satisfaction in the fact that my dad has to do laundry for the next six weeks. My mom is under doctor's orders not to do anything strenuous, including laundry. My dad is learning so much in retirement. So when I was feeling down at the hospital all I had to do was think of my dad taking Rion to school everyday, having to buy a birthday gift, taking the boys to the birthday party, and all of the other everyday things that he has never had to do. And it made me smile. Big.

Chaos

As I talked to Cordelia's doctor on the phone a million thoughts were running through my mind. The doctor gave me the names of the doctors he had talked to and where we needed to be. When he asked if I had any questions, I couldn't think of any even though there were a million in my mind. It was just too overwhelming to process anything. At that time as relatives were asking questions about what was going on, I really didn't have a good answer. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on with Cordelia. I didn't know how long we would be in Minneapolis. I didn't know when the surgery would take place. Now we know that Cordelia had a diaphragmic hernia. Basically, there was a hole in her diaphragm and as she got older, the hole got bigger and eventually all of her small intestines and some of her big intestine slipped up through the hole and into her chest. This was causing her to throw up and more seriously the intestines were taking up the room where her heart and lungs would normally be. She was lucky enough to not have very serious breathing problems or we would have been rushed to Minneapolis in an ambulance. Instead we drove down there. To add to all of this there was the issue of what to do with the boys. Normally they would go to my parents, but they were going to Fargo for the weekend. And on top of everything Fred's mom was in Fargo at Fred's aunt's house getting ready to drive to our house the same day we were suppose to go to Minneapolis. We ended up dropping the boys off with Fred's mom over the weekend and then my parents took the boys back to Bismarck on Sunday. Fred did not get to see his mom while she was here, but at least she got to spend some quality time with the boys. And as the weekend unfolded we got more information about how much time we would be spending in the cities. It looked like my dad would get to be Mr. Mom for awhile.....

An unexpected trip

As a parent I have come to expect the unexpected. Still, I was not prepared to deal with anything like this past nine days. About a month ago Cordelia started throwing up every night in bed. When this started her and I were just getting over a nasty cold so we didn't think much of it. When it just wouldn't go away I took her to the walk-in clinic. We got some medicine, but that didn't help. I tried to get her an appointment to her pediatrician, but he was on vacation. So again, we went to the walk-in. This time we got some antibiotics and for a week she didn't throw up once. Then the throwing up started again and more frequently. We waited until her one year appointment that was scheduled later in the week. The doctor was concerned about her weight and what he heard when he listened to her chest. We spent three hours at the clinic that day doing a sweat test for cystic fibrosis, an x-ray and a second visit with the doctor. The clinic was also super busy that day because there was no school and kids kept coming in for flu shots. After all the tests were in, the doctor said he knew what the problem was as we walked back into a room to see the x-ray. That walk seemed to take forever as all the terrible thoughts of what could be wrong with my girl filled my brain. We now know that Cordelia had a diaphragmic hernia and we would have to go to Minneapolis soon for surgery. A half hour after I got home, the doctor called to say he talked to someone in Minneapolis and they wanted us there the next day. What followed was a mad dash to get ourselves ready for our very unplanned trip. There are so many stories to share about this so it will dominate the blog for awhile. The computers available at the hospital did not allow blog access so I couldn't do any blogging while there. So I have a lot of catching up to do.