pharyngeal flap is done!

and so are we! We traveled to Vanderbilt Children's hospital on Dec 9, 2010 for Torie's surgery. We were surprised to hear it was going to be a 2 day stay because the letter from the insurance company said 23 hr observation.(that means you stay 23 hours and 59 mins).But after that surprise things went as expected. It took right at 2 hours. My poor baby had stents put in her nose, going down her throat just past the repair. This was to help her breathing, in case of swelling. Torie worried me Thursday and Friday because she would not drink more than 1/4 of a teaspoon at a time, that no more than 2 teaspoons between those days. She also stopped talking. She actually tried mouthing the words to me before she just started pointing to everything. We had some lazy nurses who let her pain med slip past the 4 hour mark, at one time it was 8 hrs-I was not a happy momma. I specifically asked if she had been given the med when we transferred floors and that nurse lied to me and said yes. At shift change, Torie was running a low fever and getting very fussy. I asked the night nurse Bonnie to check on the pain med. It was never picked up from the pharmacy! Bless Nurse Bonnie, she jumped right on it and took wonderful care of Torie. Saturday morning one of the ENTs took out Torie's stents. I didn't watch. Paul said they were about 4 inches long!!! Torie instantly began talking! And within 20 minutes she had ate most of a pop sicle and moved on to a little Sprite. Now, I'll be honest, Dr Gaudy(our ENT) said it would be instant, but really that quick? I was not expecting that. I did tell the ENT we had to be out of there before the bad weather hit, otherwise they would have to keep me until the snow melted! He laughed and said he would start the paperwork, but to let them know if we had any concerns. Nope, we had none..but it took 4 hours before we got out of there. And another 3 hours to get home because of the rain/trip to the pharmacy for meds.
Fast forward to today and I am snowed in at home. I am sure my work is not too thrilled, but even Paul's 4 wheele drive truck was slipping on the ice. Beside, how many people are getting out in this weather to have their well woman exam? Not many!
Now, I must get off here and make my daughter take her meds. She hates them, but they are for her best.

Finally im gonna update!

I know I know, it's been awhile. Sorry!! Things are going well though. Torie finally fully recovered after about 2 weeks. She is loving preschool to the extreme this year. 4 has been a wonderful age for all of us. She is so much fun, her personality really shines now. We painted her room and even painted a chalk board! She loves using chalk and this will give her more indoor activities since cold weather is here. Her pharyngeal flap repair is this week! It is on Thursday at 1:15 pm. I was surprised they put her as an afternoon case. I already told them she will melt down in the lobby because she cannot eat after midnight. Torie is a person who must have food-she's like her parents! If I don't eat I get grumpy too! We will be staying overnight again, due to Torie's heart condition. We always have to make sure her oxygen stays level. On a normal day her level is usually high 90s. She is always doing well in karate class. She is now an orange belt. Unfortunately, once she has surgery she will be out for 3 weeks. Torie is very excited about being a big sister. She even tells the baby goodnight and kisses my belly. I love that she is so excited. Torie will make a great big sister!! I will be full term on Jan 1. lol, my joke has always been that I am going to wake my dr up to delivery a news years baby. Not sure that will happen or not, but it's fun to aggravate him about it!
So, there's my update for now. We are all ready for Christmas break,rest and being fully recovered before the baby comes.

recovery

what a week! Torie did great in surgery and waking up. the dr got a great look at her ears and decided she needed tubes in as well. so she had tubes put in, tonsils and adnoids taken out.
it was taking her pain med that got her. she hated the taste of lortab, poor thing gagged every time she took it. finally, at 4 am tuesday she gagged enough to make herself sick. the nurse finally just started giving her tylenol. the poor girl had an iv in her foot! i felt horrible for her. she couldn't walk because they had her foot wrapped in a "no no"-it stops kids from messing with wires and tubes. torie did feel better after seeing her favorite aunt and cousins. they always make her all better! seeing her preschool teachers made her feel tons better as well. torie was very excited to return to school monday. we are still working on her eating better, but her throat is still so sore and she says her mouth hurts. this recovery week has been long.
her pharyngeal flap repair is now set for Dec 9. it will also be an overnight stay at vandy. i hope and pray that recovery will be much easier!! my big girl is still getting over this one.

surgery day!

Monday we have to travel to Vandy Children's hospital for Torie's tonsil and adnoid surgery. I know she doesn't fully understand what is happening. I talked to her about it, and showed her the video on the hospital website. It did not go well. Torie did not like seeing the pictures of the nurses and doctors in scrubs and masks. I had to turn off the video. I feel the stress of next week. I know Torie is not ready for this. The only thing she wants to do is see the trains in the hospital. I am thinking of asking the doctors if I can have some of their "happy juice" when Torie gets some!! We have to be at Vandy at 6am, so we are leaving around 4 AM!! I am packing our suitcase tonight, just to give myself time to make sure we have everything. I have Torie's school work for next week because I know she won't be going to school for several days. I have stocked up on pedisure, pop sickles, pudding, and gogurts and Tylenol and Motrin. If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to them. Anything that will help her feel better/recover easier is always welcome!

Fun times.

I found a leapfrog dvd about letters and Torie loves it! She walks around the house now saying all her sounds. It has been a great learning tool for her. We also have talking words factory which has been a hit as well.
We spent about an hr at River Front Park this past Wed. Torie loved playing in the sand. I told her to smile so I could take her picture..this is what I got. Miss Sassy!

Don't be fooled by the swing...she was really splashing the puddle beneath it! Any yes, I let her! It was nice to see her run around and play.

It was fun times. I am glad the weather is cooling so we can spend more time outside. I love the fall, the pumpkins and pretty colors on the trees..I can't wait to take pictures!

progress all around

Torie is loving preschool. She tells me about her day when we cuddle at night. She also gets a homework folder every Monday with the previous week's work. She proudly carries her folder through the house to show who ever may be there. She loves it even more when we post it on the fridge! She is really growing right now, making progress with her speech and following directions. She and I have even made a couple of groc shopping trips with out meltdowns. For most kids, that easy. For a child who gets over stimulated easily, those trips have been far between. Her tonsillectomy and anoidectomy are set for Sept 27. She will stay over night because of her heart condition. We have to make sure she is drinking enough fluids before coming home. We take no chances of her becoming dehydrated. Her next surgery has not been set yet, but I will post that when I know. I hope she is well enough to make her class trip to the pumpkin patch this fall. I would love to get some great fall pics, if I can get the day off work. Otherwise, we may just go on a weekend.

you gotta watch this!

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=10798761

worst boyfriend ever! well, maybe not ever, but pretty close. He totally dodged it! hmm, wonder what he did to make up for that?!? lol. i am guessing her parents are not letting him forget about this anytime soon-i sure wouldn't!