Post Surgery...

2 days after returning from Cincinnati, I am finally recovering enough to write an update on Grace!  Our trip to Cincinnati was a whirlwind, and started off pretty stressful with our younger daughter Chloe (22 months) having a double ear infection the day before we left, and the night before the surgery spiking a fever of 103.3!  We thought we were definitely going to spend Wednesday with one daughter in surgery and the other in the ER!  Chloe's antibiotics finally kicked in and the fever was gone by Wednesday morning.
    The surgery was scheduled for 2 1/2 hours, but ended up taking over 4 hours!  One of the main reasons it took so long was just because Grace is so small that they had to bring in a microscope :)  We sat down with the doctor and he was very happy with how the surgery went.  He felt that Grace will end up having a "near normal" voice!  Her swallowing should improve as well...due to her bring so young, the nerve should regenerate faster than it would in an older child.  He has seen it take between 6-9 months in older kids.  Grace was only the 3rd child to receive this surgery in Cincinnati, and by far, the youngest.  When he left us, we started to get up to wait for Grace to wake up, and I finally had my meltdown.  I was so overwhelmed with everything that had happened and the realization that my little girl is having her life changed, I just sat down on the floor and cried. 
    Grace was given alot of anesthesia, morphine and fentanyl and she had a hard time waking up.  She started throwing up from all the medicine, and had me worried for a couple hours!  Then she began demanding crackers, and ate about 20 the first night :)  We could barely hear her talk-a whisper would have been an improvement!  Meanwhile, Chloe was exhausted and going crazy-she was all over Grace's hospital room, and at one point was swinging from the sink.  No, I'm not kidding...then she tried to take apart the pipes under the sink!  In the midst of all this, we got a call from the Ronald McDonald House that there was a room available!  What an answer to prayer!  We were able to cancel the hotel reservation with no fees, and Greg and Chloe stayed that night at the RM House.  I was lucky enough to get to sleep in a "chair-bed" at the hospital :) For those of you who have had the great experience of doing that, you know that a hospital night's sleep is pretty much worse than not sleeping at all!  Add to that severe back pain by the morning, with no coffe upon waking up, and you get a grouchy mama :)
   Grace was sounding better, still very hoarse and raspy, but she was drinking enough that they discharged us!  We couldn't believe we were already leaving!  We got to have a Thanksgiving meal at the Ronald McDonald House, then took the kids to the Cincinnati Zoo....where most of the animals were inside and nobody was even working...it was funny, turns out Thanksgiving is not a good day to go to the zoo :)  We still had fun, and drove home Thanksgiving night.
   Our whole family is catching up on sleep and just resting alot.  Grace is on a bit of restricted activity, oral antibiotics to prevent infection, topical antibiotics on her incision, and a reflux med for a month or so to prevent any acid from damaging the surgical area.  She's doing so well, starting to eat again, and being such a good girl not running or jumping around.  We will go see her regular ENT here in town in about a week so he can check on the incision.  It's a bigger cut than I thought it would be, and I'm really hoping she doesn't have much of a scar.

   Still in disbelief that this has actually happened, and I'm a little lost now on what to do with myself!  Much of my life this year has revolved around research, phone calls, planning, pushing....to get this surgery done.  Now?  I guess I need to do some Christmas shopping and get ready for our trip to California over Christmas!  It's almost like I'm a normal mom again :)
   I can't tell all of you enough how thankful I am for your prayers, for caring about my family, and just for all the support we've received through this journey from both old friends and new ones.  We really did have a great Thanksgiving, getting to not worry about cooking or dishes, but really just being thankful and appreciative of all that we have been given this year.

Black eyes, fevers and surgery!

We leave for Cincinnati tomorrow morning and I'm feeling pretty far from prepared!  We have had a crazy last 24 hours, with Chloe getting croup and a double ear infection-she has had a fever of high 102's since last night.  We are hoping that after 2 doses of antibiotics tonight, the fever will be gone!  Grace managed to give her poor, sick sister a black eye last night as well!  It was an accident, but a frustrating and a new experience I was NOT prepared to handle. 

Grace has told us she is excited to go to the hospital, but we know she has other emotions that she doesn't know how to share with us.  Over the last few days, temper tantrums and disobedience have picked up as her way of expressing herself.  Greg and I attempted to sit down and talk to her tonight about the hospital, but....a rational, logical conversation with a 3 1/2 year is hard to come by :)  Our conversation went something like this:  Me: "Grace, are you scared of going to the hospital?"  Grace: "Yeah".  Me:  "What are you scared of?"  Grace: "Thunder."  Me: "Ok, are you scared of anything at the hospital?"  Grace: "Can we do Halloween again?" 

The brain travel of my child cracks me up :)  Anyways, Grace is always a perfect patient once she is actually at the hospital....we ask for prayers over her little heart and mind to feel safe and protected though.  The surgery will take place at 1:15pm on Wednesday-that's Eastern time.  It's scheduled to take 2 1/2 hours!  The recovery is not very long, surprisingly...she will stay in the hospital overnight 1-3 nights...most likely we will come home on Friday.

This is going to be an exciting Thanksgiving for our family!  3 years ago, Grace came home from the hospital the day before Thanksgiving after the aspiration pneumonia that almost took her life.  So here we are, spending that same date, 3 years later, getting a unique surgery done that will change all of our lives!  God seems to be constantly reminding us how much we have to be thankful for :) 

The surgery will consist of taking a nerve from the neck (so there will be cutting into her neck and a small scar) and placing that nerve into her left vocal cord.  The nerve can take up to 6 months to regenerate, so she will also be receiving an injection into the vocal cord with a collagen-like substance that will create an immediate effect.  The injection will wear off after a few months, right around the time the nerve regenerates.  The cord will never actually function, but it will be a tight muscle instead of floppy as it is now, allowing Grace's voice to be louder and for her swallowing to improve.  There really are no words to describe how excited we are to hear a difference in her voice over the next couple weeks!

I'm feeling pretty emotional about all these changes, and am hoping I don't have a complete crying meltdown at an inappropriate time...like when we're talking to the doctor :)  This still seems completely surreal, and I can't believe we're really leaving tomorrow.  A friend has been reminding me that I told her in January that my "New Year's Resolution" was to get Grace's vocal cord fixed...this might be the first one I've ever actually stuck to!  Apparently, medical miracles are easier to come by than dieting :)  We are so blessed to be in this position, and still stand amazed at the doors God has opened for us this last year.  I will be posting updates as I can...can't wait until Wednesday!