surgery

akaiya had surgery this morning. we had to wake up extremely early to get to the hospital by 6:30 am...momma is definitely not a morning person - but kaiya was already awake in her bed and ready to get the morning over with! we got to the hospital and were escorted into a small room so akaiya could change into her gown and little socks. of course the nurses were expecting a 6 year old sized kid, not my teeny tiny monster, so there was some switching out of gowns... after kaiya got all comfy in her bed with the tv playing some disney channel, she decided to take a lil nap. of course, while she was napping the doc decided to come in and draw on her head...don't want to do the wrong procedure to the wrong eye!

we were asked some questions by nurses and the anesthesiologist, and then at about 8:25 they wheeled my lil princess away. her dad and i sat in the waiting room watching oprah and listening to all of the other families fret about their loved ones. we were told that the surgery would take about an hour and fifteen minutes. at around 9:25 a nurse came in and said that kaiya's surgery started at 8:50. we were pleasantly surprised when the surgeon came in around 9:40 and said kaiya was finished. only one parent was allowed to go back into what they call phase I of recovery...so of course i went ;) on the way there the surgeon was very happy with how well everything went. he said kaiya had no problems at all during surgery, and everything worked out. he did warn me that her right eye might not close all the way, especially right away, which is why he have eye meds right now. kaiya was looking pretty beat up. i was under the impression that she was not going to be cut, that all the work would be done under the eyelids - i was wrong. her right eye lid has a lil cut in the crease. so i walk back and see my monster passed out on her bed, with her right eye not quite closed, and cut. and her left eye closed, with blood on it...and i asked myself why did i do this to her? the nurse was asking me questions about her and probably telling me things...but i just kept staring at my kiddo b/c she looked like an accident victim. the nurse let me know that if kaiya woke up and drank a little bit, we could leave directly from phase I of recovery and not have to go to phase II. so she started working on waking kaiya up. it was kind of funny b/c when i touched kaiya she just slept on...but when this nurse touched her she squished up her lil face and turned away. after bugging the lil sleeper for about 15 minutes we got her to wake up. and the next challenge began - trying to keep her from rubbing her eyes...when all she wants to do is rub her eyes. let the circus commence! it started with both the nurse and i holding a hand, while trying to get her to sit up...and then the nurse wanted me to give kaiya some juice (hahahahaha) i'm thinking in my head, this woman is crazy! who wants to eat or drink anything right when they wake up from surgery? but i gave it the ol' college try. and failed. so by now kaiya is getting really squirmy. she wants to rub her eyes, she's being held down, but also being sat up...she starts bouncing and swiping at anything possible. the nurse called over another nurse to help remove kaiya's iv. kaiya was not making it easy, and i don't blame her b/c this nurse was tearing at the tape like there wasn't a tiny person under there. so between the 3 of us we managed to hold her down and get the iv out without any eye rubbing..almost. kaiya's dad was invited to come back so we could change her into her clothes and take her home (after i explained that kaiya wasn't a big drinker anyway so she probably wasn't going to take anything from that strange cup.) imagine my surprise when we got in the car and realized we would be home by 11 am! we were warned that kaiya probably wouldn't want to eat, and would be really sleepy all day...of course the lil monster had to prove them wrong. she came home, had a bowl of cereal and smiled and giggled at us. she took a lil nap, and got up and ate another bowl of cereal (they said to keep her diet bland...) and she has been playing ever since. this kid is my own lil superstar!

in the car on the way home...her hand was tied down to keep her from rubbing her eyes

kaiya was not too happy to have her hand restrained!

happy to be back home with her toys ;)close up of the "damage"...you can see the incision above her right eye, and see how the left eye is just a little red on the outer corner. both eyes are swollen.
concentrating on her toys. i wonder if they look different???

thank you to everyone for the well wishes and the warm thoughts!