Surgery on Saturday

Well, my little patient is propped up on pillows, iced, and comfortably watching a Muppet movie, so I think I have a few minutes to tap out a blog update about our surprising and exciting weekend.  

Our after-school orthopedic appointment on Friday was very informative.  We were told that this break is not related to Delia's previous break in any way.  That first break healed beautifully and this new break just happened.  The combination of playgrounds, active children, and arm breaks is something the orthopedic department sees ALL the time, we were assured.  So, no concerns about Delia's bone health, or anything like that.

The bad news was that this time the bone did not set as well as the previous time.  In fact, it had completely separated and gone back into its broken position.  Which meant we needed to head to surgery and do it ASAP.  So they scheduled us for the next day--  Saturday.  Delia met the news with tears and fear, but after some explanation about how her arm would be made stronger and a lot of prayer, she found some peace.  She was even able to tell Ella later in the evening, "I'm not afraid!  I know that God loves me and is going to take care of me!"  

On Saturday, we packed our bags.  We're hospital experts now, so one was full of energy bars, fruits, and hearty snacks, also, movies, books and distraction.  The other was an overnight bag in case they wanted to keep us.  Ella was blessed to spend the entire day playing with her good friend Chloe.  We checked in and headed up to Pre-OP, where Delia was immediately showered with new stuffed animal friends from the nice nurses. One of her nurses, Jake, was a fellow Star Wars nerd (even wearing a Star Wars shirt under his scrubs that he showed Delia) and LOVED that that was the movie she chose to watch! 

It turns out, she could have watched the entire Star Wars trilogy!  Though we were scheduled for surgery at noon, a more urgent case came through the ER and bumped everyone back over 4 hours.  So, we waited.  We read, we talked to Grandma on the phone, we watched more movies.  I was realizing that the hospital is a lot like an airport, except, of course, no fun vacation at the end of it!

FINALLY, it was our turn!  They told me I could go into the operating room with Delia until she fell asleep, so I got this awesome body suit, hat, mask and booties to wear.  We had a lot of giggles playing hospital dress-up.  My puffy white suit had Delia calling me "Baymax"!  It was nerve-wracking, but also good, to walk with Delia to the operating room and be with her while they prepped her on the table.  A few good breaths in the "space mask" and she was out, which was my cue to leave.  The surgery took a little over 2 hours.  The doctor told us he did pretty much what he was planning on doing-- making a small incision to insert 2 pins which will line up her bones and keep them in place.  It's worth telling you that because Delia was a minor, we were allowed (actually required) to stay with her the whole time, except the 2 hours she was in surgery.  We were grateful for this. In the Post-OP room, we had our worst 2 hours of the day.  Delia woke up in A LOT of pain.  This was expected, but still hard to get through.

But, we DID get through it!  Though it was excruciating to get from the car to the bed last night, Delia, amazingly, slept through the entire night without waking up in pain!  This was a huge answer to prayer.  In fact, the whole day was!  Sure we had a good amount of waiting and a rough recovery time, but overall, everything at the hospital went great!  This morning Delia is smiling, cracking jokes and excited to tell Ella all about her adventure.   Thank you for all your thoughts, concern and prayers!  God listened and answered and we are well taken care of and doing just fine!