Emily's surgery

When I was pregnant with Emily they thought that she had a double ureter on one side of her bladder and that one of her kidneys had a cyst. It wasn't a "huge" concern but I had many, many ultrasounds to keep an eye on her kidneys. When she was born the pediatric urologist continued to monitor her to make sure she didn't get any urinary tract infections by doing several VCUGs (Voiding Cystourethrogram is an x-ray examination of a child's bladder and lower urinary tract that uses a special form of x-ray called fluoroscopy and a contrast material). Her doctor eventually came to the conclusion that she did not have a double ureter and her kidney was fine but that she had urinary reflux. They kept her on antibiotics to prevent UTIs and hoped that she would soon out-grow the condition. That didn't happen so they opted to do a Ureteral reimplantation surgery to fix the tubes that connect the bladder to the kidneys.



On our way to the hospital...like a lamb to the slaughter...

 

Pre-op stuff

 

Stylin' new threads!

Scared mama.

Silly Emily.

They gave Emily a twilight medication that made her giggle and giggle.
The med is used to make her calm and so she won't remember anything.

She started making funny faces. Alan was laughing so hard it made him cry.

I just cried.

Emily getting buckled into the wagon to be taken away from us.

She was SO loopy!

 

Passing the time away...

Nervous eating...

Emily coming out of anesthesia. 

Resting (un)comfortably.

 

It was so hard to have my family separated. My mom watched Jarod and Ashlyn while Kayla was at school. She would bring Jarod to the hospital so I could nurse him a couple of times a day. Alan stayed at the hospital at night with Emily while I went home to be with the other kids. It was so hard for me to leave my little girl all night long (even though she is a Daddy's girl.)

The next day they got her up and walking. I wish so badly I had a picture of her doing her "rounds." We walked around the children's ward about 4 times - Alan and I on each side of her, pushing her IV pole along with us. Every time we passed a nurse or doctor they would cheer us on and make a big fuss over her!

Bringing her home was a nightmare! The doctor was supposed to check on her in the afternoon right before discharge but he never showed up. He told us it was up to us if we wanted to take her home or stay another night. I wanted him to "see" her and make a professional opinion whether or not she should go home. She wasn't eating, she wasn't taking her meds, she would throw up if we forced her to take the meds, and her bladder would spasm (which was normal) that made her scream and cry and break my heart. I felt selfish for wanting to take her home because I needed my family to be together and I thought she might take her meds better at home in her own environment. Alan thought she should stay another night in the hospital for more observation. Who was right?? Neither one of us wanted to make the decision. Finally, after much sobbing we decided to bring her home. I'm glad we did. She was a little better about taking the medication but at least she felt safe and secure at home.

Her recovery was a lot harder than I thought it would be but she is such a trooper! It was a rough ten days but I am so proud of her. I just love this little girl to the moon and back!