I will try my best to update tomorrow as soon as I'm able. We check in @ 6:45 a.m. (now do you understand why we stayed at RMH the night before?!) and Abby's surgery is scheduled for 9 a.m.....hospital time! JHH does have wifi, so I'm hoping to do a quick post just to let everybody know how she did. In the meantime, there are some specific prayer requests we have...in no particular order:
* Abby's hearing test shows no hearing loss.
* Our ENT will be able to get a good look at Abby's ears and be able to put tubes in. (You might think that's a weird thing to want, but if he doesn't put them in, it's because her ear canals are too small...not a good thing.)
* The palate will be an easy, quick repair.
* We won't have any resistance to our request that residents not do any part of Abby's surgery. (We know that they need to learn....just not on Abby.) We've spoken to our surgeon already and feel confident that he will honor our request, but we're not so sure about the anesthesiologist we spoke to.
* Abby's airway will be within the typical range. This is really important because if her main problem is a small jaw, there are surgeries to correct that and her need for the trach may be lessened. If it's a small airway, we just have to wait until it grows--which means that she'll probably need the trach for a lot longer.
* The pain will be maintained and Abby won't be overly bothered with the no-nos. I'm really worried about her reaction because she puts everything in her mouth. She's going to be so bitter!!
* Abby will be able to come back off of the vent easily and quickly. NO SET-BACKS!!
* I will be okay with everything: anesthesia, the surgery, dealing with the nurses, etc. I'm really feeling kind of anxious about it all and don't want to break down when we leave her or anything. I've been processing it and I think it's because this is the first time we've been home for the surgery. The other two were in the NICU, so there wasn't as much build-up. (Well, there was no build-up for her tracheostomy, since it was an emergency!) We really didn't know when her g-tube placement would be until the day before. But this time, the surgery has been marked on our calendar since May. We've had pre-op appointments. She's been taking steroids to off-set the risk of infection. We planned who would have Caleb while we were gone. We made a packing list a week in advance and did a little each day (staying overnight with Abby, even one night, requires A LOT of stuff! There's really no room for forgetting anything.) There's been a whole lot of building up to this surgery, and I'm definitely feeling anxious.
Thanks so much for praying for our Abby Girl...and for us!
* Abby's hearing test shows no hearing loss.
* Our ENT will be able to get a good look at Abby's ears and be able to put tubes in. (You might think that's a weird thing to want, but if he doesn't put them in, it's because her ear canals are too small...not a good thing.)
* The palate will be an easy, quick repair.
* We won't have any resistance to our request that residents not do any part of Abby's surgery. (We know that they need to learn....just not on Abby.) We've spoken to our surgeon already and feel confident that he will honor our request, but we're not so sure about the anesthesiologist we spoke to.
* Abby's airway will be within the typical range. This is really important because if her main problem is a small jaw, there are surgeries to correct that and her need for the trach may be lessened. If it's a small airway, we just have to wait until it grows--which means that she'll probably need the trach for a lot longer.
* The pain will be maintained and Abby won't be overly bothered with the no-nos. I'm really worried about her reaction because she puts everything in her mouth. She's going to be so bitter!!
* Abby will be able to come back off of the vent easily and quickly. NO SET-BACKS!!
* I will be okay with everything: anesthesia, the surgery, dealing with the nurses, etc. I'm really feeling kind of anxious about it all and don't want to break down when we leave her or anything. I've been processing it and I think it's because this is the first time we've been home for the surgery. The other two were in the NICU, so there wasn't as much build-up. (Well, there was no build-up for her tracheostomy, since it was an emergency!) We really didn't know when her g-tube placement would be until the day before. But this time, the surgery has been marked on our calendar since May. We've had pre-op appointments. She's been taking steroids to off-set the risk of infection. We planned who would have Caleb while we were gone. We made a packing list a week in advance and did a little each day (staying overnight with Abby, even one night, requires A LOT of stuff! There's really no room for forgetting anything.) There's been a whole lot of building up to this surgery, and I'm definitely feeling anxious.
Thanks so much for praying for our Abby Girl...and for us!
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Abby is my hero!...and you whole family