Surgery--Take 2

Today was the second surgery to remove the birthmark/mole on Gracie's finger.

Taken last night (11/3/10)... what they are going to be removing

We had to be at the hospital at 6:00am. We got signed in, they got Gracie's weight and height and then we were taken back to a room. All the usual stuff was done... arm bands were put on, a million questions were asked, blood pressure and pulse taken. The nurse anesthetist came in, asked a bunch of questions and ordered the medicine that would make Gracie drowsy before they took her back to the OR.

Waiting for surgery to begin... before being given the drowsy medicine

Another nurse came in and gave her the medicine. Then we met with a doctor from the plastic surgeon's office and she marked the area that was to be removed. A little after 7:30, a nurse from the OR team came and wheeled the bed to the OR while I carried her. At the OR door, the OR team came out to meet us and then we said our goodbyes to Gracie and gave her kisses. It was so hard to walk away from her, but luckily, she was drugged up enough not to know what was going on. We were shown to the OR waiting room. About an hour later, the plastic surgeon came and told us that they were able to remove the rest of the birthmark/mole, which means no more surgeries!! Sooo happy about that! He said they had to pull her skin very tight to get the incision area closed so she will probably swell and bruise pretty badly. But he was happy with the results. Like last time, the tissue will be sent for testing, but I'm sure it will come back fine.

We then had to wait for us to be called to go back to the recovery room. When we finally got back there, she was propped up in bed, looking very out of it. I sat in the rocking chair and held her as the anesthesia wore off. When she finally realized she had an IV in, I handed her over to Nick so they could take out the IV. They gave her apple juice to drink (she ended up drinking 2 cupfuls before we got home!)

Sitting with Daddy in the recovery room with her apple juice

Hearing some of the other kids in the recovery room cry really upset her, so we got her dressed and got out of there as quickly as we could. Gracie fussed a few times, but overall, did very, very well. We got her settled on the couch and turned on Dora for her when we got home. She stayed like this for about an hour. Then she ate some lunch and went down for a 4 hour nap.

Watching Dora and drinking Gatorade

After her nap, she rotated watching TV with playing for a little bit. Even though she is more sleepy than usual, she seems like her normal self. She has looked at it a few times and said "ow" but Tylenol and Motrin seem to be keeping her comfortable, pain-wise. I'm hoping it holds true for tomorrow as well!