"Our fears are more numerous than our dangers, and we suffer more in our imagination than in reality."
- Seneca
The time had come to head back up to Dallas for Cam's surgery. We went up on July 17th and stayed the night so that we could be at the hospital the next day in time to start the admission process. Overall, her Dad and I were pretty freaked out and there were times leading up to her surgery that we couldn't even talk about it. It was so hard to deal with the anticipation of her being taken away from us, being placed under anesthesia, and going through surgery. We had so many questions and only time would tell. There were a whole lot of "possibilities" involved in her surgery and it could go a lot of different directions. We had faith that she was in amazing hands (the Dr. and God) and maybe weren't as scared of the procedure as we were of her waking up in the cast. How in the world would she react? BUT at the same time we were also excited to get the wraps off of her and squeeze those chubby legs again!!! The admission process was very long and made for an exhausting day, but the hospital was super organized and made the whole experience more pleasant than expected. We were done by 4 that afternoon and got to check out and leave with Cameron for a little while before returning to stay the night. We went back to the hotel (the Doubletree up the street has a special TSRH rate and they are awesome!), ordered room service and got to give Cameron the first real bath she had had in a month and the last one we would be able to give her for many months. There was lots of butt and leg squeezing going on. I think she played in the tub for around 45 min. =) She was always our little water baby. After the baby squeezing session, we reluctantly drove back to the hospital and checked back in. I stayed with her that night and we actually both got some descent sleep.
The morning of July 19th, she was not able to have anything except clear liquids and jello and could only have these up until 9am (a little later since her surgery wasn't until 12:00). She didn't complain much about not receiving her normal breakfast foods, but she did get pretty hungry before 12 finally rolled around. The hours waiting before they came to get her were not fun, but she didn't seem to mind, She had us and her MiMi and GiGi there with her. When they were ready for her, we were escorted down to the surgery floor and able to hold her the whole time (they don't actually come take your baby, thank goodness!) We had a seat in the holding room where they made her feel comfy and asked us lots of questions. They gave her some "goofy juice" to drink so that she would relax before they took her back and administered an IV or put her under all the way. Not sure what his stuff actually was, but she was HAPPY! It was hilarious. She was just all smiles and roaring like a lion (her favorite animal). It really helped to lighten the mood for us too. She did not mind at all when two strange women dressed completely in blue came and grabbed her. The main nurse and anesthesiologist asked me a few more questions and made it a point to tell me that they were all prepped and ready to perform an open reduction surgery. They then gave us a pager like you get at a restaurant. When it beeps you can either come back to the main surgery desk for an update or pick up a phone around the hospital and call back for details. Our baby had been replaced by a restaurant buzzer. We met up with our parents and went to the cafeteria to try and eat some lunch. After about an hour and a half they buzzed for the first time and we ran back down to the desk. They handed us the phone and we were informed that things were going very well and that it looked as though the closed reduction may be a success! We couldn't believe our ears! They would still have to do X-Rays, apply the cast, and then a CT scan to make sure the hip was in fact in a good spot. But, we did not expect it to be that smooth, words cannot describe hood ecstatic we all felt. We made our way back to the waiting room and about 30 minutes later, were buzzed again. This time, they just wanted to know what color cast Cameron would like! Hot pin k of course!!! =) Back to the waiting room. So happy. When the buzzed the art time they wanted us to come down and help them escort her to have the CT done because anesthesia was wearing off and our little girl was not a happy camper! This was the best and the hardest part of it all. Knowing that her hip was back where it belonged without invasive surgery was a miracle, but she did not understand what in the world was going on. She screamed and cried all the way to, from, and during the CT and back to her room where we waited on the results. We comforted her and played some of her favorite songs until she quieted down and drifted back off to sleep. Once she was calm, the time came to check out her cast. We had no idea what position she would be in, but were very pleased to pull back the sheet and find her in a simple seated position with both legs bent. The cast, at least to me, was pretty daunting. It seemed so huge! It starts at her chest, right under her breasts, and goes down to her ankles on both legs. Where in the world is my baby inside of all of this hot pink fiber glass???
She slept for a good while and then when she finally did open her eyes, we were all there to smile at her and she smiled back. The Jason Mraz song she likes so much just happened to be playing in the background and she started bobbing up and down DANCING in her cast! It made us all burst out laughing! This reassured us right away that nothing had happened to our daughter, just to her hip. After a little while she got hungry and we ordered her room service and of course, ice cream! (TSRH has amazing food for kids and lots of vegetarian options which was great.) That night her daddy stayed with her and 4 1/2 month pregnant mommy got to get a break. Plus, I was still very unsure of how to even hold her or pick her up. I was so thankful that Justin was there to help the nurses that night. The next day, she was doing absolutely wonderfully, although a little sleep deprived from late night nurse's visits. The doctors came to assess her and said she looked great. They wanted to see her back in 2 weeks for another CT to make sure her hip was still in place. Then we were out of there by 1:00 that afternoon! It was not the hospital visit we had anticipated at all. We just knew she was going to have to have the open procedure and that we would be there up to 3 days after, but nope... we were already headed back home to CC! It was an absolute blessing. We cannot say thank you enough to Dr. Sucato and his team at Scottish Rite!
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