Brynn's surgery update!!

The alarm went off at 4:05AM(!), we were both extremely nervous for everything that was going to happen today.

We arrived at the Phoenix Children's Hospital at 6:00. She was in a pretty good mood, considering she hadn't had anything to eat since last night at about 7:00. After we filled out all of her paperwork, they put hospital bands on Chad, Brynn and I so they knew who we were at all times and so that no one was able to steal her from us!! There were about six other kids and their families that were in the surgical waiting room with us, for all sorts of different procedures, I think Brynn was the youngest of all of them. Brynn was the second baby called back to the prep-area. The guy who took us to the prep-room weighed her in at 8.5 kilograms (almost 19lbs!). He also hooked her big toe up to a monitor, which she didn't really like, and he had us change her into a gown. We met with two nurses, they both asked us a bunch of questions and told us Brynn was SO CUTE! Shortly after that, we met with the anesthesiologist and Dr. Salevitz to go over a few more things and to answer any questions we may have had. They took her to surgery at about 7:15am. (We didn't even cry!!)

We sat in the lobby/waiting area until about 7:45, Dr. Salevitz came out and told us that she did great!! They gave her gas to put her to sleep and then they gave her an IV. When we went back to see her, she was still really out of it. One of the nurses was holding her and was giving her a small bottle of Pedialyte. The nurse gave her to me and Chad started making her a bottle. She couldn't wait, she was sooo hungry!! The nurse told us that she was actually on her second bottle of Pedialyte. ;o) (That's our girl!) After she was finished eating, she fell asleep for a little while and they kept an eye on her to make sure that everything was ok.

By about 8:40, we were on our way home!! They gave us some medicine that we'll need to put in her eyes twice a day and we take her in for a follow up appointment on Friday morning.

When we first saw her at the hospital, her eyes were really dilated, bloodshot and actually pretty bloody. She slept the whole ride back to our house and another two hours once we were home (Mommy and Daddy slept for those two hours too!!). When she woke up, she started crying and her tears were orange and red from the medicine and blood. ;o( You could tell she was uncomfortable and didn't know what had just happened. We gave her some Tylenol and she seemed to be a little better after she had that and another bottle. ;o)

As the day progressed, you could tell she was feeling much better. We had to really watch her today to make sure that she didn't rub her eyes. She has some stitches that will dissolve and we need to make sure that she doesn't disrupt them.

Her eyes aren't completely straight yet but you can definitely tell that they are more straight than what they were. Dr. Salevitz said that they should straighten out more within the next few weeks. He said that he was really glad that we did the surgery as soon as we did, he said that her muscles were really starting to strengthen and pull her eyes closer together. Eight months was the earliest that he would do the surgery because of the anesthesia.

Chad and I are both really excited that we made the decision to do the surgery and we hope one day, Brynn will be glad too. Chances are that she'll have to have atleast one more surgery sometime down the road. If we didn't do the surgery right away, there was a possibility that she could go blind in atleast one of her eyes, so to us, we didn't have a choice, we were going to do the surgery.

Brynn, we are so proud of you for being such a strong, beautiful little girl. We love you with all of our hearts and are so happy that you made it through the surgery today with no problems.

Pre-surgery with her "Soooooooo Big" gown on, with Daddy:



Sleeping in Mommy's arms after her surgery and bottle:



Eating Pears and Strawberries after her first nap:



Late this afternoon after we put her medicine in her eyes:





Playing with Daddy and trying to grab his tongue (feeling much better by this point!!):



Also, we just wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers through all of this!! There are a lot of people that we need to call and e-mail back but this was the quickest way to let everyone know how she was doing all at once. For everyone that called, we will talk to you soon!!!

Love,
The Wests