Ava's surgery

Little Miss Ava waiting to be taken back to pre-op.  

I'm going to write the details of today, for journaling purposes, so if you don't care to read the long version, just know she did great and the last picture is of her stitches (so if you have a weak stomach, stop here). 

Ava and I woke up at 6:30am to head for the Folsom Surgical Center.  She was so happy this morning and thought she was so special to get to go somewhere alone with mommy.  When we got to the surgical center they had Toys Story 3 playing in the waiting room for her.  She sat right down with her pink blanket and was glued (she's a TV baby, just like her brother Noah).  The pre-op nurse, Megan, came out to the waiting room and did all the paperwork out there, since we were the only ones there at the moment, and she didn't want to disturb Ava from her movie.  The nurse was mesmerized by Ava's curly hair and big blue eyes. She just kept staring at her and saying how adorable Ava was (I couldn't agree more).  

When they were just about ready to take her to surgery, they brought us back to the pre-op room.  Ava was starting to get a little nervous at this point.  I think she probably recognized the hospital equipment from her last ER visit.  The anesthesiologist came and asked us a few questions, and then we saw Dr. Ow, her surgeon.  

Side note:  We saw Dr. Ow about 10 days ago and her lump was about an inch in diameter (Initially it was probably about 1/2-3/4"). After the appointment it started getting bigger and redder everyday.  Last Friday it had gotten so big (1 1/2") and protruding a lot more, and I was getting a little worried.  I didn't think her skin could take much more, and sure enough it started draining nasty pussy stuff  last Friday and Saturday (sorry if that's too graphic for you).  Although she HATED it, I tried to drain as much as I could out of it.  By Sunday it had decreased by probably half the size.  The redness was a little better and I was starting the think maybe we should just wait to see if it would go away on it's own.  

So...I mentioned all that had happened since we saw him last, but he still said to take it out.  He said some of the skin on her neck would never heal right unless we removed that part of the skin.  He also said that it could take months for it to completely go away and it could reoccur.  I agreed that we wanted it gone.  

After about 15 minutes in the pre-op room the nurse came and picked her up and took her back to the OR room, and I went back to the waiting room.  Fifteen minutes later, the secretary told me they had started the surgery and Ava was doing fine.  

The surgery was about 30-40 minutes long and then I heard screaming from behind one of the doors.  I knew immediately that it was Ava.  Soon they came and got me to come be next to her.  She still hadn't opened her eyes, but she was screaming and kicking.  Luckily, I knew what to expect and realized these are the joys of waking up from anesthesia.  She kept trying to pull out her IV, so they just removed it.  Dr. Ow came and told me that he is fairly certain that it was a swollen lymph gland that had gone crazy, so to speak.  He is sending the tissue to pathology for testing just to be certain.  

Daddy kissing her owie hand (IV hand)

Ava never calmed down until we left the surgical center.  They let us leave about 20 minutes after the surgery. She cried in the car for about 10 minutes too.  We stopped at McDonald's for a mango pineapple smoothie on the way home, and that helped calm her down a little.  I think her throat was sore from the intubation tube, because she would cry after she swallowed anything for a few hours after the surgery.  Once we got home she showed off her owies to her dad and brothers.  She was fairly docile for a few hours, but by lunch time she was back to her sassy self.  

Here's the battle wound picture.  The incision is bigger than I thought it would be, but Dr. Ow said he had to cut a little longer than expected to get to the root of the 'lump'.  

Now to keep it dry for the next week.  Yeah right! This girl is covered in dirt or ice cream from the moment she gets up in the morning until she goes to bed.  We dunked her upside down in the tub to wash her hair tonight.