Ok, here's the update! Ella's surgery went really well! The surgery
itself only took about an hour, but we didn't get Ella back for about 2
1/2 hours. They said she did really really well though.
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| Ella and Daddy in pre-op |
Basically,
they just took the hardware o
ut of
Ella's leg (which we were surprised by HOW MUCH was in there!) and then
they also cut her old scar out (5 or 6" scar that had bubbled) and tried
to sew it together so that it will heal nicely. Once we got Ella back,
we had a VERY cranky girl. The anesthesia had a horrid effect on her.
She cried and yelled about EVERYTHING (which is not Ella at all). It
could be a cute puppy on tv and she'd scream with tears streaming down
her face, "Oh, look at that cute puppy." :) Poor little thing.
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| Ella and Mommy in pre-op |
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| Ella and the anesthesiologist "dressing" Ella for surgery upon request |
Another trial was the fact that Ella was not oxygenating very well. She
had gone in with a cough and so they prepped her before surgery with a
breathing treatment and administered steroids once the surgery was over,
but after the surgery, her oxygen levels kept dipping (probably because
of all of her crying) and so I held an oxygen mask to her all
afternoon. One thing that was kind of funny was when I pointed out to
the nurse how pale Ella was and that I thought she was having a dip, the
nurse responded by saying, well, her lips might just be purple if she
had a purple popsicle (which she hadn't) and I said, "No, she had a red
popsicle, her oxygen is dipping and it's probably in the 70's. Sure
enough, about 10 seconds later, the alarm dinged and her oxygen was at
77%! The nurse looked surprised at me and said, "Wow, you really know
your daughter! That took a good 30 seconds to hit the alarm!" I think
she was surprised because they don't deal with many kids on oxygen. :)
The day was hard too because of how much pain Ella was feeling. When
she had her bigger hip surgeries, they always hooked her up to an
epidural which numbed everything, but this time, she was on oral
narcotics, so she felt a lot more. It was a rough day, but neat at the
same time because Ella (being Ella) decided she wanted to go on a walk.
The doctor said this was fine, even though her wound was bleeding more
than normal and had already bled out of her wraps. I was uncertain, but
we went ahead and let her try. She had a little walker and walked all
the way around the nurses station and back to her hospital room! All
the nurses came out of their stations and watched and cheered her on!
They could not believe that she was walking on the same day as surgery.
Ella screamed the entire time (because of the anesthesia) with little
giggles in between. It was pretty awesome though, to see the fighting
nature that God placed inside of her since before birth.
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| rough day :) |
Then, once we
were given the green light to take Ella to the toy room, Ella walked all
the way there with her walker, but upon arrival to the enormous room,
she ditched the walker and began walking on her own!!! AMAZING! She
was laughing and giggling...just so excited to be freed from her
hospital bed. I felt like crying. She's such an amazing little kid
that carries Jesus inside of her wherever she goes. Even amongst her
tears and screams during that day came random "thank yous" and
"pleases".
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| oxygen |
When I went back to inpatient to clean out Ella's room, the
weirdest sensation came over me as I had gathered all of the last
lingering items and started flipping off the lights. It was like, "this
is it, the last time". Kind of like closing a door on the book of
Ella's Life of Surgeries. What a weird, comforting, strange and
peaceful emotion. I paused at the door and then turned and left. I was
leaving that part of our lives hopefully for the next chapter. :)
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| Ari had so much fun being the big helper and pushing Ella |
We
were told that Ella's hips look great. Her doctor said that there are
times when all the doctors are gathered in an OR and they look at a film
strip (x-ray) and everyone's stomach drops because all the surgeries
that the kiddo went through were unsuccessful. But the emotion in the
OR yesterday, according to Ella's doctor, was completely opposite! The
thought is that Ella's hips were treated young enough that they should
have a great chance at growing normally from now on and not needing the
originally thought, hip replacement in her 20's!!! There is a slight
length difference in her legs (only 1 cm), and if it increases to 2 1/2
cm, they may do surgery to alter her growth plates, but they think that
is VERY unlikely and we can always get a lift in her shoe to even things
out.
We just want to thank everyone for praying for our girl! We are
so happy to finally be home with our girl. She is super sore today
(paying for her ambition yesterday), but she's in great spirits and
keeps on saying, "Doctoe Woiczik fixed my weg!" I'm not sure how many
three year olds can identify pain as healing, but Ella has somehow
gotten that insight! And I know it's only come by the love and peace of
Jesus!
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