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Ella's Surgery Update

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.
Ella and Daddy in pre-op

Basically, they just took the hardware out 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. 

Ella and Mommy in pre-op
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. 

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". 

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. :) 

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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