A Great Success

We're home from the hospital and are happy to report that Emma's surgery was a total success! We arrived on time, checked in and let Emma enjoy the toy wonderland that is the day surgery waiting room. A nurse in triage took Emma's vitals, we met with the anesthesiologist and surgery nurse and Emma continued to enjoy toy wonderland until the surgeon came out to introduce himself and look at her incision. We liked Dr. Mahaffey right away; he seemed very kind and caring and we felt as though he viewed Emma as a person, not just a body to be operated on. He looked at her G tube site, told us what he would do to "clean it up," and asked if we had any other questions. About ten minutes later, a nurse walked the 3 of us back into the surgery hallway and took Emma away. That's always the hardest part for me, turning her over to someone else knowing that she has no idea what's coming. This time was particularly difficult as Emma starting screaming and crying immediately and I got a little teary as we walked away. The surgery was estimated to last about 45 minutes, so Chris and I ordered lunch in the cafeteria and returned to the waiting room immediately to eat. Around noon, Dr. Mahaffey came out with a smile and told us everything went very well. He gave us a few great tips on how to make the scar as "pretty" as possible for her in the future and we chatted about ECMO for a bit. Turns out, he's quite experienced with ECMO and told us that he actually started the ECMO program at Duke University, the busiest ECMO center in the country. He reiterated that meconium kids do the very best on ECMO, but still said that it was wonderful to see a survivor who is doing so well. He also has two daughters and told Chris how much he enjoyed having girls. About 5 minutes later, we were called back to the recovery area to hold Emma as she was waking up. Just like she did with her G tube surgery, she moaned and cried for quite a while. It was sad. Eventually, she setttled and began asking for crackers and apple juice, so we were sent to the stepdown unit until she was "with it" enough to go home. Chris held her while I picked up some coffee, read an article about Brangelina, and waited for her prescription to be filled. When I returned, the nurse removed Emma's IV, returned her clothing to us, and told us we were free to leave. We left the hospital around 2:30, so thankful not only that Emma's surgery is over with, but also that we feel as though we have finally closed the "ECMO/NICU/feeding tube" chapter of her life for good. We are praising God for his goodness and faithfulness and mercy and celebrating the fact that He is indeed a God who keeps His promises. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!