Our Lil Trooper [Part 1]

Leyna's surgical adventure began bright n early at 0700 for check in. She had to remain on an empty stomach since the night before, so I was relieved she never asked for milk like she usually does first thing in the morning. They got her outfitted in some hospital gear and id tags, and she was able to enjoy some cartoons while waiting.Then we brought her to prep for general anesthesia. They provided an oral syringe of "giggle juice" to help her stay calm before they would wheel her away from mom n dad to go administer the laughing gas and IV. It's always a challenge to get her to intake any kind of oral medicine (she's never convinced "it taste's like candy!") But after she lost the wrestling match to some tough love, we kept her occupied with the nurse's iphone game and waited for the juice to take effect.

As one doc put it, it would be a similar to being drunk. We thought it was funny when we finally started to notice it take effect on her, so here's a little video of what it looked like...

She was so good-to-go she didn't bother to say bye. At 0830 they wheeled our baby girl (and her doggy) off to the OR. The surgery was estimated to finish at 0945, but they finished at 1015. The mass was larger and deeper than they expected, and to their surprise there was so little bleeding during excision that a drainage tube wouldn't be needed anymore. Yay! Sealed up with some dissolving stitches, dermaglue, and no dressing or bandage, the wound was barely noticeable.

Reuniting with Leyna post-op was my round 2 wrestlin match with her. At first arriving to the PACU was nice. A doc was carrying her and she was peacefully resting her head on his shoulder. They positioned me on her hospital bed to receive her and once they laid her on me, our lil beast went on a rampage to remove the IV from her hand, get out from my arms and out of the hospital bed! Imagine trying to hold still a freshly caught 25lb fish out of the water (at least I imagine that could be just as difficult!) They practically taped up her entire arm and she still managed to get the wrap off. After more re-taping, repositioning, wrestling, and calling "Popsicle stat!"...Leyna suddenly knocked out and started snoring away.

Ah the calm after the storm. They told me sporadic waves of cranky spells and sleeping are normal behavior by a toddler recovering from the anesthesia. The melting popsicle sat in a dish awaiting to be eaten, and doc was on the phone warning the patient ward about the feisty one on the way.

Doggy checkin out her IV and cool "light sticker"

Finally we settled in to her room where we over-nighted. Being in a hospital bed with her like this reminded me of Independence day '09!
Here's a view of her cyst before removal, and the incision site after. It's about 2 inches wide, but is hidden high enough under her chin that it should be hard to notice.
The next several hours were spent watching TV, resting, waiting for her to wake up and being ready to distract her from taking out the IV. (Ultimately letting her layer it with stickers helped!)
It was hard for me to sleep of course, so I was being a nerd killin time taking photos (hey it took many shots to time it just right!)...A lot of sleeping goin on...
Doggy was always ready to push the call button whenever the IV's alarm sounded for adjusting.All peds patients get this ankle bracelet to ensure they don't leave the floor. No alarms sounded this time around, unlike when I set it off while walking her around as a newborn!...stay tuned for Part 2...