Our Little Trooper

Thank you to everyone who prayed for Heidi. Her surgery went very well, and she is doing good. She is such a brave and tough little girl. The surgeon said that when he made the incision he saw that her intestines had started coming through the hernia, and that cellulose tissue was wrapped around the intestines, so that was what was causing her pain. It was a long day, and we are all so glad that it is over.

On Monday night I kept Heidi up really late because she couldn't have anything to eat after midnight, so wanted her to sleep in Tuesday morning so she wouldn't have to be hungry for so long. Well, of course she still woke up at 7:30 starving. We were supposed to check in at noon and her surgery was scheduled for 2:00. I really thought that that was mean to make a 4-year-old wait that long without being able to eat or drink anything. And of course the surgeon was running behind, and they didn't get her back into the operating room until 3:00. By the time 2:00 rolled around, Heidi was so hungry and anxious that she was throwing up. It was horrible. She fell asleep for a little while after that until the nurses came and got her for surgery. The only thing that made that 3 hour wait bearable for her was that she got the "deluxe suite" in the pre-op area. Most of the rooms are just the curtained off partitions, but there is one sealed off play room that has movies, toys, puzzles, and games that only one kid gets to play in while they wait. The nurses must have thought Heidi was pretty cute, because they let her have that room. Thank goodness!

The surgery took about 45 minutes, and then we were able to go be with her when she started waking up. She had a general anesthesia, so she was pretty out of it for a while. They also gave her caudal anesthesia, which is like an epidural that they inject into her lower back and makes the lower half of her body numb. She was pretty floppy for several hours after because she couldn't move her legs. She is feeling pretty good now, we are just trying to stay on top of her pain with the medication they sent home with her.

Thanks again to everyone who kept her in your thoughts and prayers. Here are some pictures of our day.

In the waiting room


Wearing her "special pajamas"


Playing a game with Daddy


Not feeling so good


On her way to surgery


We love our Heidi


Trying to wake up


Wheelchair ride to the car


Yummy, chicken noodle soup!