Surgery day....we have made it!
We started the day bright and early at 4am! Not sure Id call 4am so bright. LOL We had everything packed the night before so we didnt have to rush around for last minute things. I was feeling very sick to my stomach and nauseous, to the point I thought I might throw up. My nerves were all over the place! But just tried to focus on what we needed to do - a few quick showers and give Emerson his synthroid with some pedilite and we were ready to go.
The drive in to Detroit was nice and easy for once. We got there in about 30 minutes, so plenty of time to get to admission to get our hospital bracelets. Surprisingly the waiting room was pretty full at 5:45! After getting our bracelets we headed up to the pre-op surgery waiting room. Emerson was still sleeping, but I knew once he woke up we may have a crying baby on our hands so tried to rock him in his carseat as long as we could. When they called us into pre-op, they got his vitals, and gave us a gown and socks for him. Little man looked so adorable in that little hospital gown! He was starting to wake up and getting pretty fussy, so I did what always works best, and just kept bouncing him. I know he was so hungry! The nurses and anesthesia came in to answer any last minute questions, while we were waiting for Dr. Walters to arrive. They were pretty thorough, so didn't really have much to ask. Dr. Walters arrived around 7:30 and checked in with us to see if we had any questions, advised that with every step of the surgery we will be updated, and reminded us that they will be prepping Emerson for the first 2 hours. The first time they come out will be to let us know they have started surgery. Around 7:45 one of the nurses came in to take Emerson back to the OR. Suprisingly, it wasnt as emotional as I thought it would be. I think it was almost a relief that we are finally to this point.
For the 2 hour prep, Emerson was put under anesthia. They will perform an echocardiogram, put all his IV's/lines in, take some more bloodwork, and a few other various things. Grant and I decided to go grab some breakfast. Because when Im stressed, I eat. LOL The waiting room receptionist gave us this buzzer/pager in case they had an update and needed to get a hold of us. It was like one of those buzzers they give you at a restaurant when your tables ready. I must admit, that felt a little weird. But glad they keep us so informed! We were back in plenty of time before they got started. We found a spot near a plug and settled in for a long morning.
At 9:20, Dr. Walters came out to let us know the lines are all in and the echocardigram did not show any surprises. He told us the nurse would be out to let us know when they begin. I loved that Dr. Walters came out for this first update. So personal. Just 20 minutes later at 9:42, the nurse came out and said they just began. I really liked these little updates. It helped break up the morning. The next update was at 10:37, the nurse came out to tell us everythings going good and that Emerson was just put on bypass. She also told us it would be a minimum of 2 and up to 4 hours before the next update. I keep myself busy with updating Facebook, trying to update the blog (although I rewrote the same paragraph like 5 times!), and reading all the amazing messages, texts, and emails from our friends and family. The love and support is incredibly touching, my heart is overfilled with gratitude.
Around 12pm, I started to get really anxious. Like the energy inside me was unbearable. I started talking to a few friends to try to calm my nerves and distract me a bit. Thank you to those special people! Grant took a little break outside of the waiting room, and I listen to some music to distract me and it just made me cry. I was just so worried. And not even 5 minutes later at 12:34 the nurse came in and said everything went great and Emerson is off bypass. It will be about an hour till they move him to the ICU, and Dr. Walters will come talk to us before he is moved. Phew, we can breathe!
At 1:20, Dr. Walters came in and asked us to join him in a private room with two nurses. Grant and I looked at each other like on no, what went wrong? But everything was ok. He explained how the surgery went. The VSD hole was one of the largest he has seen in awhile. They think that he may develop pulmonary hypertension, so would keep an eye on that as well as any other post complications over the next 24 hours. He introduced the nurses that would be in his care for the next shift, and they could answer any questions for us. They also said that we would be able to see Emerson before they take him up to the ICU. At 1:35, we were called from the waiting room and escorted to a set of elevators that would transport Emerson to the PICU. Those few minutes felt like hours, and finally he was coming down the hall. It wasnt as scary as I thought it would be, but maybe thats because I looked at enough pictures. He looked good and peacefully sleeping. We quickly gave him a kiss, and would wait another hour till he was all set in the PICU for us to see him.
While we waited for Emerson to get all settled in, we decided to go check in at the Ronald McDonald house. What a nice place! Everything you would need to be comfortable for your stay at the hospital. We checked in for 5 days. The give you a room, that has just a bed and sink, and you share a bathroom with another family. There is a kitchen for you to use with a fridge and pantry space for food you want to bring in. They do have some food available for everyone in the house on the counters. They also have volunteer groups come in and they cook dinner/lunch for anyone staying there. So nice! Theres also washer and dryers with detergent available for use. And common areas like a dining room, living room, playroom, and computer room. And its right next to the hospital so nice and close. It took about an hour to fill out paperwork and get all checked in. Emerson was all ready by the time we made it back to the hospital. He was hooked up to a lot of stuff, but it wasn't to bad. When I took a picture I thought, wow it does look a lot worse in a picture than it does in person. The nurses went over all the wires, machines, and how he was doing. We spent the rest of the afternoon/night sitting by his side and just learning what we could as the nurses were doing their job.
Emerson was sedated and will be for the next few nights, so we called it an early night around 9 and headed to our room so we could get a much needed good nights sleep.
And crash is exactly what we did!
We started the day bright and early at 4am! Not sure Id call 4am so bright. LOL We had everything packed the night before so we didnt have to rush around for last minute things. I was feeling very sick to my stomach and nauseous, to the point I thought I might throw up. My nerves were all over the place! But just tried to focus on what we needed to do - a few quick showers and give Emerson his synthroid with some pedilite and we were ready to go.
The drive in to Detroit was nice and easy for once. We got there in about 30 minutes, so plenty of time to get to admission to get our hospital bracelets. Surprisingly the waiting room was pretty full at 5:45! After getting our bracelets we headed up to the pre-op surgery waiting room. Emerson was still sleeping, but I knew once he woke up we may have a crying baby on our hands so tried to rock him in his carseat as long as we could. When they called us into pre-op, they got his vitals, and gave us a gown and socks for him. Little man looked so adorable in that little hospital gown! He was starting to wake up and getting pretty fussy, so I did what always works best, and just kept bouncing him. I know he was so hungry! The nurses and anesthesia came in to answer any last minute questions, while we were waiting for Dr. Walters to arrive. They were pretty thorough, so didn't really have much to ask. Dr. Walters arrived around 7:30 and checked in with us to see if we had any questions, advised that with every step of the surgery we will be updated, and reminded us that they will be prepping Emerson for the first 2 hours. The first time they come out will be to let us know they have started surgery. Around 7:45 one of the nurses came in to take Emerson back to the OR. Suprisingly, it wasnt as emotional as I thought it would be. I think it was almost a relief that we are finally to this point.
For the 2 hour prep, Emerson was put under anesthia. They will perform an echocardiogram, put all his IV's/lines in, take some more bloodwork, and a few other various things. Grant and I decided to go grab some breakfast. Because when Im stressed, I eat. LOL The waiting room receptionist gave us this buzzer/pager in case they had an update and needed to get a hold of us. It was like one of those buzzers they give you at a restaurant when your tables ready. I must admit, that felt a little weird. But glad they keep us so informed! We were back in plenty of time before they got started. We found a spot near a plug and settled in for a long morning.
At 9:20, Dr. Walters came out to let us know the lines are all in and the echocardigram did not show any surprises. He told us the nurse would be out to let us know when they begin. I loved that Dr. Walters came out for this first update. So personal. Just 20 minutes later at 9:42, the nurse came out and said they just began. I really liked these little updates. It helped break up the morning. The next update was at 10:37, the nurse came out to tell us everythings going good and that Emerson was just put on bypass. She also told us it would be a minimum of 2 and up to 4 hours before the next update. I keep myself busy with updating Facebook, trying to update the blog (although I rewrote the same paragraph like 5 times!), and reading all the amazing messages, texts, and emails from our friends and family. The love and support is incredibly touching, my heart is overfilled with gratitude.
Around 12pm, I started to get really anxious. Like the energy inside me was unbearable. I started talking to a few friends to try to calm my nerves and distract me a bit. Thank you to those special people! Grant took a little break outside of the waiting room, and I listen to some music to distract me and it just made me cry. I was just so worried. And not even 5 minutes later at 12:34 the nurse came in and said everything went great and Emerson is off bypass. It will be about an hour till they move him to the ICU, and Dr. Walters will come talk to us before he is moved. Phew, we can breathe!
At 1:20, Dr. Walters came in and asked us to join him in a private room with two nurses. Grant and I looked at each other like on no, what went wrong? But everything was ok. He explained how the surgery went. The VSD hole was one of the largest he has seen in awhile. They think that he may develop pulmonary hypertension, so would keep an eye on that as well as any other post complications over the next 24 hours. He introduced the nurses that would be in his care for the next shift, and they could answer any questions for us. They also said that we would be able to see Emerson before they take him up to the ICU. At 1:35, we were called from the waiting room and escorted to a set of elevators that would transport Emerson to the PICU. Those few minutes felt like hours, and finally he was coming down the hall. It wasnt as scary as I thought it would be, but maybe thats because I looked at enough pictures. He looked good and peacefully sleeping. We quickly gave him a kiss, and would wait another hour till he was all set in the PICU for us to see him.
While we waited for Emerson to get all settled in, we decided to go check in at the Ronald McDonald house. What a nice place! Everything you would need to be comfortable for your stay at the hospital. We checked in for 5 days. The give you a room, that has just a bed and sink, and you share a bathroom with another family. There is a kitchen for you to use with a fridge and pantry space for food you want to bring in. They do have some food available for everyone in the house on the counters. They also have volunteer groups come in and they cook dinner/lunch for anyone staying there. So nice! Theres also washer and dryers with detergent available for use. And common areas like a dining room, living room, playroom, and computer room. And its right next to the hospital so nice and close. It took about an hour to fill out paperwork and get all checked in. Emerson was all ready by the time we made it back to the hospital. He was hooked up to a lot of stuff, but it wasn't to bad. When I took a picture I thought, wow it does look a lot worse in a picture than it does in person. The nurses went over all the wires, machines, and how he was doing. We spent the rest of the afternoon/night sitting by his side and just learning what we could as the nurses were doing their job.
Emerson was sedated and will be for the next few nights, so we called it an early night around 9 and headed to our room so we could get a much needed good nights sleep.
And crash is exactly what we did!
Leave a comment
Please login with your Facebook account if you wish to leave a comment.