Amelie’s 3rd Surgery

May 10, 2013
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On Monday May 6th we got a call in the afternoon from Scottish Rite letting us know that they had a cancellation for Friday morning and we jumped at the chance to have Amelie’s right hand worked on. I told Amelie about the upcoming surgery and the first thing she said was, “Dat’s cool.” I asked her how it made her feel that they were going to try and make her some new fingers. She said, “Dat makes me happy.” I told her she would have to wear a cast again and she said, “Dat’s okay mama. Maybe I can get a toy!”

Our friend Sarah came over early in the morning to pick up Nadia to keep her for the day and that was a big relief. Our pastor Darwin came up to the hospital to pray for Amelie right before they started to prep her for surgery which was also very sweet. We had the same day surgery nurse and were in the same spot for the prior 2 surgeries so everything was very familiar and we were ready to roll. Amelie just wanted to confirm “no pin” and “new fingers” and she was ready to go.

Amelie's 3rd surgery Amelie's 3rd surgery

They gave her another Raggedy Ann doll to add to her collection. When they gave her the “goofy juice” to help her relax they also put the side bar up and she said, “Now I SAFE!”

Amelie's 3rd surgery

This was after the surgeon and anesthesiologist had come by the confirm everything and she was starting to act really silly and saying all kinds of funny stuff from the “goofy juice” which she told us tastes disgusting.

Amelie's 3rd surgery

This was shortly before they rolled her back and we headed to the Crayon Cafe to have breakfast.

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Amelie loves elephants and while we were waiting we found this cute guy in the gift shop. We also talked to the surgeon and she showed us a few photos of Amelie’s hand before they put the cast on. I teared up a little seeing those 3 new fingers.

Amelie's 3rd surgery

Once out of recovery she was awake just long enough to snuggle up to this guy and go back to sleep.

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At this point she was doing a lot better and coming out of the haze. A little while later her pain meds and antibiotics were ready in the pharmacy and we packed up to head home. She fell asleep so we headed straight over to Sarah’s house to pick up Nadia. I had sent a little surprise package with her with 4 new costumes I had picked up on clearance so her and Sarah’s girls could play dress up. Amelie wanted to see them when we got home and asked so sweetly if she could be a ladybug. It’s a good thing it was so stretchy and went over the cast.

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She was woozy from the meds and Nadia read her books until nap time. The rest of the evening was fine and she didn’t seem too uncomfortable. She took the cast in stride, but the pressure bandage on her skin graft site really bothered her and she kept picking at it over and over.

*On a side note, all the hand surgeons at Scottish Rite are amazing and they travel the world training people and doctors come to Texas to be trained by them. When you schedule a surgery you don’t know who you are going to get, but you can be sure they will be good. When they put my parent hospital band on and I saw Dr. Ezaki on there I started to cry a little because she is like a ROCK STAR in hand surgery circles. The only other time we have ever even seen her was when she did the release of Amelie’s left hand in April 2011. It was thrilled and after she showed us the photos she took I danced a jig in the middle of our waiting area.

Amelie and Scissors

Back in 2010 on the day we got Amelie’s referral a random thing happened. We got her file and were scrolling through it on the computer and in my head I thought, “Great. We can adopt her, she’s so cute, her hands aren’t really a special need, but HOW in the world will I teach her how to use scissors?”

Now trust me, I understand that I was totally hyped up from waiting and knowing that this would be the day we would be matched and it was all so exciting and that affected my thoughts so randomly. But the problem was that I didn’t say anything out loud. So after who knows how long Mike says, “Louanne, are you going to say something? Are we going to adopt her?”And I am like, “OF COURSE! Yes, sorry, I was thinking about scissors.” I instantly felt bad that I was ready to go get her tomorrow, but left Mike hanging there wondering.

Fast forward to last year and I am thinking about working with Amelie on new fine motor skill practice like scissors and that kind of thing. Being the supply loving person I am, I start checking out scissors everywhere. And I buy various types of “special” scissors. Some that are supposed to help toddlers or people with hand issues or whatever.

Turns out all it was all a waste of time and money. She does an awesome job with plain old school scissors that I picked up on an extra buck deal from CVS.

I am sure there is a lesson here for me on worrying 🙂

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Amelie’s 2nd surgery

Scottish Rite Jan 2013
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Clowning around in the day surgery area. 

On December 20th we had a one year check up with the surgeon at Texas Scottish Rite hospital, since they told us in December 2011 they wanted to let her hands grow for a year. We arrived and got checked in and the admissions woman said that Southwest Airlines had donated pillow pets for the patients. Amelie chose a lady bug and then the woman noticed Nadia and let her pick one too. As we walked down the hall to the radiology department some more people where there handing out large helium balloons. Amelie was given a panda and Nadia a jet. So the girls were excited before we even made it to our first appointment.

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Amelie playing around while we wait on the hand team appointment.

Dr. Oishi came in the room with his nurses and a surgeon from Belgium who I think is training at TSRH.  He had Amelie play with some toys and then he felt for the bones in her hands. He showed us the x-rays and told us what he would like to do for her this time around. We agreed and his nurse returned to ask if we could be ready on January 2nd. We agreed and the hospital got everything set up.

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We arrived at Scottish Rite at 7 am and went straight to the Day Surgery area. The nurse Anne led us over to our waiting area and told one of us to head downstairs and get Amelie signed in. Everything that followed was just like her first surgery. She even had the same anesthesiologist who came to speak with us in advance. They weighed her and checked all her other vitals and we tried to keep her busy until they were going to give her the “goofy juice.” Last time she had only been home with us about 6 weeks when she had surgery and didn’t speak English at all. This time she was quite hilarious once the relaxation kicked in.

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This was shortly before surgery. We changed her into her gown and she was being silly with the Magna Doodle.

They came to get her and told us we could take a pager/buzzer and leave our cell number with them. We headed downstairs to the Crayon Cafe for breakfast. We both got gigantic omelets that were a whopping 2.50 each 🙂 All the while we were receiving lots of love, prayers and encouragement via FB and text messages. About 90 minutes later they called and said that the surgeon was done and wanted to speak with us, so we went back to the day surgery area. He told us that her foot was really easy to do. Then he told us everything he did with her hand. They released her pinkie, cleaned up the banding to try and make it look “prettier” and put a temporary pin in her middle finger to try and fuse the two bones together.

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She woke up in recovery and they brought her out, but she fell asleep again pretty quickly. We were surprised and relieved to see that she didn’t have a cast on her leg. Instead she has to wear an ace bandage on it for just five days. While waiting on meds and for her to be discharged, the PA reminded us about taking care of the cast. She also told us that because of the pin in her finger she will now have to wear the cast for five weeks instead of three. Then we return to have the pin “blown out” and see if the fuse worked. I am interested to see how they do that, but they did tell us that the key to it is for us parents to be calm while they blow it out. I am sure that will be it’s own blog post once we actually see what happens.

Scottish Rite  Jan 2013

Scottish Rite  Jan 2013
Being silly with Daddy while I sign documents and wait for her discharge.

Amelie did a great job and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children is amazing! We are also thankful for all the love and prayers for our family.