I distracted myself with my camera while waiting for Hayley to be ready to come home. This was taken from the tenth floor of the Montreal Children’s Hospital, while I paced the family room outside the recovery room. Her surgery was supposed to start at 9:45 but began about 20 minutes late because they really took their time in explaining the procedure to Hayley before leading her to the operating room. It took roughly an hour and a half, finishing at almost 12:30. It then took another hour and a half or so for her to be ready to leave.
She was obviously disoriented and upset when she woke up but overall she handled it well. The eyes look straighter now and we go in next week for a follow up appointment to see how things went for sure. I’m glad it was done but I’m mostly glad it’s over and hopefully this will be the last time.
I know it’s just an operation on her eyes and nothing life-threatening, but it doesn’t change how nerve-wracking it is to sit around waiting while your child is put to sleep and operated on. I had a nice long conversation with a really nice girl around my age who was waiting for her seven-month old son to wake up; his condition was far worse than Hayley’s. His liver had perforated his diaphragm, causing daily vomiting, and his intestines were S-shaped rather than a tube shape so he had to have both those things taken care of. Clearly that is worst than just having your eyes fixed. However, we both agreed that knowing others are far worse off doesn’t offer any comfort when it’s YOUR child who is in surgery, whether it’s for a broken bone, broken eyes, broken intestines, or a (literal) broken heart. Surgery is surgery, and it’s scary. I’m glad Hayley’s okay now and I hope her son is fine too.
Today she was slow to start and slept in, but by afternoon she was back to playing and being herself, so recovery is going very well. Recovery is a good thing.
((hugs)) Glad it went well. You’re right surgery is surgery and it’s nerve wrecking just knowing your child is going through it.
When I had (jaw) surgery a few years ago, they put me under at eight A.M. and didn’t even start the surgery ’til ten somehow, so my poor mother was left waiting for even longer than anticipated. At least Hayley got delayed because she was having things explained to her! (Actually, before I was called in, a doctor was explaining how surgery goes to a few little kids. I put my book down and went to listen too…)
Glad it’s all over and she’s starting to recover already. Hopefully you have a good idea what to expect from last time – wondering “is this normal??” is never fun…
*hugs* Yep, surgery is surgery and scary no matter what.
i had the exact same surgery on my left eye when i was a child. only downside was when i was young they kept you in for days to recover…the only time you can see my eye *travel* is when i’m tired..but it all turned out okay!
glad hayley is okay! 🙂
Glad it went smoothly. I remember how upsetting it was to have Nels’ surgery when he was eight months old. I’m sorry you all had to go through it again and hopefully it’s the last time.
So glad it’s over. I can’t imagine having to go through that, I find it hard holding Teagan for her immunizations!
I’m happy to hear she’s doing well and recovering quickly!
*big hugs*
Sending lots of recovery vibes Hayley’s way! So glad for you guys that it’s over!
Glad to hear everything went well – All the best to Hayley!
I definitely agree, and I’m so glad everything went well. ((hugs))
So glad to hear the surgery went well!!!
So happy to hear that everything went smoothly!
I know how you feel! Jack had to have surgery 3 weeks ago on his stomach and even though his condition is “common” it wasn’t common for me to sit in a waiting room for an hour waiting for my 4 week old baby to be operated on! Hugs to you and I definitely hope she doesn’t have to go through it again, or you!