Cora went in for surgery on 10-16-12 to have her cleft palate closed. The plan was to look at her ear tubes, if they needed to be replaced, they would do that and then move on to the palate surgery. I was happy the the anesthesiologist offered to let me carry her to the OR and stay with her until she went to sleep. (I didn't even have to ask!) They told us it would take 4-4.5 hours until she was done....so TJ and I went and got something to eat and then settled into the waiting room for the long wait.
The ENT doctor came up to give us a report on how things looked with the tubes. One tube was completely out, the other tube was occluded with wax, and when they pulled it out there was actually some puss behind the tube. So both ear tubes were replaced. She told us that Dr. Coots was just getting started when she left so it would be 3-4 hours yet.
After about 30-40 minutes...we see Dr. Coots in the waiting room...we're instantly a bit confused. He had come to inform us that he couldn't do Cora's palate repair today....WHAT!!!???? Apparently, the perfectly healthy child we brought for surgery....was not as healthy as we thought. He got in there to get started and he noticed some pus in her sinuses, and she also had a little pus on her tonsils. He didn't feel like it was in Cora's best interest to continue with the repair in the presence of an infection. He said because her cleft is so wide he just couldn't chance it. We were not upset at all with his decision...just completely shocked that she had an infection....and we had no clue.
I still feel a little silly/stupid about the whole thing. She was a little crabby about 5 days before surgery, and I was a little concerned that she may be getting sick. The next day however...she acted fine, and I noticed a new tooth in her mouth...so I assumed that was what her problem was. She has acted like her happy little self since then. She had a CBC on Friday that was completely normal. She had no fever, no cough, no runny nose...so to say we were shocked about them finding an infection...is an understatement. I feel so bad that she has to go through all this again.
She is now home. She will be on an antibiotic for 10 days, and surgery is rescheduled for 2 weeks from today on the 31st...which means she will be in the hospital for her birthday....BUMMER! I guess we will just celebrate early. I think I am going to take her to the pediatrician the day before surgery...just to make sure they think everything looks good. ;-)
This girl even makes a hospital gown look cute!
Sorry about the poor picture quality...but her cute smile was just to cute not to share. I guess we'll get another chance for a better quality picture of her in her hospital gown in a couple weeks.
We were certainly shocked by how this played out, but everything happens for a reason. So whatever the reason, we accept that this is all in God's hands. So now we will continue to pray the infection goes away and that the surgery in 2 weeks will be successful and as pain free as possible.
Happy Wednesday friends!
-katie
