Dr Obaid office called and said Doc would be out of town on 13th so rescheduled for April 27th, 9:00 am
Cook Children’s called and said surgery rescheduled for 2:00 pm
Kymee could eat baby food or have formula until 6:40 am on the 4/26
She could drink clear liquid until 10:40 am
We needed to be at the hospital at 12:40 pm for check-in and pre-op
Checked into hospital

2) They would wheel Kymee back to surgery, she could bring comfort items with her. We chose her wubby, a silky blanket which she loves the texture, and her stuffed bunny.
3) The anesthesiologist would place a face mask on her which would knock her out. I got to choose the flavor: cotton candy. Emylee said this was cruel, because she would grow up with a subconscious aversion to cotton candy – a cruel fate to live with.
3) They would administer an IV after she was already out – so she would not feel a thing.
4) The surgery would take around 2 ½ hours
5) After surgery, she’d be in recovery room than moved to a private room where we could be with her, and if all went well, we’d be going home in 24 hours.
Aunt Kim arrived. We were sent to the ‘play room” to await surgery. We waited. And waited. And waited. 2:00 the original time came and went, so did 3:30. We continued to wait.
The anesthesiologist consulted with us and told us he would talk to Dr. Obaid and see if we could give Kymee clear liquid while we waited. He returned to give us a choice. “We can give her clear liquid, but she have anesthesia until 2 hours after consumption. Dr. Obaid believes that the surgery he is in is not going to last the full 2 hours, so if he gets done and Kymee is not ready to go under anesthesia he will bump the patient after her into her spot and she will have to wait til he is done with another surgery. So, we can give it to her and take the chance, or you can hope she gets into surgery before the 2 hours. What would you like to do?” Kymee was surprisingly happy. We said no liquid, we want the next surgery spot. WRONG CHOICE – Kymee was not wheeled into surgery for another 2 hours and 30 minutes.
We all sighed a breath of relief and praised God.
About 20 minutes later, Dr. Obaid returned and said, “We removed Kymee’s breathing tube. She didn’t like that too much, so we put it back. (What do you think he really meant with those words?) I am transferring her over to ICU for the night. You can move over to the ICU waiting room and they’ll tell you when you can go in to see her. It may be a while, so now might be a great time to grab a bite to eat or a coffee.”
Grandma decided the day had been long enough – so Stephan took her home. Mark and Kim stayed with our stuff, and Emylee, Nelson and I headed to Starbucks – just in the nick of time. They were giving their “last drink” call.
The ICU waiting room was packed – hardly a spot available. More “Prince William Royal Wedding” previews on the TV. They finally called us back – only Nelson and I to start with, then we could have no more than 4 by the bed at any time.
The ICU consists of a row of “rooms” divided by curtains. Their were a few glass front rooms where children with contagious disease were kept. It was a sad and daunting place. We were ushered to bed 14 – the corner room.

The Nurse told us that whenever she wakes up she fights the machines and tries to pull the breathing tube out. The ICU team had already re-intubated her once. So the goal was to keep her as drugged as possible with morphine and some other pain killer I can’t pronounce, so that she would not move or wake up. We were NOT to stimulate her or talk to her. We were also told we were not allowed to get naked behind the ICU curtain – Seriously??
Mark, Kim and Nelson left to go have a stiff drink – while Emylee and I settled in for the night.

You could see Kymee improving all day by leaps and bounds. We were now allowed to hold her, and she responded to us as best she could. She was on heavy pain meds, but not comatosed with them as before. She still wasn’t eating at all by mouth, so there was no chance of her going home.
In the middle of the night she began running a fever, far above what she should. Our night nurse had returned, and she let me hold her as she stripped her and gave her a cold sponge bath, trying to bring down her temperature. Her fever broke after about and hour, but it would still spike every so often throughout the night. In the morning in broke for good. I however caught the chills, and just couldn’t get warm no matter what I did.
One by one the strings and tubes attached to Kymee had been removed, the glow-in-the-dark toe and the IV port disappeared last,
After 4 worry-full days and 3 sleepless nights, I was ready for a new challenge – caring for a recovering baby from the comforts of home, surrounded by my loving family and friends and an ever attentive barking hound dog.
Bawled my eyes out as usual when following along with this journey. So many thoughts and prayers with you and yours. Love you guys so much.
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