Ever the gracious princess, Meredith wore her Cinderella dress to the hospital. I explained that Dr. H would be fixing her ears & nose so that they wouldn't hurt her anymore or make her sick. She asked why we weren't at his doctor office and I had no answer. I just told her that Dr. H was going to see her at the big doctor office he had at the hospital. I have always wondered what she remembers, how long things stay in her memory and how she relates those memories to life. Well.... wonder no more. She said "like the hospital Seany was in when he had a boo boo in his heart?"
They only allowed one person up to the pre-surgery area. So Rob & Renee stayed downstairs until after Meredith was assessed by the physician's assistant. I tried to make it as fun as possible to be starving, wearing weird jammies and nervous. We made funny faces and Meredith tried on my hair.
Watching as Meredith fought her mask as hard as she could and finally be sedated was probably more traumatizing than anything I have ever witnessed before. It was hard to walk out knowing my baby was helpless. I did though so Dr. H could get it over with. It was the longest 20 minutes I've had to live through in quite some time.
Dr. H carried her out & handed her to me and she was a mess. She was swollen & agitated. She sounded so hoarse. She had a couple of dips in her oxygen levels so she was given some oxygen. She just couldn't get comfy. Dr. H told us that her ears were filled with fluid & infection. There was fluid in her ears that was obviously old and was syrupy. My poor baby. He was able to clean it out, but her ears were still draining as he brought her out.
Of course as she became more & more aware her slickness came out. She would cry & scream that the IV hurt her hand. That's why she couldn't fall asleep like the nurse said she should. 5 minutes later..... "My arm hurts." (from the pressure cuff). The nurse would come in and take it off. "Mommy my toe hurts" (from the pulseox thingy) The nurse came in & took that off too. "Mommy my chest hurts" (from the stickers). The nurse came in & said we could take those off too. And then it was time to go home. Little miss slick figured out that if the nurse took those things off, she could go home.
When we got home she almost ate me out of house & home. We were all shocked. And Sean missed me something terrible. He wouldn't nap while we were gone, but snuggled right in as soon as we got home.
Meredith finally fell asleep in the afternoon. She didn't sleep long or deeply, but I'm sure it helped her. Of course when she woke up we all got a surprise.
Flat Stanley turned out to be Flat Samantha. The little girl who sent her to visit us made "Stanley" in her own likeness. Meredith was so excited that Stanley's sister Samantha came to visit. She immediately exclaimed "Looked mommy!! She has purple nails like me!!!" Oh the the adventures we're going to go on.
She came in her PJ's so we found her some clothes to wear. :)
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