Spine MRI and Dental Surgery

Last Thursday Alex had her spinal MRI and her dental surgery. 

It kills me that I can't explain to her what's going on and know if/what she understands.  She really didn't mind any of the pre-op stuff - the only thing she doesn't like is the blood pressure cuff.  I think it reminds her of the tourniquets they use when she goes for her blood draws - and that's never a good time.

I was really glad they were able to finally coordinate the two procedures so both could be done and we didn't have to put one of them off for a later date because of the anesthesia.  Although, there was a little bit of a scheduling snafu so we got started almost two and half hours after we were supposed to.  And she had to be NPO after midnight, so her last tube feeding was at 10PM the night before.  I know she was getting really hungry, but she was SO good waiting patiently.  She was all about hugs and kisses for me and Aaron.

Finally it was time to leave her.  They let us go back with her while they put her under and I don't know if that was a good or bad thing.  Of course I wanted to be with her, but watching her go under was not easy.  One minute she's all smiles and the next she's a limp noodle. 

Both procedures took about 3 hours.  The hospital has a color coded numbering system on a big TV screen that let's you know where the patient is in the process...pre-op, in surgery, in post-op, so that was kind of comforting.  The staff was really good about calling us too and letting us know when she came out of the MRI and when she went into the OR.  When we finally were able to go back to recovery we could hear Alex crying from the hallway.  And that was tough.  Alex is NOT a crier.  They only let me go back with her and she was so upset.  Her bed looked like a crime scene too - there was a A LOT of blood.  Alex hasn't had any type of surgery since she was a baby so it was so hard to see her like that.  I know it was only dental surgery but she was in a lot of pain and no matter the cause, it's hard to see your children hurting.   She had 4 teeth pulled, and a very deep scaling and cleaning of her teeth so her gums were really swollen.  She had a LOT of plaque and tartar build up from not being able to chew food and the constant drool in her mouth.  She's also never been able to have x-rays done and when those were done she had two fillings that needed to be filled.  The nurse thought Alex was upset because she was in the hospital, but I knew it was because she was in pain.  She's allergic to coedine and morphine so they gave her Fentanyl - which is a stronger than morphine through her IV and tylenol through her g-tube.  She was also gagging because she was swallowing so much blood so she had Zofran to combat the nausea.  Twenty minutes after that she started smiling again, and that was good to see!

The orthopedic office called this week and said that her MRI was within normal limits.  Which is pretty much what I thought they were going to say.  ALL of her tests come back normal.  She's the most not normal, 'normal' kid I know!