So, April 26th was a heart pounding in your ears kind of day. Our sweet Veda had surgery to remove an abnormal lymph node. I am sure many parents have been through a scary experience like this, and it never gets any easier. Everything started about a year ago when I noticed a swollen lymph node on my sweet girls neck. It wasn't a big deal until it just would not go away. After many trips to see our favorite doctor...Dr. Hoover (if you take your kids to goldsboro peds and you haven't seen him...see him! All of our kids have been with him since birth and he's amazing! Veda loves "doctuh hoovah".) Okay...back to the story. So, we kept an eye on this little lump for about a year until we just couldn't handle not knowing anymore! So, our doc sent us to a surgeon in greenville. Just the word surgeon makes me sick to my stomach. We had an appointment the beginning of April and the surgeon thought it would be best to go ahead and remove the lymph node and have it tested. I couldn't decide what made me more nervous...the fact that someone would be cutting my little girl open, the possibility of bad test results or the very very rare possibility that my sweet veda wouldn't wake up from anesthesia. Yes I know...im a total freak and I worry about the craziest stuff. My father reminds me at least weekly that I am totally out of my mind. Whatever...im a mom! Its only natural for me to worry. So anyways, we scheduled the surgery and then tried to put it out of our minds for the next couple of weeks.
This is not Veda's first surgery. For those of you who don't know, our sweet little monkey was born with gastroschisis; she was born with her intestines on the outside of her body. We knew this before she was born and we knew it would require surgery. We had months of waiting on this precious baby, knowing that she would be born with such a rough start. After all was said and done, she was born and taken into surgery before I even got to see her. Her surgery went well and we brought her home in less than three weeks. She went through one more hospital stay and a few rough months after that, but then she was just like any other normal baby. She now has what we lovingly call her "hundred thousand dollar belly button". So, I said all of that to say this: we have been down this road before. And it honestly is just more scary the second time around.
So, April 25th came and Shane and I did not sleep at all. This is totally normal for me, because I am a freak and I can lay there for hours thinking about every possible thing that could go wrong. But Shane losing sleep? This is NOT normal...so now im even more nervous. After less than an hour of sleep, we wake up Veda at 4:30 in the morning. She's noticeably tired, but very enthusiastic about being awake and in the car before the sun comes up. Crazy kid. So, a few hours later, she is sitting on my lap in a hospital bed with a belly full of medicine to help her relax. And boy, was she relaxed! It took her so much effort to keep her eyes open as she giggled and smiled at her new best friend Tara...the nurse who brought her snow white to watch while she waited. Oh, what a saint! And Veda would turn and look at me and giggle and then she lazily said "mamaaaa...I...lub...you...sooooooo...muchhhh." It was pretty hilarious and super sweet. Everything was running smoothly and then a doctor came and just picked her up, we gave her a quick kiss and she was carried back to the OR. No tears, no fear, no nothing. She went willingly without mommy and daddy. I still don't know if I was proud or just plain sad. So, then the breath holding began. We barely made it to the cafeteria and got a cup of coffee finished before it was over. We met with the surgeon who said everything went fine and she was doing wonderful. Breathing again! After what seemed like forever, we finally got to go back and see her. She was still sleeping, which made me nervous again. I prayed and prayed and prayed...so scared she wouldn't wake up! But then she did, and we were nervous again, expecting her to freak out...especially since we were told that kids usually get scared when they wake up. But, not our Veda! She woke up, hacked a few times and then did what she does best...talked and talked some more. No crying, no tantrums, no pulling tubes out. She did amazing. And she thought it was so cool that she had a face mask just like Uncle Siwwy used to have. =(
A few minutes, one popsicle and lots of prayers later, our sweet girl was back to putting smiles on everyone's face!
This is not Veda's first surgery. For those of you who don't know, our sweet little monkey was born with gastroschisis; she was born with her intestines on the outside of her body. We knew this before she was born and we knew it would require surgery. We had months of waiting on this precious baby, knowing that she would be born with such a rough start. After all was said and done, she was born and taken into surgery before I even got to see her. Her surgery went well and we brought her home in less than three weeks. She went through one more hospital stay and a few rough months after that, but then she was just like any other normal baby. She now has what we lovingly call her "hundred thousand dollar belly button". So, I said all of that to say this: we have been down this road before. And it honestly is just more scary the second time around.
So, April 25th came and Shane and I did not sleep at all. This is totally normal for me, because I am a freak and I can lay there for hours thinking about every possible thing that could go wrong. But Shane losing sleep? This is NOT normal...so now im even more nervous. After less than an hour of sleep, we wake up Veda at 4:30 in the morning. She's noticeably tired, but very enthusiastic about being awake and in the car before the sun comes up. Crazy kid. So, a few hours later, she is sitting on my lap in a hospital bed with a belly full of medicine to help her relax. And boy, was she relaxed! It took her so much effort to keep her eyes open as she giggled and smiled at her new best friend Tara...the nurse who brought her snow white to watch while she waited. Oh, what a saint! And Veda would turn and look at me and giggle and then she lazily said "mamaaaa...I...lub...you...sooooooo...muchhhh." It was pretty hilarious and super sweet. Everything was running smoothly and then a doctor came and just picked her up, we gave her a quick kiss and she was carried back to the OR. No tears, no fear, no nothing. She went willingly without mommy and daddy. I still don't know if I was proud or just plain sad. So, then the breath holding began. We barely made it to the cafeteria and got a cup of coffee finished before it was over. We met with the surgeon who said everything went fine and she was doing wonderful. Breathing again! After what seemed like forever, we finally got to go back and see her. She was still sleeping, which made me nervous again. I prayed and prayed and prayed...so scared she wouldn't wake up! But then she did, and we were nervous again, expecting her to freak out...especially since we were told that kids usually get scared when they wake up. But, not our Veda! She woke up, hacked a few times and then did what she does best...talked and talked some more. No crying, no tantrums, no pulling tubes out. She did amazing. And she thought it was so cool that she had a face mask just like Uncle Siwwy used to have. =(
A few minutes, one popsicle and lots of prayers later, our sweet girl was back to putting smiles on everyone's face!
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