Surgery, Sutures, and a Very Silly Girl

Dayna had her third surgery last week. This one was pretty minor compared to the others. She had her ear tubes removed and a little bit of scar tissue removed from her lip.

The week before surgery, I was praying very hard for Dayna...praying that she would not fear, but trust God; praying that she would be comfortable; praying that she would heal quickly; praying that she would not be frustrated by her dietary restrictions after the procedure. There were some prayers thrown out there for me as well...

The weekend before surgery, we went grocery shopping and bought all sorts of soft foods that Dayna might like: instant grits, flavored oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed potato flakes, pudding, jello, bomb pops, macaroni and cheese...you get the picture. Dayna was pretty excited about her "special" foods.

Two days before surgery (Monday), I took Dayna shopping for some special pajamas. Really, this was a practicality issue, as all of her pajamas pull over her head...not a good thing after facial surgery. While we were shopping, Dayna turned to me and said, "I wish we didn't have a Tuesday this week...then it would be WEDNESDAY!!!" I asked why she was so excited about Wednesday, and she replied, "I'll get to have SURGERY!!!!!" (She's pretty excited when she talks to you.) I asked why she was excited for surgery, and she gave me that look (the one like "don't you know anything, Mom?") and said in a slightly exasperated tone, "It's not like I get to do this everyday."

So...I no longer had to worry about her fear. The morning of surgery, we made it to the hospital bright and early. The plastic surgeon is the same one who did her lip and palate repair. We absolutely LOVE Dr. Hollins. The ENT is the father of 3 of my former (and dare I say favorite) students. Only the anesthesiologist was an unknown. When we got there, I was thrilled to find out that Dr. Kolb would be the anesthesiologist. He is the head of our craniofacial team, as well as the director of our local international adoption clinic. Dr. Kolb is also the father of 10, 8 of whom are adopted internationally. I couldn't have asked for a better trio to be working on my little girl.

Well, her procedure went very well. She was a little dazed and dozy for most of the morning; we dealt with headaches for quite awhile. Finally, we were able to get Dayna up and about, which helped her headaches. She really just wanted to lay in the hospital bed all day and watch movies (I guess "it's not like she gets to do this everyday"). In fact, we had a very hard time getting Dayna to agree to come home. She wanted to stay overnight!

The next day, we went up to Dan's folks'. We figured it's always more fun to recover at Grandma and Grandpa's house than to sit at home.

Well, we're one week post-op. Dr. Hollins removed the last of her sutures yesterday. Dayna has been cleared to eat regular foods again. And what did she ask to eat this morning for breakfast?

Oatmeal.

Silly girl!

Squishy Face

Coloring before the surgery

Before - notice the happy grin; the little bump in her top lip is about to disappear

She will take any reason to snuggle - so will I

After - she had a remarkably small amount of swelling

I notice that Dan took her blankie AND her stuffed starfish

Sleeping it off

Awake, but still dazed

Finally up and about - going to the playroom

Resting at home, watching "Kung Fu Panda"

3 days post-op

7 days post-op