Eva is out of surgery

I really am a lousy blogger. We've even had fun and interesting stuff to write about, and I still can't come up with a blog entry. I think it is the photos that keep me from writing more often - I can't find an easy way to resize the photos so that they take up less memory, and most days I don't feel like doing the 4 or 5 step process to get them from my camera to this point. But today I make an exception, because it is a day I don't want to forget (though Eva may well want to).

We arrived at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City this morning at 7. We were able to meet with her doctors before they took her back for surgery, and get the full details on what was happening today. The anesth. wanted to give her Versed before taking her back, just so she was more relaxed, and I am happy to report that we finally have one child who is not an angry drunk! Eva is so funny when she's doped up on that stuff, sweet, ("Helllloooo Mammmmmma") and sooo not like Josh and Esther, who get really mad on that stuff. I wish I could remember the term for what they did today, it was something like tibular osteotomy. Basically they broke both the bones in her left leg to straighten them out some, added a small section of bone to her shorter tibia, added a screw into the growth plate of her longer fibula, and cut notches into her achilles tendon to help stretch it out. Sounds gruesome, but the result is a big pink cast with pink toes poking out of the bottom, and her foot facing forward, as it should. Hoo and ray!

She has, for the most part, handled it like a champ. They decided, after they got in there, that she would do better with an epidural to control pain, and she hasn't complained too much about her leg, but she sure hates the catheter that goes along with the epidural. The most painful part (if I recollect my own epidural experience) will be tomorrow when they remove the needle and pull off that horrendous tape that has been holding it in place. She fussed some, but never really hollered, and was most relaxed as we started making our way through the Surgical unit's princess movie collection.

She perked up quite a bit this evening when Mike and I loaded her into a wheelchair and went down to the cafeteria for some ice cream. I went out for a short run before Mike left, and found myself trapped behind the University Hospital with no way to get through back to Primary's. Finally a security guard took pity on me and opened a door for me - hospitals are the modern version of the labyrinth, I swear!

I got a quick shower (with very feeble water pressure) before Mike left for home (he has to work Thursday & Friday) and Eva and I were settling down for the night when she started itching like crazy. She's been doing this off and on throughout the day, so finally I asked for some Benadryl, and made the colossal mistake of giving her the medicine myself, forcing it into her cheeks when she balked. Dumb, dumb, dumb! Never be the bad guy when there is a perfectly good nurse ready and willing to take the fall! Eva was pretty upset with me that I forced some medicine on her, so it took her another half hour to settle down, but now she is asleep, and I'm going to try to sleep a little as well.

Being here is a sobering experience. Just when you think life is hard for your poor child, you see someone else's child who is suffering far worse, and you wonder how that family survives it all. Twice today we heard LifeFlight come and go, and I wondered about those little children, and their families. There is a lot of hope here at this hospital, as some families come knowing their child will get better (like ours), but there are other families who are devastated by what brings them here. Makes me not want to whine about anything. Don't worry, that will only last me a day or so, and then I'll be back to my normal whining self!

Other posts to follow, hopefully, as I try to stave off boredom during the millionth screening of the Little Mermaid, will include Yellowstone, our trip to the SLC temple to have Eva sealed to us, and the Wasatch Back Relay. Maybe I can even post a few pictures...