Betsy's Surgery

  We stopped using Betsy's button in December.  And truly, it could have been sooner than that- but I was super paranoid about her not drinking enough and getting enough fluid.  So that last month it was  only used for water.
  Our doctor requires approximately 3 months without using it AT ALL.  So we called and updated them on her status, and on March 4th they removed her MIC-KEY button!!  It was an incredible day. After the appointment we made a stop by the NICU and got to see some of our favorite nurses.
  Turns out Betsy has a severe reaction to adhesive and her tummy broke out in an intense rash from the tape that held the gauze over the hole.  So we spent a few days and a gazillion trips to Walgreens trying bandaids, and lotions and creams and wraps...Finally we found coban wrapped around her belly like a mummy is the only thing that worked.  With anything else, she would scratch herself till she bled just screaming the whole time- not pleasant or good for a wound that is trying to heal.
  Speaking of wounds healing, hers did not- which brings me to why I am writing this post in the first place.  See, when a MIC-KEY button is removed, there is essentially a hole or channel from the inside of the stomach out through the top of the skin.  Sometimes it closes on it's own, in our case it didn't.  It was so close.  The opening was about the size of a pin head, but it was still enough to occasionally leak stomach juices (gross, I know.)  In order to close it a surgeon has to cut around that channel and stitch her stomach shut as well as her skin.  It involves staples (removed after 14 days) and a drain (removed after 24 hours).
  We are currently still  in Day 1.  David is staying overnight at the hospital tonight.  I came home in time to cuddle Dane and Estelle and put them to sleep.  David is beyond amazing in times of stress.  It's unreal how he stays calm, cares for Betsy and checks in on my emotional status.  Lord knows my emotional status is not easy to keep up with ;)  Also, amazing is our family and friends.  We had a rotation of help at home, food deliveries to the hospital and phone calls and texts of well-wishers and prayers.  Our support system is the absolute BEST.
  Surgery was at 8:15, check-in at 6:15am.  Betsy did fantastic pre-op.  I was worried she would be hungry for breakfast, but she seemed to distracted by the environment to be hungry.  Post-op was a different story.  Instead of sleeping off the anesthesia- the poor girl woke up the minute they took her breathing tube out and it took a solid hour and several pain meds to get her comfortable.  After we made it to our room it was difficult for her to rest.  I know nurses and doctors have to check on her and do their job, but I really wish they coordinated their visits.  Every fifteen minutes it was someone new- med student getting info, listening to heart and lungs, 15 minutes later doctor doing the same, then nurse for vitals (temperature, blood pressure), then another nurse for height and weight...um, seriously?!?!  we did that when we arrived?!!?  Do they not write that on her chart?!?!  The minute we would get her settled down and she would drift off to sleep a new person would bust in and turn on the light.  I was not happy and neither was sweet Betsy.  She was madder that a wet hornet each time.
  Tomorrow she will be able to eat after only being allowed fluid today.  Prayers that she tolerates food well would be wonderful.  She also has the drain removed and I am hoping she gets to get that stupid IV out before she pulls it out herself.  They said we may have to stay overnight again, gosh I hope not.  There is not a whole lot to keep an 18 month old hooked up to an IV occupied with in a hospital room.  Makes me incredibly thankful this is a short term stay.
  More than anything, today reminded me of what a miracle Betsy's life is and how much she has overcome.  That girl is a fighter and I am SO proud to be her mom.