Sascha's Trip to Hospital - Part 1

Our past week is definitely going to take me more than one go at blogging but I thought I'd better get started. I'm never going to have enough time to get it all done at once so here's the first instalment of Sascha's operation.

After a few false starts Sascha finally got in to have her cleft palate repaired on Thursday, 3rd of June. We left home at 6am as we were meant to be at Day of Surgery Admittance (DOSA) at 7. We checked in and then kept Sascha happy for the next two hours before the doctors called for her at 9. She was weighed, her temperature taken and put in a fetching green hospital gown during this time. I also filled out all the same paper work I had filled out the week before when her surgery got cancelled.

The nurses took us around to another waiting area right on 9 o'clock. There I gowned up in my lovely blue suit, including shoe covers and hat. Craig remained in the waiting area while I went in with Sascha and the fantastic anesthetist to theatre. We were very lucky with our anesthetist and I can't even remember his name. I didn't realise that the anesthetist would be so involved with me as well as Sascha. He was the only doctor I got to see before the operation and certainly the only one I talked to in theatre. He was very nice and explained everything we were doing as Sascha went off to sleep. I held her as he slowly brought the mask closer to her face and we sung Twinkle Twinkle. First he just wafted the sedative towards her. He then brought the mask right onto her face when she was settled. He explained that Sascha would have a few involuntary movements while the drugs kicked in so I held her tightly through this. When Sascha was totally out to it we put her on a little blow up mattress on the theatre table. This had warm air constantly blowing through it during the surgery. The nurse had to remind me to give Sascha a kiss before we left her and as we headed out she offered me a tissue I didn't need. My way of dealing with all this was to focus on exactly what needed to be done at each stage. The tears waited til later.

Craig and I had a bit over two hours to wait until Sascha would be brought to Paediatric Intensive Care (PICU). Usually babies who are having a cleft palate repaired go straight onto the ward but since Sascha's was connected to Pierre Robins they like them to have a bit more care. Closing the cleft can bring back the breathing issues they had when they were born. Craig and I ate, paid our car parking for the week, called our mum's to keep them in the know and then still had to spend about an hour killing time. The nurse came and got us from the waiting room a little earlier than usual as Sascha came up fighting. Last time she had a general anaesthetic she woke up badly too so we shouldn't have been surprised. She was pretty much in the condition I had expected. She basically looked like someone had given her a decent punch in the face. Her nose was dripping blood and she had bloody spit coming out her mouth. Her mouth was also damaged by what ever they use to keep it open during surgery so she even had a fat lip. Our little boxer! She was connected up to a drip, for morphine and liquids, a heart monitor and a pulse/O2 level monitor. Even though they had her on morphine she wouldn't settle for much over half an hour and only in our arms so they upped her morphine and gave her a sedative as well.



They also found Sascha's oxygen levels were a bit low so they put on O2 nasal specs. Unfortunately she was badly allergic to the tape they used and her entire face went slowly red. I did know she reacted to some tapes but she had only ever had small reactions and only at the sight of contact. The nurse got the ward doctor to have a look at her and, once he had determined it wasn't the morphine she was allergic too, we simply took off the O2 specs and she did fine. It's taken her more time for the redness to go from the allergic reaction that it has for her to get over the operation. Craig's mum came in in the afternoon so Craig and I could go and get some tea and because she really wanted to see our girl. It was great to have everyone on board during our time in hospital and great to know we're part of a family who are there for anything any of us need.

By the time Bev and Craig went home I was getting Sascha to settle in her cot for about an hour at a time. PICU doesn't have beds for parents so I was trying to snooze, in between her wake ups, on a recliner. At about 11pm a nurse noticed how little sleep I was getting and how much Sascha wanted to be right with me so they took out Sascha's cot and brought in a bed. Sascha and I then snoozed together for the rest of the night. We really only slept for an hour at a time then she'd need me to rock her or give her a pat to get her to resettle. The night actually went quite quick. I was so tired myself that I slept at every opportunity. By the morning my right side was dead as I could only lie facing her. There was no room to wiggle and she's such a sensitive sleeper she'd wake any time I moved anyway.

I still hadn't cried at all through the first 24hrs. Craig and Bev had both had a few tears but I just couldn't. Sometimes I feel like an insensitive sod as Sascha's distress doesn't really take me to tears. It's not that it doesn't upset me it's just that I can't get that emotional about it. I'm more a crier when I feel impotent or frustrated and at this time I had a clear job to do. Maybe I should think of myself as practical rather than unattached to Sascha.

Craig got in to the hospital early Friday morning. Once he had settled in I headed to a friends to have a sleep and a shower. It was great to have somewhere to go outside of the hospital just for some down time. There is no way to get any time truly alone when your are in the hospital. By the time I got back Craig, Bev and the nurse were moving Sascha onto Newland Ward. Our girl had done so well! The operation went well and now we just had to get through four days in a room full of babies.

to be continued...