Surgery

Jocelyn's surgery went well. I am so glad to be home and not have another appointment until next week! When Jocelyn tells about her arm, she says, "In the FIRST hospital, in the SECOND hospital or in the THIRD hospital", depending on which story she is telling! Three hospitals in three days...we have had enough!

We woke up around five in the morning yesterday to go to the hospital. Jocelyn was upset that it was still dark and she was awake! I don't blame her, we weren't excited about it either! We got to the hospital, walked around lost for a long time (they added a new section for the pediatric surgery) and after asking probably four hospital employees, we found the "pavilion". It was decorated really cute with 3D clouds and 3D hot air balloons all over the walls. The front desk was like a hot air balloon too. The bottom of the desk was the basket and then they had the bars leading up to fake, lighted fire and part of a balloon hanging from the ceiling. My description doesn't really do it justice, but they don't let anyone take pics in the hospital.

When the nurse called for us, Jocelyn was very nervous. She wanted to walk behind me hidden. Poor thing. We got to our room and she did NOT want to change into their p.j's or even take off her shoes. After all the trauma at the ER, I didn't blame her. All the nurses were AMAZING and didn't force her to do anything or make her uncomfortable. They were very sweet to her and she started to feel a little better. The anesthesiologist came in to talk to us and give Jocelyn the "happy juice" that would relax her. Another nurse came in and asked Jocelyn if she wanted a strawberry smelling oxygen mask. She brought it in and soon after the "happy juice" kicked in! She was making us laugh so hard, which was such a relief from our nervouseness. I scooted her over a little on the bed and she said, "Mom, I have a wedge issue!" So I lifted her off the bed to fix her pants and she just started laughing and hanging her arm and legs like a monkey. Then I sat her back on the bed and she took her oxygen mask and turned it into a rocket. "It's a rocket. Zoom, zoom, zoom!" It was so funny. Soon after, the nurses and anesthesiologist came back and we gave her hugs and kisses and they wheeled her away. It would have been SO much harder to leave her if she was screaming and crying for me, so I was very grateful that she was relaxed. I was also relieved b/c they weren't going to do anything to her while she was awake. They were going to give her the oxygen mask to help her sleep, then do xrays, change her, put her IV in, put the breathing tube down her throat, do the surgery and then put the cast on all while she was out!

Waiting for her to be done was very hard for us. I knew everything was going to be okay, but it is still very scary for your child to be in surgery! Finally, we got to go in and see her. She was awake very quickly after surgery and when we went in she was upset that her little bear had a cast on him too! (She took it into surgery with her. I thought it was really cute, but she didn't!) So I took that off for her and then she realized that she had an IV in her hand and it was all wrapped up in gauze. Plus she had the blood pressure monitor on her leg and the oxygen level thing around her toe. She started crying and trying to pull everything off. I felt so bad!!! The nurse ended up giving her the strongest dose of morphine they could and then they got her some apple juice and some popsicles to hopefully take her mind off of everything else. It worked...some. Any time the blood pressure cuff would squeeze her leg, she would remember she was mad! After a few minutes, the nurse took off everything but the IV, so Jocelyn was fine after that. She had popsicles and she was a happy camper. It was funny b/c another nurse came in and told our nurse she was needed somewhere and she was going to take over for her. She said, "Awww. I really wanted to stay with my Jocelyn!" It was cute. Both of our nurses were so sweet and caring. After awhile, Jocelyn was happy and talkative and telling the nurse all kinds of stories. When she came to sit by her to take the IV off, Jocelyn said "I want to give you a hug!" It was cute.

Another thing that I wanted to write down, whenever Jocelyn tells someone about how she hurt her arm (I can't count the number of times she's been asked already!) she says, "well, you know those cannibal slides (MEANING INFLATABLE!), well it was a child's birthday party, his name is Collin, and I slid down the cannibal slides and when I jumped off, I just slipped and landed on my elbow and the carpet is not good and it was too hard and broke my elbow into pieces!" It is soooo funny! She's heard me say inflatable slides when I was explaining what happened and somehow it turned into cannibal! Hilarious.

Anyway, it has taken me awhile to write this post. I think mainly because it's so overwhelming to think about. We are doing good now though. The hardest part is knowing how frustrating it is for her to not be able to use her arm. She was talking to my dad last night and telling him how frustrated she is b/c she can't do anything now by herself, like get dressed, eat, button her pants, take a shower, run, go to ballet or gymnastics, etc etc. Her cast is SO heavy that she has to pick it up to move it. We do have a sling for it, but the thing will not stay in place and she gets annoyed with it around her back and shoulder, so she usually wants it off. The other hard part is convincing her that she needs her medicine. It tastes horrible and she hates it, so I usually have to bribe her with gum or something!

I want to THANK everyone for the emails, groceries, dinners, balloons and gifts for Jocelyn, her cast decorating kit, and for all the phone calls. It is really nice to know how many people care about us!!!! Thank you so much!!!