Minor Surgical Procedure

This week, Bella had the stent removed from her left nasolacrimal system (tear ducts draining the left eye). When I woke Bella up shortly after 5 AM, she was in a wonderful mood. First, she asked to go to Lolo & Lola's house (which is where Gabi was spending the night), but then she remembered that she was going to go to the hospital and see Daddy. During the drive, she happily pointed out the moon (which she pronounces more like "vroom") and the Dome (which is actually the Arkansas State Capital building, lit in gold Christmas lights since it was still dark outside).


TV distracting Bella from that bothersome ID band
We spent about two hours in registration and pre-op, making sure Bella was healthy enough for this [very minor] surgical procedure after having a serious cold and worrisome cough (and exposure to RSV) the previous week. The worst part was needing the tongue depressor so the nurse could look in her throat, but she impressed the nurse by sitting perfectly still while she took her blood pressure. Bella had a few Christmas pictures to color, and she watched Playhouse Disney on TV. Daddy was able to come by to say hello, too!


Happy to see Daddy, but refusing to wear the hospital gown
About 20 minutes after they took her back to the OR, the ophthalmologist came out to tell me that everything went well, and it was all over. He gave me some antibiotic/steroid drops to put in her eye for the next few days, and then I just had to wait for her to wake up from the anesthesia. She started stirring about half an hour later, so they called me back to the recovery room.

In the recovery room, Bella just needed to wake up and then drink some apple juice to show the nurses that she could tolerate fluids before they removed the IV and discharged her. Because the procedure was so quick, she only needed the gas mask anesthesia this time around, which made waking up much easier than last time. She coughed a bit and then sat calmly staring at everything no matter what you did to her. (She couldn't quite sit up on her own, but she would grasp the rail on the edge of the bed to hold most of her weight.)


Gobbling down a popsicle post-surgery
Although she loved the cold juice and freezing popsicle the nurse gave her, it didn't help her body temperature after being in the chilly OR. The nurse kept her covered with a warm blanket, and when the first one cooled off, she got another one. Bella was very happy to snuggle in a warm blanket!


Wrapped in a warm blanket post-surgery
Once she was a bit more awake, Bella started pointing out the ornaments ("balls") and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and requesting to count them. She was still calm enough to stare passively as the nurse took off all the adhesive for the IV and the heart-monitoring leads, occasionally pointing and asking "What's that?" That hour in the recovery room is definitely the most laid-back I've ever seen Annabelle! We were discharged straight from there (whereas last summer, we moved from the recovery room back to our private pre-op room for her to finish waking up from the anesthesia).


Bella playing with her mask before discharge
By 9 AM, we were heading out of the hospital to go home (in 27 degree weather--Brrr!). In the car, she said, "Mommy, blessed be the name of the Lord!" (quoting lyrics from a song by Tree 63), which reminded me to be thankful that everything went so smoothly. Bella was a bit off-balance at first, and she took an extra nap that day, but she was fully herself after afternoon naptime. We even went to celebrate Cousin Steven's 10th birthday that evening!