2 Surgeries in 9 days

Surgery #1:

On June 28th, we brought Victoria to Children’s in Minneapolis to have a Tonsillectomy & Adenoidectomy. This was a planned surgery. Victoria had been sick quite a bit and even when she wasn’t sick she had tonsils that were extremely swollen. They call them “kissing tonsils” because they almost touched in the back. She also snored a great deal and would wake up a lot during the night not allowing her to get the rest that a busy 4 year old desperately needs. So, with Marlee at Grandma and Grandpa’s we woke up and left the house by 4:45am to get Victoria to Minneapolis for her 6am check-in. I was grateful for this early surgery, since she wasn’t allowed to eat or drink for 8 hours before the surgery. I don’t know how the poor babies do that for a surgery later in the day. Can you imagine not being able to give your baby anything to eat or drink all day?  We were one of the first surgeries scheduled for the day, so we got right in. The Children’s Hospitals are so great! They immediately set her up with toys to play with, stickers, crayons, paper, supplies to make a princess crown… We met many different doctors that would be a part of her surgery team and everyone was very friendly. They even have a Child’s Life Specialist that comes and talks with the child to ensure they understand what is going to happen to them and show them pictures and explain it in a way that it is easy for them to understand. The doctors asked Victoria if she wanted Ted and/or I to be in the Operating Room with her when they made her fall asleep. She said “No. I’ll be fine. I can just be with the doctors and nurses”. We of course didn’t listen to her and Ted and I both went with her when they wheeled her to the operating room. She thought we both looked pretty silly in our OR garb. We surrounded her with her blankie and Minnie Mouse, hugged her close and stared into her eyes as they gave her the medicine. I was so close I could smell it… At first they gave her some “laughing gas” and she started adorably giggling then suddenly she was in a deep sleep. We were forewarned that every child acts differently when they go under the anesthesia and sometimes can jerk and have muscle spasms. We were very fortunate that Victoria did not fight the mask and simply closed her eyes and started in with a light snore. It was still hard to watch and even harder to leave. As I walked out with tears in my eyes, one of the nurses grabbed my hand and said “We will take very good care of your daughter”. It made me feel much better.

Prior to surgery:

Playing stickers:

 Making a princess crown:

We had barely picked up coffees from the cafeteria when we were called back. The surgery was much quicker than either one of us expected. The doctor told us everything went well and we were welcome to go see her. When we walked into her recovery room , Victoria was fighting the nurse to pull her IV out. They put the IV in once she was asleep and she did not enjoy waking up to a needle in her arm or her arm tied to a board. She was also crying hysterically. This was probably the hardest part of the surgery. She was coming out of the anesthesia and so confused! She wouldn’t stop screaming, hollering, banging her IV hand against me and trying to rip it out of her arm. They finally gave her a light sedative and she fell asleep in my arms. When she finally awoke she was less hysterical but still wouldn’t drink anything. Finally with some coaxing she satisfied them with her fluid intakes and we were able to take her home.


The first few days Victoria slept and slept. She needed to be on pain meds continuous for 8 days. They said some kids bounce right back, and she did pretty much, but she needed to be on the pain meds constantly. That was tough too because it was a narcotic and made her very emotional and she just wasn’t herself. We tried many times just to go with the Tylenol but it wasn’t enough pain relief for her…

Day 9 – Surgery #2
It was Saturday, the 7th, and I planned on Victoria returning to preschool on Monday… We were at a 4th of July party and Victoria was doing great, a little tired, but fine. I was upstairs talking with a friend when Ted brought Victoria up. She started coughing and then started throwing up lots and lots of blood. We quickly moved her to the bathroom and she was quickly covered in blood along with the entire bathroom and toilet. She couldn’t stop coughing and the blood wouldn’t stop either. When we finally could grasp what was happening, we stripped her down, got her to drink some cold water and carried her down the stairs to the car.

By the time we got both girls buckled in their car seats she had stopped throwing up the blood. We drove to the ER and were brought back immediately. The doctor called the on-call ENT and told us Victoria would probably have to have another surgery to stop the bleeding. When the ENT got there, he confirmed that Victoria’s scars probably came off too early and that he could see blood clots in her throat. He said that the cold water stopped the bleeding for now but it would most likely start bleeding again and that he would have to perform another surgery on her to cauterize (burn the areas to stop the bleeding) her throat so that the bleeding wouldn’t continue. Soon after, we were saying Good Bye while she was wheeled into surgery. They didn’t let us go back this time, and of course Victoria was petrified. It killed me to let them wheel her away while she pleaded with her eyes and arms for me to be with her.

Prior to surgery:

Support from little sis:

Before surgery in good spirits:

35 minutes later she was done and we were able to go see her. She was so upset that we weren’t there right away. I understand why they need to be in the recovery room alone to get the patients stable, but poor thing was so scared not to have her Mommy and Daddy close by. She didn’t let me go for the next hour - I had to lay down in the bed with her. They tested her hemoglobin levels and they were extremely low; 8.6 on a normal range of 12-15. They decided to admit her to the hospital to keep an eye on her. She lost a lot of blood which was the cause of the low hemoglobin levels – luckily all of her other vitals looked great so she didn’t need a blood transfusion or anything like that. Yesterday morning, they had raised to 9.1 – and while they are still below the normal range they decided that we could go home. We will have to follow-up with her pediatrician to ensure her hemoglobin levels raise back up to a normal range and that she’s a-ok. But she is doing FANTASTIC now and you can hardly tell anything happened. It’s amazing how resilient kids are!!!

After surgery:

 Popsicles and toys thanks to Saint Francis:

Room with a view in pediatrics:

Mommy and Victoria snuggling post surgery. Popsicle lips:

Daddy snuggles post surgery:

So we’re praying that all goes well this time around and she doesn’t end up back in the ER. Luckily, the chances are very low that this would happen a 2nd time. So, fingers crossed I can keep this rambunctious 4 year old from running, jumping and bouncing all around so that she can recover with no incident.