Avery's Surgery and Recovery

 Last Tuesday, I took Avery to meet with a pediatric orthopedic specialist.

I just assumed they'd be putting a cast on her.

We went to the Riverton Hospital where there is an extension of Primary Children's Hospital.

Everything is decorated for kids.

Avery loved the waiting room.

 

 

 

First, they wanted to take some x-rays.

 

Here's the break in her right leg.

It looks good. It will heal nicely on it's own and she'll keep the walking boot.

 



And here's the break in her right arm.

The break is at angle of 24 degrees.

At Avery's age they don't like to see a break more than 10 degrees off.

The doctor told me that he was going to have to set the bone.

I start mentally freaking out.

I knew that would hurt and I didn't know if I couldn't handle this all by myself.

(Sean wasn't with us.)

Then the doctor told me that he would fix her arm in surgery.

Then I starting freaking out inside my head even more.

But I was too shocked to speak.

He told me that they'd put her under general anesthesia and take her to the O.R.

There he would try to manipulate her arm and move the bone into a better position and angle.  

He'd have all his tools ready to use pins or even cut her open and use a wire, if needed.

He told me that he wanted to see us in surgery the next day up at Primary Children's Hospital.

 



I handled my overwhelming emotions really well as we checked out.

But I lost it once we got to the car. These pregnancy hormones got the best of me!

I had told Avery that I'd get her a treat and she picked Jamba Juice.

I was crying the whole time we were there. People probably thought I was crazy.



 

That afternoon we got a call from the hospital with our surgery time and instructions.

Avery wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight so we tried our best to fill her up that night.

 



The night before her surgery, Avery, Lexi and I all received priesthood blessings.

I was crying off and on all night.

I wasn't sure what to say to Avery. I didn't want scare her but I wanted her to be prepared.

Lexi overheard me say the word, "Surgery" and got upset and then Avery heard that word too.

Avery quickly protested, "I don't want to get cut up!"

I told her that she was going to go to a special hospital for little kids.

That she was going to go to sleep and when she woke up her arm would be fixed.

 



Wednesday, September 3rd, was the day of her surgery.

I had Avery chugged apple juice before 8:45 am. After that she couldn't have anything in her mouth.

Then to pass the time and distract her from her lack of breakfast, I let her watch Curious George.

To distract myself, I curled her hair.

Crazy, I know! But it helped me.

 

 

Here she is with a card and some bracelets we gave her the morning of her surgery.

 





 

 And then we held Avery for a few minutes and said a family prayer.

We left Lexi and Eli with a babysitter and headed to the hospital.

 

Once we got to the hospital we went up to the surgery waiting room.

They checked Avery in and we waited.

 

 

It was stressful being in that room.

There were tons of kids with their parents.

It made me so sad to think of all these kids having surgery that day.

 



Then it was time to go back and get prepped for surgery.

The nurse pulled out a blue rocket ship outfit and Avery screamed, "No!"

Then the nurse pulled out a purple pair of "hospital pajamas" and Avery was okay with those.

Then Sean and I had to clean Avery with special wipes to help lessen the risk of infection.

(We did bathe her the night before which was an experience.)

 



I could tell at this point that she was getting nervous because of how she was acting.

She was just being wild and silly and sassy.

She was also begging me to give her some food.

(Her O.R. time was 11:45 and she hadn't eaten anything all morning.)

 



After this we went to another waiting room where we waited for the anesthesiologist.

 

 

She and her assistant asked us some questions and talked us through what was going to happen next.

They asked Avery what flavor of air she wanted. She picked root beer.

 



 

 Then it was time to go to the O.R.

We pushed her in the stroller as far as we could go.

Then she walked off with her blankie holding the anesthesiologist hand.

She was so brave.

She didn't even look back.

(Secretly, I wanted her too so I could see what emotions were on her face.)

 

Then Sean and I got lunch and went to the surgical waiting room.

That place was full of parents. Most looked sick to their stomach.

My heart ached for them.

And I was so grateful that Avery's procedure wouldn't take that long, 45 minutes at most.

I was so excited to see her doctor come out after about 25 minutes with a smile on his face.

He told us that he was able move her bone into place without having to use pins of wires.

That was the best news!

The doctor assured us that because she's so young she will heal well and quickly.

Here's what her bone looks like now...

 

 

After the doctor left we waited until a nurse came and took us to Avery.

She was just starting to wake up when we got there.

 

 

She was so upset when she starting waking up. She seemed confused and didn't know where she was.

She was just crying and asking for her mom and dad.

It was really hard to see her like that.

 



She was really upset. So she hid under her giraffe blankie.

 



I was concerned that she was in pain so they gave her some medication through her IV.

and then she fell asleep for a little bit.

 

 

 A little bit later they moved Avery to her final destination.

In that recovery area she was able to finally eat.

She was so happy when she got to eat a popsicle, have a root beer slushy and eat crackers.

She also got to watch Disney Junior which she was happy about.

And they gave her some more pain medication.

 

Here's the bandaging around Avery's IV.

 



On Avery's left leg she had a pressure cuff and they were checking her oxygen level on her toe.

She was surprised to see her toe lighting up.

 



Then it was finally time to go home.

Avery did great when they took out her IV and unhooked her from all the machines.

 



As we wheeled her out she was given a fleece blanket to keep. She was pretty excited about that.

When we got home from the hospital a package was waiting for Avery.

 It was from one of my high school seminary teachers.

 



Yesterday, Avery had her post op appointment back at Primary Children's Hospital.

She got another round of x-rays on her arm.

She is becoming quite the pro and getting x-rays.

Her bone looks great and she got the okay to get a cast!

Here's her last picture with her splint.

 



She picked out a pink cast. No surprise there.

She was amazing while they cut off her splint and casted her.

Every one was so impressed with this brave little girl.

 



 

When we got home from the hospital, Avery got a second package from my seminary teacher.

I have seen Sister Sterner in a long time. And she has never met my children.

It really touched my heart that she would think of my little Avery.

 



Now that Avery has her cast, Sean and I don't have to worry so much about her arm.

She even is going to be starting preschool tomorrow.

In three weeks we are going to start weaning her off the boot.

First, we'll start with taking it off at night.
Then she'll start walking around our house without the boot.
Next she'll go outside without it.

She'll be completely boot free by the time she gets her cast off at her next appointment

on October 13th.

 

 

This has been such an emotional week and half for our family.

I have cried so much. Just blogging about everything brought up a lot of emotions for me.

I've been crying while typing all this.

I cannot adequately express how terrifying it was to have Avery get hurt.

I couldn't help but feel in some way responsible and yet so helpless.

But we have felt so blessed through all of this.

Avery could have been injured so much worse and her surgery went perfectly.

Our family and especially Avery

have receive so much love and support through all of this from family and friends.

We are so blessed to such a strong support system.
We couldn't have made it through this without our family and friends.