Chalazion Surgery

I currently have three blog entries started, but today I am going to post about Makayla's surgery.  Hopefully, soon, I'll finish up the other entries and get them posted!  TIME - where does it go?! 

For weeks, now, I've been anticipating - with much anxiety - Makayla's surgery, the removal of a chalazion (cyst on her eyelid).  

- how scared is she going to be

- how much pain is she going to be in

- what is going to be going through her little mind

- can't I trade her spots

 - what if...

- ...the unknown

Makayla's procedure was fairly minor in comparison to many, but for any parent that has had to endure their child being put under anesthesia - no matter the procedure - can agree that the thought of your child being put under is scary.  Period.

Our day started out at 4:30am (Up before the birds!  Wow!)

and we had to be at the hospital by 6am.

We were registered and Makayla was dressed in little yellow "scrubs" with a princess hat by 6:15.

(She is so cute that I can't stand it!)

I worked really really hard all morning to...

 keep smiling, 

ask Makayla questions (because it keeps her busy and makes her feel smart to answer questions)

keep her informed step by step of what we were doing and what was going to happen (she gets really into the whole hospital/doctor scene),

make her laugh.

After Makayla was dressed, the anesthesiologist came in and went into detail of what was going to happen throughout the morning as to what was going to be used to keep Makayla calm and asleep.

The first step was going to be the "happy juice" - Versed.  They gave it to her about 30 minutes before she went into surgery, and let me tell you that the "happy juice" is real!  That little tiny syringe of Versed made Makayla veeeeeery happy, very loopy, and very calm.

I felt like I was taking care of a 3 year old drunk.

- She was seeing birds or butterflies (she couldn't tell what they were) and she kept trying to reach out and grab them.

- She kept repeating "Jesus" over and over again - very loudly and with a pattern.  JESUS, JESUS, JESUS.

- She was very limp, heavy, and giggly.

They say laughter is the best medicine - she had us laughing so hard that tears were rolling down our cheeks. Watching her and listening to her, I know is what got us through our morning!

The "happy juice" made her so calm and relaxed that she didn't care one bit that she was leaving us and that they were taking her off to surgery.  So off she went in her wagon, with a smile on her face, giving us a little princess wave! - 7:15am.

*The power of Versed is so strong that it erases your memory.  Makayla has no memory before surgery, during the surgery, or right after surgery.  Amazing! 

The procedure itself took about 15 minutes!  Quick and simple!
Makayla was in recovery for about an hour before we could go back to see her.  As we walked through the recovery doors, she was sitting in the lap of one of the nurses at the desk with a smile on her face.

Isn't Makayla so brave?  She's such a strong little girl!

We sat watching cartoons, drinking a Sierra Mist (Makayla's highlight of her morning), and eating cherry popsicles.

We were discharged and on the road by 9:30am, went out for donuts with sprinkles, and ended our adventure at Toys R Us for a toy.  She deserved it!

Today (the day after her surgery) her eye looks beautiful and you wouldn't have even known that she had surgery!  It's amazing how resilient kids are, as they definitely handle things so much better than adults do!

It's times like this that make you feel so blessed to have the love and support by friends and family in your life.

...and now that the stress and anxiety of this surgery is behind us and relief has come, I think it would be awfully nice if they had "happy juice" for moms!  This surgery was WAY harder on me than it was for Makayla!

As for Makayla - she says she wasn't scared at all!  She keeps saying over and over again that she "didn't even cry!" and she got to have soda!

...definitely an experience for all of us!