Discharged

This has been another long day. Josie did okay through the night last night but because she had a hard time drinking from a straw they pushed fluids through her IV. We were up every two hours making the trek down the hall to the bathroom.

This morning she wasn't as upbeat as she had been after her first surgery. Dr. Waner and his team came in around 9:30 and said she looked really swollen. He said they removed a considerable amount of tissue from the upper and lower lip and inside of her cheek (basically everything that was removed was done through the incisions in her lips). He added that when the swelling goes down we're going to see a much thinner lip. After she heals they want to see how she looks and they'll know how much to remove in the third surgery. He thought we could go ahead and be discharged but the Pediatric doc said that they wanted to wait until lunch to be sure Josie could tolerate eating and taking meds by mouth.

Lunch came and went and Josie still hadn't perked up. She didn't have any interest in the play-room or doing much of anything. She would walk to the bathroom and back, but laying in bed playing the IPAD or watching cartoons was about all she had interest in. She said she wasn't in any pain but acted sort of sad or bummed out. She did eat Jello and drank her juice (she had been on a clear diet since last night). She also took some Tylenol (by mouth) but when Dr. Waner came by after lunch and saw us still there he came in. He seemed a little concerned that she wasn't "bouncing back". He and the Pediatric doctor talked about keeping her till dinner. I was the only one in the room at the time and they asked me my feelings. I told them I thought she'd do better at the apartment and that if she could have soft "real" food in her tummy I think she'd feel better. They agreed, so I went out and got her some mashed potatoes and frozen yogurt. She did a really good job of eating that as well as some apple sauce. She perked up a little after that which seemed to be enough to satisfy the nurses and docs. She was released around 4:30 this afternoon and we've been sleeping and bumming around the apartment since.

We are supposed to go in to the clinic tomorrow to see Dr. Waner one last time before we head home. I really hope tomorrow morning brings a happier Josie. I think any type of surgery to your mouth would make you miserable. She does not like the feeling of the stitches in her lips. The good news is that the stitches are dissolvable and when we come home we'll only have the drain tube to remove. It is held in by a single stitch and Dr. Waner says she won't feel it come out.

We are really glad that they decided to divide this surgery into 2, Dave and I felt it would have been too much for her. Especially after today. Dr. O mentioned that at her next surgery we'll discuss a 4th surgery to remove the tumor on her forehead. I'm trying to keep my eyes on the prize in all this but it is a lot to see your child go through. I do know that in another 8 weeks the weariness of this trip will have worn off though.

Thank you to everyone for your support and well wishes. I type posts for the blog on our IPAD and I haven't figured out an easy way to post pictures. I know people like to see how she's doing. Dave is currently out running errands for us ladies, one of them is to pick up a photo adapter kit for me. Hopefully I can post some pictures tonight or tomorrow.