Surgery #7

Today was a very long day for Katie, Pam and Ali. They arrived at the hospital at 6:30 a.m. on a holiday, so the normal routine at the same-day surgery center was not in place. Everything took longer, but we are glad Dr. G was willing to come in on a day off to make things right for little KT. This photo shows how he got the R.E.D. back up in place, pulled pretty hard on her lower jaw to get it back up where it needs to be, and I'm not sure what else he did.

He said she had definitely lost some of the gained airway due to the falling of the device, but that he will get it back. It will be important for them to be right there in Cincinnati throughout the duration so that he can handle any unforeseen problems immediately. We cannot afford to let ANY of the airway expansion be lost after the long, hard and painful struggle it has been to gain it in the first place!

Katie awoke from surgery in extreme pain; that is always so hard to see, and Pam is SO strong. She can handle that so much better than I can. I just get impatient and ask the nurses why they can't keep her pain under control - I know there are medications that will do the job, so why do we have to wait until she's crying out in such pain to give it to her? Anyway, I was flying this morning with a student when she called and wanted to talk to her Daddy, but I finally reached her 10 minutes later, and gave her a blessing over the phone. It seemed to help calm her.

They waited around in the hospital until about 7 pm tonight, their time, so it was more than a 12-hour day. They're grateful to be back at the hotel, now, so they can rest. I think having little nephew Wade around at the hosptial was a good diversion for her - she loves little kids so much!

Hopefully, everything will start to heal again now and she can get into the Ronald McDonald House and work on her school assignments. Dr. G wanted to keep the original 14 September date to get in there a do a little more, but I'm not sure what. The big surgery is still set for October 26th.