Pre-Op

Darrell took Mackenzie for her pre-op appointment yesterday afternoon. Good thing I didn't try to take all three of the kids alone...he was there for about 3 hours!!! First they had to meet with a physician's assistant in the surgery department, and she had to see the anesthesiologist, and she had to have blood drawn. Funny - one of the Past Visit Summaries indicates she's 12 lbs even, the other indicates she's 12 lbs, 12 oz!! Slight difference in scales, eh?

So here are the details...we have to be there to check in at 6:00 a.m. on Monday. Her surgery is slotted for 8:00 a.m., and they expect her to be under for about 3 hours - 1.5 hours for the lip repair, 30 minutes for the ear tag removal, and an hour for the hearing test. She can have formula up to 6 hours before surgery, breastmilk up to 4 hours before surgery, and water/apple juice/pedialyte up to 3 hours before surgery (talk about being WAY more do-able than how they torture us adults, huh?).

I think the plan at this point is that I will be taking her in the morning. Only one parent can be with her at a time in the pre-op and post-op areas, and no siblings under 12 are allowed in those areas. Darrell will stay home with Anthony and Makayla. Then later in the day, he will come to the hospital with the other two. I'm thinking that once she's out of recovery and in a regular room, the other kiddos should be okay to visit. If not, we'll have to just take turns being with her. Then I'll take Anthony and Makayla home later in the day, and Darrell will spend the night at the hospital with her. Then if she has to spend a second night, we can switch. (It depends on how she does with recovery, whether she has to spend one or two nights.)

Wish I knew how to crochet - I'm thinking I'll probably have a hard time concentrating enough to read a book while I'm sitting there for the 3 hours she's in surgery!! Will have to pick up some magazines to flip through. And of course, you can all feel free to send text messages to ease the waiting time!!!