Has it really been a week already?
9:50 PM Posted In gabby , open heart surgery 16 Comments »
Well, here we are! We're home and, for the most part, doing very well! I am so grateful that Gabby's surgery was a success and we were able to take her home after only five days! WOW!
.
They discharged us on Wednesday and I have never been more happy. Gabby was all smiles once we loaded her into her carseat. She was like "peace out suckas!!"
.
After we got home, I felt a little lost in regards to how I was supposed to be caring for her and her incision. They seemed so rushed and I was just so eager to get out of there, that the lack of information didn't seem like a big deal at the time. Really, the only instructions I was given were to not let her swim for three weeks, to avoid picking her up under her arms, and to make sure all of the bandages have fallen off by two weeks post-op. Luckily, I know I should be looking out for signs of infection as well, but it would have been nice to have a print out or something. Oh well.
.
Here are some pics of the princess shortly before her discharge. She was soooo happy to have all of her IV's and wires removed.
They took the gauze off and told me this is how her incision will remain until those bandages fall off. It's actually not as gruesome as I thought it would be.
When we got home, Gabby was surprised with a new wagon from her daddy. He must have been reading the blog ;) We weren't sure how much strength she would have but we made the wagon super-soft and let her take it for a spin.
I think she enjoyed it. She actually stayed in the wagon for over two hours. We even went outside and got the mail that was overflowing from our mailbox.
I watched it for a couple of hours and then decided I should be a little concerned. She had no fever and I was pretty sure it wasn't from the meds because she had been on them all week. I quickly googled my heart out and was convinced it was a heat rash. I called the advice nurse, who then called our doctor, and the told me to "keep my eye on it." About five minutes after I hung up, I decided to ask my doctor-in-training friend and soon-to-be-doctor-in-training friend what they thought. Both suspected it could be an infection and as soon as my friend Kyla saw these pictures, she was pretty sure it looked like Staph. Ugh. So I called back and set up an appointment.
.
They discharged us on Wednesday and I have never been more happy. Gabby was all smiles once we loaded her into her carseat. She was like "peace out suckas!!"
.
After we got home, I felt a little lost in regards to how I was supposed to be caring for her and her incision. They seemed so rushed and I was just so eager to get out of there, that the lack of information didn't seem like a big deal at the time. Really, the only instructions I was given were to not let her swim for three weeks, to avoid picking her up under her arms, and to make sure all of the bandages have fallen off by two weeks post-op. Luckily, I know I should be looking out for signs of infection as well, but it would have been nice to have a print out or something. Oh well.
.
Here are some pics of the princess shortly before her discharge. She was soooo happy to have all of her IV's and wires removed.
They took the gauze off and told me this is how her incision will remain until those bandages fall off. It's actually not as gruesome as I thought it would be.
When we got home, Gabby was surprised with a new wagon from her daddy. He must have been reading the blog ;) We weren't sure how much strength she would have but we made the wagon super-soft and let her take it for a spin.
I think she enjoyed it. She actually stayed in the wagon for over two hours. We even went outside and got the mail that was overflowing from our mailbox.
I can't lie...being home has been T.O.U.G.H. I thought we would come home and everything would go a lot smoother than it has. During the day, Gabby is happy and content but when night falls and it is time for bed (which is waaayyyy later than it used to be) she turns into a different child. I can't figure out what is going on but I can tell you it is wearing Nguyen and I out.
.
I think I figured that during our hospital stay I slept a total of maybe ten hours. The last two nights at the hospital were rough but I knew Gabs was just so much more alert and had absolutely had it with the nurses and that HARD hospital bed. I was expecting her to fall fast asleep once I laid her in her own crib but NOOOOOO. She throws an absolute fit. She has learned to growl at me and it's getting a little old. Both Wednesday and Thursday night ended with me in tears around 3-4 am because I just could not get her to sleep. I tried everything. She was fed, given pain meds, wearing comfy pajamas, and lulled softly to sleep only to awake suddenly and violently EVERY.SINGLE.TIME I put her down.
.
.
Tonight is a little better but I am not counting my lucky stars yet. I tried the crib twice and that didn't work so after two hours of walking, rocking, and singing, I was able to transfer her into her swing. We'll see how long it lasts. I truly think she is just so traumatized by everything that's gone on...I'm not sure I'll ever get my good sleeper back.
.
That being said, last night after my breakdown, Nguyen took over and was able to get her to sleep next to him on a makeshift bed on the floor. I passed out within 8 seconds after handing her off. This morning, feeling fully recharged after five hours of sleep, I went to change Gabs diaper and noticed this:
I watched it for a couple of hours and then decided I should be a little concerned. She had no fever and I was pretty sure it wasn't from the meds because she had been on them all week. I quickly googled my heart out and was convinced it was a heat rash. I called the advice nurse, who then called our doctor, and the told me to "keep my eye on it." About five minutes after I hung up, I decided to ask my doctor-in-training friend and soon-to-be-doctor-in-training friend what they thought. Both suspected it could be an infection and as soon as my friend Kyla saw these pictures, she was pretty sure it looked like Staph. Ugh. So I called back and set up an appointment.
.
I left the doctors office with a precription for Bactrim, an antibiotic used to treat Staph infections such as MRSA. The doctor said that since Gabs had such a large incision site, we didn't want to risk the staph getting inside so we were going to treat it as if it were MRSA even though she wasn't sure it was.
.
So that's where we are as of today. It is now midnight and I am going to try and get a few hours in on the couch next to Gabby. I'll continue to keep you all updated!
.
PS- Thank you Jenny and Kyla for your medical opinions today! ;)
Posts
