THE BUBBLES ARE NO LONGER!!!! (Surgery Day!!)

Wow what a day it has been!! Seems like 3 days ago that we were getting to the hospital. But...it was today & here's how the day went...

We had to be there at 6am because she was Dr. Bauer's first surgery of the day. We got up & were at the hospital at 6:01am. :) Here is Brooklyn when we pulled up to the hospital:

We walked in, checked in at the front desk, then went to the Ambulatory Surgery area. We were greeted by very nice nurses who directed us to the Peds room, where we got crib #4. Our main nurse was the same person we had back in January, which was nice! Surgery was just 11 weeks ago today so it was nice that they remembered us! We were told to just hang out for a little bit. Little by little the nurse would come in & have us sign a paper, or do her vitals, or take her weight, or have us change her into a gown. So we just hung out, did as we were told, & had fun taking pictures! :) Here's Brookie with daddy while we were waiting for the elevator:

She was a happy girl! We were having a good time together. An RN who was training to be an anesthesiologist came in & asked us questions. She was very nice. Then the anesthesiologist came in. She wasn't so personable! I looked right at her & she didn't even say hi. The training RN said that the anesthesiologist would ask us a bunch more questions, but she didn't. She just asked if we had any questions. I asked about the night terrors that she was having after the first surgery. She'd had them for almost a solid 3 weeks, which we were told were from the anesthesia. She said that it's not possible b/c the anesthesia is out of your system in 24 hours. Hmmmmm. Funny cause we have spoken to many people (some were medical professionals, some weren't) about this & they all said it was from the anesthesia. I still am convinced that something was messed up in her little body that caused the night terrors. I guess we'll find out in the near future if she gets them again. Oh well...who knows. But she certainly looked at me like I had 3 eyes when I asked her that question. Needless to say, I didn't get a good feeling about her at all, but what was I going to do about it?! I just prayed for Brooklyn & all the staff who were in the OR with her & trusted that she'd be ok. And of course she was. :) Here she is with her superhero cape on!

 And here's the 2 of us:

Then it was time for her to get changed into her gown & get her little bracelet on. I called it the chicken tag. That's when she realized something weird was happening. She started getting just a little bit fussy. Could have been that she was suspicious, could have been that she just wanted to walk around but we wouldn't let her with her bare feet, could have been that she was getting hungry. Who knows. Here she is in a happy moment with her cape back on...playing with her toys.

And here she is sitting with daddy just a few minutes before Dr. Bauer came in to see us. I asked him if she'll have hair on her forehead (since the expanded forehead has hair on it towards the back). He said no, it won't because he makes sure that the hairline is where it's supposed to be. ;o) He said it'd be a few hours & then he'd come out & let us know how she did.

Then the hard part came. They came to get her; so we walked with the escourt through ambulatory surgery, through the doors, around the corner, past the surgery waiting room, through heavy double doors, & down a looooong hallway. We sat in the same place that we sat while we were waiting for surgery just 11 weeks ago today, but this time it wasn't nearly as long. They took us to that spot right about 7:20am & they took her for surgery right about 7:30am. The RN training in anesthesia took her & I watched as they walked down the hall & turned the corner. In January there was a very nice nurse who worked in that holding area for surgeries & she'd seen that I pretty much had a lost look on my face...kind of like..."So now what?!" That same lady was there & she'd remembered us. She came up to us & said that it'd be a while so we should go down to the cafeteria & get some food & then wait in the waiting room. So we did just that. I just couldn't get that picture out of my head though...of this innocent little bubble girl being carried down the hall & around the corner. She didn't know what was happening. She just needed her mommy there to comfort her but I couldn't be there. And that killed me. I cried all the way to the cafeteria...until I forced myself to stop thinking of that & to just pray. I was ok after that. Like I've said...never underestimate the power of prayer!!

We went to the cafeteria but I was so NOT hungry. So we just got a small carton of whole milk for Brooke for when she got out of surgery (I'd brought my ice pack to keep the bottle cold). I wanted a coffee so we decided to go up to the cafe instead. So we went up there, got a coffee, shared a danish, & then went back to the waiting room.

We got to the waiting room just about 5 minutes after 8am & when we checked in the man said that they had called from the OR & they'd just started about 5 mins ago. So we sat & waited. Our number on the TV screen never changed....it just constantly said "In OR", so we couldn't track any progress at all. At about 10:20'ish AM Dr. Bauer came in & took us to the Consult area. He had a huge smile on his face & said that he got 80% of her nevus!!!! I think both Dustin & I were in shock cause all either of us could say was "What?! 80%?!" He kind of described what he did & where the remaining nevus is on her head. He told us where the scars are & then said that she bled less than anyone else he's ever done (for where the nevus is & what type of procedure he did)! WOW....that's good! He was impressed by the lack of bleeding & said that out of all his cases she bled the least amount. Way to go Brooke!! LOL

I asked about repigmentation. Those fellow nevus families will know what I'm talking about here. It's kind of a lengthly explanation, but basically we've heard that the scars can repigment...& can turn dark like the color of the nevus in the future. I asked him about that & he said that it'll probably not happen with Brooklyn. He had plenty of skin to work with, which he was proud of. And he said that absolutely everything went so good...so he was happy. He said that he'd see us before we left & that I could see Brooklyn soon. Oh...also... Originally he thought that the next expander would be in the scalp, but now he's probably going to put it in her forehead again...but kind of in the middle of her forehead going back towards her scalp, if that makes any sense.

So as soon as we got done talking to him we went back to the waiting room but the guy at the front had just gotten the call that it was ok that I go see her. So I grabbed her paci, her bottle, & my cell phone (so I could take pictures) & headed down the loooooooong hall. It was about 10:40am now. The hall kept going & going...I couldn't get to the end fast enough!! I had to put the stuff on again...the big white full-body paper suit & the incredibly attractive hat; & then was lead into the PACU where Brooklyn was being held by a nurse who couldn't stop telling me how beautiful she was! I sat down in the rocking chair & held her while I rocked, but she was very restless, crying, & throwing her head back. Then she'd stop. Then she'd do it again. She was almost too much for me to handle, with all the cords, IV, pulse ox, etc coming from her...plus her gown & blanket made it difficult. So after about 20 mins of this she finally settled down & they gave her a dose in her IV of an anti-inflammatory/pain med that helped her settle down for quite a while. Once I knew she was finally asleep I got out my phone & took this:

The weirdest thing was seeing her bubble-free. We were so used to seeing her with these 2 huge things coming out of her forehead & scalp...& now they're just gone!

We waited until a room opened up for her to recover in. Once that was open I sat with her in the wheelchair & they wheeled us out. Here we are sitting in the chair:

We got to our room...#2378. And she was just out. So we thought it'd be better for her to lay in the crib:

She layed there for quite a while, until the medication started to wear off. She was just a little cranky, but it wasn't anything bad. Basically she just wanted mommy to hold her. Once she was awake we were able to go home! They took her IV out, we changed her clothes, & then Dr. Bauer came in to see her. He was on his way out so he stopped in real quick to see how she was doing. She was awake, not smiling yet, but was doing good. He pulled the dressing up on her forehead just a little bit so I could her. All I can say is instant perma-grin! I was so excited. She has a forehead now! We only saw a tiny bit, but that tiny bit was the first part of a full forehead that we've ever seen! It was amazing. Once she's not as bloody & goopy I'll get a good before & after picture.

Dr. Bauer said to go in his office tomorrow to have them change the dressing, so I called his office & we'll go in at 1pm. I'm SO excited to see her without the dressings on...so we can see the magnificant work of Dr. Bauer!

We packed up our stuff & they called for a wheelchair for us again so we didn't have so much to carry. We were wheeled down to our car right around 3:40pm & off to Walgreen's we went...for her antibiotics. Here we are in the car waiting for Dustin to get her medicine.

Notice that her head is back against the headrest & she's facing to the right! That's the first time she's been able to be in that position in weeks & weeks!!

We finally got her antibiotics around 4:20pm & came back to the hotel. We were all so tired, but Brooklyn was more hungry than anything! She started out eating some yogurt melts (LOL Which I had to feed her...she wouldn't do it herself), & then moved to little snacks, then on to an entire container of her baby food! She was a hungry girl!

When they were taking her IV out she bled a lot from the site & she'd gotten a lot of blood on my pants. When we got home, Dustin asked the front desk if they happened to have any hydrogen peroxide, but they didn't. They felt horrible about us going out to get some, so they had their shuttle driver go to the store for us...just to get some hydrogen peroxide! (Hint: Cold water mixed with hydrogen peroxide takes blood out of clothes...it's amazing!) In the meantime, we all napped! We were just beat. Brooklyn fell asleep drinking a bottle so I slept with her on the couch while Dustin layed in the bed. We all fell asleep around 6:45pm & we all woke up at 8:45pm!! Must have needed the sleep....  Once we got up Dustin went down to the front desk to get the hydrogen peroxide & he came back with a huge stuffed bunny rabbit...or dog ??? (one of the two) with a Staybridge Suites bib on it...& a get-well soon card for Brooklyn!!!!! We are in love. In love with this hotel. In January they got both Zac & Brooklyn a stuffed animal. And now this! It was so sweet that we got Brooklyn & all went down to the front desk to say thanks. They were happy to see her & they wished her well. :) Seriously, if anyone is ever in the Chicago area & needs a place to stay, the Staybridge Suites in Lincolnshire, IL is amazing!

We were starving by this point so we heated up the last 2 pieces of our Pizzaria Uno & ate that. Brooklyn decided she wanted to try out walking, so she did! She got off the couch & took a few very wobbly steps, then just went for it. She hasn't fallen...yet. But she's doing sooooo good. It's night & day from the first surgery. She's just amazing! She also has been grabbing at the back of her head, where her scalp expander was, but it's gone! She started shaking her head back & forth cause it's so light, too. :o) Here she is standing by the table:

She still has both drains & the big head dressing. We are keeping up with the Ibuprofen/Tylenol/Gas Drops/Antibiotic/Drain Changes every 4 hours. The drains were last changed in the hospital, right around 3:30pm; then I changed them again tonight at about 10pm (much later than I was supposed to), but there was NOTHING but ONE drop in the left drain & just about 1cc in the right drain. At this rate, we won't be travelling home with drains!!! (That was one thing that we were NOT looking forward to!)

So that's that. It's late; Brooklyn's asleep; I'm tired; Dustin's tired...we're going to bed. More to come tomorrow!! Thank you to everyone for all the many thoughts & prayers. We appreciate it all!