Successful surgery

We rose early this morning and headed to one of the Children's Memorial hospitals for the 7:45 a.m. surgery. Liz was excellent. We'd talked to her a lot about how they would put a mask on her to help her sleep and then she'd have the surgery so she could hear better.

There were plenty of toys for her to play with, but when the little boy's surgery before her ended up going longer, she got bored. She kept saying: "When am I going to have surgery?"

Her doctor reported that she had a great deal of thick fluid, which was obviously causing the hearing loss. This was her third surgery and she was a pro - though she had her first when she was less than a year old and her second when she was only two. So, this will probably be the first one she'll remember.

They had suggested giving her some drugs before the anesthesia, but since she's older and was prepared for it, we turned them down. Turns out she was excellent. I went back with her while they helped put her to sleep with the mask and she didn't even cry at all.

Seventeen minutes later when we went back to see her, she was happily sucking on a Popsicle. Of course, she did get some of the side effects of the anesthesia - the grumpiness. We're all a bit tired, but she's been fabulous.

She's still said, "I can't hear you," a few times. It just might take a day or two for all of her hearing to resume. But on the bright side, she did remark to me, "Mommy, things sound very different." I'm hopeful that means things are louder. There have been times I've spoken softly to her just to see if she can hear me, and I think she can.

Here's a picture of her before the surgery. She's getting a bit impatient waiting for it to happen. But still in pretty good spirits.



This was a photo from a few weeks ago after we had her hearing tests and appointment with her doctor. We always try to do something fun after medical appointments. She was eating a most delicious double-chocolate cupcake across from Children's Memorial's main hospital campus. This time, we had to take it easy on food - just in case she might get sick, but if she's feeling fine, we'll get something special for her tomorrow.