May 23 Dilation in Utah

Waiting for our turn to go back to the Operating Room!

Audrey's dilation procedure at Primary Children's Hospital went smoothly. It was crazy how relatively low key things were. Having it done in Interventional Radiology instead of Surgery meant she was A) put under semi-conscious sedation instead of general anesthesia, so no breathing tube was placed, so our level of monitoring was vastly less than we're used to, it was kind like going from Major League to Junior Varsity; B) a nurse walked in when Audrey was still wide awake and said "I'm going to just place a little IV now." and I sort of panicked and had to explain to her that Audrey is a tough stick due to her hundreds of past IVs scarring the veins and that it is usually done under sedation; C) they gave her Versed as a spray in both nostrils at once and marveled saying most kids cry when they do that; D) once "under the influence" the nurse placed her IV on the FIRST TRY while Audrey complained a bit but never cried, I was so proud of her; E) while we waited Audrey was pretty sweet, she loved having me read her the Disney Princess storybook and kept pointing at things in the pictures, she was so excited to point out the "hohssies" and "fishies" on the pages, and then on the cover she got really excited and pointed at it saying "I!!" and when I didn't react she insisted again, "I, Mommy!!!" and I suddenly realized she was pointing right at the letter I in PRINCESS. How did she know that? And while on drugs no less? Huh. I guess PBS Kids might be worth its salt. So in their honor I suppose F) is for the fabulous Dr Feola. We talked about what had been done in Boston and when he came back to talk to me after the procedure he said they had obviously done a great job, she was wide open and it looked beautiful in there. He said it was still open to 9mm before he started, he measured to be certain, and he only opened her to 12mm because we had agreed he probably shouldn't try to go past where Dr Manfredi had taken her three weeks ago for the risk of tearing, but he said it opened up very easily. This makes it a bit of a mystery why she had been getting food stuck so often the past week; I don't know if it was simply those three millimeters made such a difference, or something about her not chewing enough, but regardless I was excited to let her have whatever she wants to eat again. 
 

Soon after waking up, Audrey asked for cookies. the doctor allowed her to have a popsicle, and she insisted on holding it herself.  She said firmly, "I do it Mommy!"

Ready for discharge!

We were discharged just three hours after arriving at the hospital, and she felt so well that I ended up driving the carpool after school and taking the carpool kids on a play date to see the baby ducks. 

At home Audrey ate a popsicle and positively REVELED in her slice of watermelon!

She was enjoying it so much that I was surprised when she regurgitated twice while eating the watermelon. Maybe she wasn't chewing enough, I don't know. We are hoping for improvement with the swallowing in the next couple of days, but overall it's been unexpectedly great news and a good experience with our "Junior Varsity" dilation!