My Surgery

Yesterday I went to the hospital for my surgery. We had to wake up at 5:00 am so that we could get there at 6:00! That seemed really early to me, since I usually wake up at 9:30! So we got to the hospital, and my mom got me checked in. We waited for a while in the waiting room, and then the nurse called my name. We went back into our room, and I got weighed, my temperature, blood pressure, and pulse were taken, and they measured how tall I was. Then I had to put on the hospital gown that they gave me.

 The nurse came into the room and said we had to do the breathing treatment. I really hate doing it! It doesn't taste, smell, or feel good. I tried to hide my face in the pillow so that it wouldn't get into my face, but my mom made me take my face out of the pillow. I cried because I didn't want to do the treatment, and I didn't want to have a surgery, and I didn't want to be in the hospital at all!

The anesthesiologist came into the room, and talked with my mom about my picc line, putting in an IV, how they would put me to sleep, and stuff like that. When he went out, Dr. Brand, who was going to place my port, came in, he discussed how long the procedure would take, and which side he would put the port on. When he went out, Dr. Herrmann, my ENT, came in. Dr. Herrmann was going to change my ear tunes and my BAHA post.

I can't remember very well, but I think that I woke up before they took me to the recovery room. I fell back to sleep, after a couple of minutes there. When I woke up again, the nurse took me back to Mommy and Daddy. I laid in the bed for a while, but then I realized something: the pain on my chest was not where the port was supposed to be. "Mommy, where is my port?" I asked. She told me that it was on my sternum, which was NOT where we told the doctor to put it! In fact, we told Dr. Brand NOT to put it there! That made Mama really mad. Then she told me that my blood pressure had gotten really low while I was is the OR, so they hooked up my IV. She was walking around the room, and then she walked right past the IV bag. Mommy glanced at it for a second, and then the said, "Wait. Does that bag say 'Lactated Ringers'?" It did! Kids with mitochondrial myopathy aren't supposed to have lactated ringers, because they can be really bad for them. She talked to the anesthesiologist, and found out that they had bolused lactated ringers into me in the OR! She got REALLY mad then!

Right now I'm at home, sitting on the couch, typing up this blog post. I can't get up from the couch without someone helping me, because it hurts too much. I also can't move my left arm around too much, or it hurts. And every once in a while, I get a sharp burst of pain in my left lower back. My mom isn't sure why any of this is happening, because I was only a little bit sore when I got my last port. She thinks maybe it's because of where the port is placed. I think that might be it, too. Mommy says that she doesn't like Dr. Brand anymore, because he put the port where we told him not too. She said that he'll never, ever do another of my surgeries again! She even said, "If you were in the hospital, and you started to lose your leg, and Dr. Brand was the only doctor in the hospital, I'd drive you to another hospital!"

Well, I'm glad that I'm feeling better than I was yesterday, and that my brother and sister are finally coming home from my Nana and Opa's house today! It's been a little boring without them here. I can't wait for Aly to come and talk with me and hug me, and for James to play with me. I'm even missing James annoying me!

I hope that you all have a great weekend! Thank you so much for all of the prayers and love you've been sending! I am so glad to have friends, classmates, and church members like you guys! You're awesome!!!!!

Mattie