After a fairly broken sleep due to frequently waking and thinking about Taylor’s Op, morning came around very fast. We had to get Taylor to the hospital by 7am for admission. Craig’s parents arrived just after 6:30am to get Caitlyn ready and take her to school.
On arrival at St Georges we were shown to our room (Room 319) and Taylor’s details were checked and she was given a identity label which went around her ankle. She didn’t like having it on one bit and even the stickers that I put on it didn’t help much. I eventually hid it under a pair of socks and she seemed to get use to it.
We were told that Taylor was 3rd of the theatre list following two short operations, so it should be about 9:30am for her.
The surgeon, Darran Murray came to see us regarding the cochlear device. He had received a call from MedEl that morning who had told him that there was a medium sized coil available which would be suitable for Taylor and that there were some spare ones at the hospital that he could use for her implant. On asking Mr Murray if this was a better option than going with the Cochlear Nucleus, he didn’t hesitate in saying that he thought we should go with the MedEL device – so it was back to that device after all!
Taylor was really good and considering that she hadn’t had anything to eat since 6pm the previous evening, she did really well. She asked for food a couple of times, but was fairly easily distracted. We went for a few walks around the ward and she charmed all the nurses with her smiles and waves. She discovered a bath very quickly and enjoyed throwing bath toys into it.
At just after 9am she was given a loading dose of Paracetamol.
We got her into her hospital gown which she was NOT impressed about! Does she have a fashion sense at 19 months?
At just after 9:30 it was time to go down to theatre. The theatre staff were lovely and very caring. The anaesthetist greeted Taylor with a “hello ratbag!” and was very friendly and caring too. I bravely held Taylor in my arms while they put her to sleep. She didn’t seem to fight it as much as when she had a GA for her CT scan and it didn’t take too long before she was out to it. She was quite ‘grunty’ at first and when I asked if that was normal, the anaesthetist said that it was all very normal. It wasn’t till she was out to it that I finally broke down and the nurses very quick with tissues and a comforting back rub!
The staff told us that surgery would be a minimum of 2 hours and we were then led back to the ward which we both found very hard. The difficulty I think being that you spend your whole time protecting your wee ones and all of a sudden it is taken out of your hands. I felt very helpless.
Craig and I returned to the ward and then headed down to the café for a coffee and something sweet and sticky! I flipped through a magazine, but it was very hard to concentrate on anything. After our coffees we decided to walk down to Merivale Mall. We picked up some milk and food as a back up for Taylor and then spent a while looking in a bookshop. Craig knew the Manager there so we got talking to her and she very kindly gave us a teddy bear and some buzzy bee socks for Taylor. We also bought a Night Garden magazine/ sticker book for Taylor and a Sparkly Girl with sunglasses for Caitlyn. It was a good distraction to keep our minds off our little girl.
By just after 11am we were feeling like we wanted to be back at the hospital to be near Taylor – even though we were told to except she wouldn’t be out until after 11:45am. We went back to the room and got busy with reading, emails etc. At just before 12, Mr Murray called to say that the surgery went very well, they managed to get a full insertion of the medium sized coil and he was very pleased. Neil from the Cochlear Implant Programme had done some testing of the device and he was very happy with the results. Taylor was in recovery and they would let us know as soon as she was awake.
Lunch arrived for me shortly after that, so I ate as much as I good, but feeling very distracted and anxious for the call to say that we could see Taylor.
It wasn’t long to wait and our nurse took me down to her. Unfortunately only one parent was allowed in recovery due to confidentially of other patients, so Craig had to stay in the room. When I arrived, she as having a lovely cuddle with one of the nurses and sound asleep. The nurse handed her to me and she woke quite distressed and was clambering up around my neck, scratching me! The poor we thing didn’t know what she wanted. I eventually got her into a comfortable position and she went off to sleep again with me rocking her backwards and forwards - arms getting very very sore after a while!
I managed to get partially sitting down while still rocking her to sooth her and he luckily kept sleeping. I noticed that her right nostril was bleeding and pointed it out to Mr Murray who had just come in with another patient. He said that it was quite normal coming from her ear and down the nasal passage.
Shortly after this, I started to feel quite faint and told the nurse who said that it was very common for Mum’s to faint in recovery due to the stress, emotion and body heat from holding the little ones. She got me a glass of water and put the fan on and I soon started to feel much better.
We were in recovery for about an hour and during that time Taylor slept mostly. When she did wake she was very out of sorts and I just rocked her back to sleep. I tried to give her some milk but she wasn’t interested and then tried a lemonade iceblock which she pushed away. When I tried to have a bite of it she wasn’t impressed and wouldn’t let me eat it either!
Finally we were allowed back up to the ward, where Craig was patiently waiting. Taylor just wanted to cuddle in and sleep, so I eased myself onto the bed so that she could sleep on my tummy/ her tummy – her favourite sleeping position!
Taylor’s Nurse, Deborah came in a couple of times to check her pulse/ Oxygen levels and temperature and all was fine and she was given some more pain relief medicine. It was very scary when she started to throw up a bit of blood – but the nurse pointed out that it was old blood and she would have swallowed it during the operation, so nothing to worry about. She threw more up another 3-4 times during that day and had to have a number of changes of clothes!
Jan Wilson called in to see us and brought a little mini backpack with Taylor’s name on it and inside was a cute little bracelet for her. Taylor wasn’t interested at all in looking at it at that point, but I am sure she will enjoy it later.
Doug & Fay also called in to see us and it was nice to see Taylor give them a smile and a wave.
Craig left to pick up Caitlyn around 4pm and Taylor continued to sleep on. A new nurse came on just after 3pm called Gaynor and we were not impressed! She gave the impression of not really wanting to be there and was not particularly helpful. When Taylor needed another nightgown, it felt like a real ‘bother’ to her and then she came back with one the size to fit a 10 year old! I couldn’t be bothered asking her again, so ended up putting Taylor into her own clothes. She brought some more pain relief but Taylor spat it out. When I asked for more, she said that she wasn’t charted for more yet and we would have to wait! Strange that the nurse before that when Taylor had spat most of the medicine out, just went and got some more! A couple of times she popped in to see if we were OK and was quite kind and then the next minute gave the impression we were a bother – so a very strange lady indeed!
Got Taylor to sleep in her cot around 4:30pm for a little while which was good. Gave my arms a rest and a chance to freshen up a little!
We were trying to get water and/or milk into her, but she was not interested. We also tried her with a lemonade iceblock and some icecream, but again she was not interested. The nurse was quite concerned and told us that she would need to talk to the Doctor about the possibility of giving her IV fluids. This was not going to be a nice experience for her, so we were to continue to persevere with the water. Everytime she woke up I kept on trying the water, but she wasn’t interested.
Craig and Caitlyn arrived close to 5pm and Caitlyn was great with Taylor, very caring and concerned about her wee sister. Taylor threw up a couple of times more. It was obviously making her tummy uncomfortable and she seemed to settle after throwing up.
Craig and Caitlyn went off to tea at Doug & Fay’s about 6pm and I continued to have cuddles with Taylor.
Craig & Caitlyn called back in after tea and brought me a little container of meringue and marshmallows. They didn’t stay for too long as Caitlyn was getting pretty tired and I too was keen to get to sleep.
Taylor was given her 2nd lot of IV Antibiotics around 7:30pm. It was not the easiest jobs but between me, Craig and the nurse we managed to keep her still to get them in her.
I got Taylor back into her cot and to sleep and had my light out by 8pm for some well needed sleep. She slept for a good couple of hours, but I didn’t feel like I slept with all the noises of the hospital going on around me. At around 9pm, I finally got her have some water. She woke a few times and after trying putting her back in her cot, only to have her wake a short time afterwards, brought her into bed with me and she cuddled in and slept very soundly.
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