Avari's surgery went very well...and very fast! We had to be at the hospital to register at 6:30am on Friday. Once we were registered, they sent us up to the Surgery Center, where a nurse showed us to a room. She asked us some questions, and gave her a lovely hospital gown to put on. Then she took Avari's vitals, and the anesthesiologist came in to talk to us, and tell us what she was going to give Avari. The nurse came in a few more times. Then shortly before Dr. Ehrhard came in to talk to us, the nurse gave Avari her "toddler cocktail", to help relax her, and make it easier for her to leave us. Let me tell you, I know why they call it a "toddler cocktail"! Avari definitely acted like she was drunk, once it started kicking in! She was very easily amused, and laughed at anything and everything. Then she got the hiccups, and that made her laugh even more. Dr. Ehrhard came in to talked to us about what he was going to do, and then a surgical nurse came in to get Avari. She didn't want to go, so she wouldn't stay on the bed. The nurse decided to carry her, which wasn't working too well either, until she told us that Avari could take her kitty blanket along. Avari still cried, but did stop trying to get out of the nurse's arms. Watching them take her away, crying and not wanting to go, was definitely one of the hardest things Alvin and I have had to do. Her surgery started around 8:15am and by 8:45am, Dr. Ehrhard was calling us into the consultation room to tell us how her surgery went. He said that is went really well, and that he was pleased with the results. He originally thought that she might have to have two separate surgeries to get it all taken care of. After this surgery though, he said that he thinks he was able to gather enough extra skin to prevent "stretch marks" from forming, and that he feels pretty confident that she won't have to have another surgery. Of course, we will have to wait for this to heal and for her to grow a little more to know for sure. He also said that we couldn't wash her hair for 48 hours, but other than that, she could resume all normal activity. By the time we got done talking to Dr. Ehrhard, Avari was awake, and she was not happy (which is understandable). She wanted me as soon as we walked in the door, and wouldn't go to anyone else the rest of the time we were there. We had to stay for about a 1/2 hour after she woke up, and then we were able to go home.
She spent the rest of the day laying around, watching movies, and sleeping. She only complained a few times about her head hurting, but after we gave her some Tylenol, she was fine. We are very proud of how well Avari handled the surgery, and hope that she has a speedy recovery!
She goes back on Sept. 27, to get the staples out.
Avari's birthmark.
Waiting to go into surgery.
Her staples.
Dr. Ehrhard didn't even have to shave any hair!
I mainly took this picture because Avari scratch her head on Friday, and felt the staples. She asked what they were. When I told her that they were the staples to close up the place that Dr. Arehardt took her birthmark out, she didn't quite understand what I meant. She would ask where her birthmark was. After I took the picture and showed her, she seemed to understand a little better.
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