The Surgery Part - I

2/12/08 -

Mollie gets a nice bath for the next few days and we take pictures of her hearing aids to remember that one day we wore them. "Bye Bye" hearing aids and on to a whole new world of hearing.

It's off to bed early everyone for an early day tomorrow. Mimi was here for our rescue and sanity. She came to help with Nate and Madie.

The weather called for snow and ice in the early morning. Bobby assured me that nothing would keep us this time from Mollie getting this surgery. Even if he had to go get Dr. Bennett at home himself.

2/13/08

4:30 a.m. - Mommy and Daddy get up after not really sleeping at all.
5:10 a.m. - We wake Mollie up and get her ready. She was so sleepy and she had her new pink doggy and blankie, a gift from Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Regina. She really loved this doggy and blanket. We say goodbye to Mimi and we were glad to see that the snow had held off for the moment. They did close school for Nate. We left not knowing if Madie would have school. Madie was very worried about her little sissy.

5:49 a.m. - arrive at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital (VCH). We left Mollie in her jammies as we figured she would go right to surgery. They have quite an operation going on at VCH. The large waiting area was very quiet - but we would soon learn that would not be the case for the day. Mollie ran around the waiting room very much unaware of what was coming.

7:30 a.m. - Pastor Mike and Pastor Catherine arrived to offer comfort and prayer for Mollie. This was so moving for us. They arrived just as they called Mollie back to the pre-op room. We realized quickly that a 7:30 a.m. surgery was not going to happen. We were told Mollie's surgery would not happen until 9:30 a.m. We did not want Mike and Catherine to have to sit around while we waited so we said - please go on with your day.

Once we got into the pre-op room Mollie started to become leary of all that was starting to happen. She was changed into her very own set of special blue VCH jammies. Nurses started to come in and out and introduce themselves, check her blood pressure, oxygen and ask us over and over again did we know what surgery Mollie was going to have. This was part of the procedure - of course we knew what surgery Mollie was going to have. Then Dr. Bennett came into the room to tell us what he expected for the surgery.

8:20 a.m. We met Jill the "gas doctor" she came to explain she would give Mollie a little drink that would make her "drunk" and then they would take her from us. Once she was to go to sleep they would insert a breathing tube down her throat to help her breathe. Jill said this type of surgery tends to make patients sick to their tummy so they would also give her medicine and iv for this to help avoid when she woke up.

8:40 a.m. - Time for her sleepy drink. Mollie did well we were told it tastes yucky.

9:22 a.m. - Mollie went off to surgery with her doggy and blankie and without a tear. Mommy however was not without a tear. Daddy was pretty worried himself. But we knew we were doing the right thing for Mollie.

10:02 a.m. - We were back out in the waiting area and told how the process would work for the day. As long as we told the concierge contact where we would be they would let us know about every hour from the operating room, just how Mollie was doing. Meanwhile they had an electronic screen which runs the patients names by and tells you exactly where your precious cargo is. By this time the waiting room was very full. Nobody talked to one another and nobody asked what you were there for. Just a lot of private whispered prayers I am sure.

10:16 a.m. - Mrs. Emily and Mrs. Angela (Mollie's teacher and her speech therapist) came to visit us and check on Mollie. It was so sweet that they took the time out of their day to come offer us comfort. It is just so amazing to us the people we have met at Mama Lear and the Bill Wilkerson Center. These folks are so invested in the future of the children they work with.

10:20 a.m. Ally Sissler arrived to go into surgery with Mollie. She is an Audiologist at the Bill Wilkerson center. She would be responsible for making sure the implants were working before they implanted them into Mollie's head. For those who do not know Ally has been the voice for us that has convinced us to do this for Mollie. She has two implants herself and as an adult has been able to give us so much insight into what it is like to wear implants and what it sounds like.

The Recovery & Visitors

Hello - I am finally finding some time to sit down and put to words the surgery and so far Mollie's recovery. It is Saturday and Wednesday was one week ago that Mollie was implanted.

I am going to add some pictures along the way so that the story will come together. It will take some time.

My Dad, aka "Grampy", decided to fly in as a last minute surprise this week. I think he just knew I needed his comfort. So he came in on Tuesday and we are glad to have him until Monday. Karen we miss you and sorry you were not able to make the trip with him.

This week has just been full of laughter and comfort food from neighborhood friends, church friends and my Dad's family recipes. (I think I am starting to learn his tricks of the trade). This is not easy as my Dad cooks like Rachel Ray, he has a dash of this, a dash of that, no measuring spoon just by looks and taste. That is a hard way to learn to follow a chef. The kids have been completely spoiled. First starting with "dunkies" for those of you who have not experienced Dunkin Donuts. Almost a daily routine of going to get "dunkies" and coffee is fun for them. Against Mommy's wishes and her new van, I have found sugar and powder donut crumb evidence all over the car. Grampy has now managed to order "no powder" munchkins in order to justify the eating in the car. Madie has enjoyed her riding to school in the morning and her special date with Grampy which included lunch, bowling and of course shopping for toys.

Having his companionship this week has been priceless.