After not getting much sleep last night (tornado sirens have a way of affecting sleep - especially considering we all slept in the basement), we then got up VERY early (3:30 a.m.) to get to Riley by 5:45 a.m. Jeff Shields and his daughter, Annie, stopped by the hospital to pray with us as Kimi was getting ready for surgery. (Annie helps in our three-year-olds class at Kingsway and has become somewhat attached to Kimi, so it was nice she could see Kimi prior to surgery.) Then, the resident who works with Dr. Boaz came in and discussed the surgery with us and why this surgery is so intricate and not the normal "tethered cord" surgery. He said it will take at least 5 hours, if not more. He ordered Versed, a drug to keep Kimi calm prior to surgery. Kimi took the Versed just fine, and became very relaxed and somewhat giddy. She had a glazed look and was super-cooperative, sometimes giggling spontaneously, for no apparent reason. She even said, "Up" without us trying and trying to get her to talk. It was really funny! It really helped ME as well - seeing her so relaxed and not fearful. After a bunch of kisses and giving her a little doll to hold when she wakes up, I laid her on the gurney and they rolled her through the doors. That is always the hardest part for me - seeing one of my kids being wheeled away for surgery. It was 7:30 on the dot.
Mike, Cheryl and I went down to get some breakfast and then came back up to the surgery waiting room to await updates. At 9:00, a nurse came by and told us that Kimi was doing fine. They had her back open, and the procedure had begun at 8:27 a.m.
Here is a photo of Kimi in her hospital "scrubs" prior to the Versed. I"ll post updates as I get them.
praying.....
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