Cleo's surgery on July 19, 2013 went great. Dr. Kanter, Cleo's surgeon, repaired her 3 heart defects. We got to the hospital at 6am. They gave her a sedative around 6:30am and wheeled her away around 7:20am. It was very hard saying good-bye to her.
Linda, Robin, Vivian, and Ahnya kept us company during the 4 hour procedure. The actual surgery took 2 hours but there was a lot of prep prior to the surgery. Around 1pm, Roger and I were able to see her. She woke up in the afternoon and drank some water. Ahnya, Vivian, Linda and Robin took turns seeing Cleo. Then, Ahnya, Linda, and Robin left to pick Sidney up from daycare. Vivian stayed until dinner time, then left to stay at her friend Debbie's house. Debbie lives around a 5 minute drive from the hospital. Cleo was in ICU for a little over 24 hours.
Friday night, Roger and I were not permitted to stay with Cleo in ICU. We fortunately got a parent sleep room. It was hard to leave Cleo because she was in and out of sleep so she was aware that we were gone. But, Bindu, her night nurse, was super attentive and made sure Cleo was okay.
Cleo's first nurse in ICU, Danielle, was awesome. Cleo had a series of awesome nurses. After Danielle, was Bindu, then Sarah. Sarah was the last ICU nurse. Saturday, Coco Jones, of Disney's original movie Let It Shine fame and who guest stars on Good Luck Charlie - both on the Disney Channel, made a guest appearance at the Ryan Secrest Studios at the hospital. Lots of stars make appearances there to cheer up the kids. Cleo's nurse Sarah managed to drum up a wheelchair and with Roger, took Cleo down to see Coco Jones. Vivian and I were there because the plan was for me to take a picture with Coco and show it to Cleo. It was great that Cleo was able to take some pictures with Coco Jones. Coco was very gracious and polite. Her look-alike mom was with her.
In the Step Down Unit, where Cleo had her own room, her nurses were Cathy, Nikki and Susan. When Cleo was in ICU, she had one nurse devoted to her at all times. That was great. Overnight on Friday, she actually had another nurse helping out Bindu. She was well attended to on the Step Down Unit too.
Saturday, Cleo got her own room on the Step Down Unit around 3pm. It was so great to have an individual room. Rodney drove down from Virginia and brought a big Hello Kitty balloon. Linda, Vivian and Ahnya visited. Earlier, Ahnya and Robin took Sidney to a hobby train show at the Cobb Galleria convention center. Robin dropped Ahnya off at the hospital and Robin spent the rest of the day entertaining Sidney. Roger's friend Michael visited us Saturday evening.
Saturday night, Roger and I slept in Cleo's room. Sunday, Cleo got her chest tube out around 11am. They gave her morphine and versed (a sedative) but it still hurt a lot. Cleo seemed a little shell shocked after getting the chest tube out. I am sure she was very relieved. After taking the chest tube out, she had to get an x-ray. Then, she had to lay still for 2 hours to make sure everything was okay. Then, she had an echocardiogram for 30 minutes - they came to her bedside. Cleo was released from the hospital around 3pm. We stopped by the gift shop on the way out and Cleo picked out a few items. We were home around 5pm.
We were overjoyed to get home. Sidney made us a welcome home sign. It was super cute. Linda and Robin left on Monday to return to Jacksonville. Kaelin did not come for this trip. She stayed with one of her godmoms, April.
Cleo has been improving and making progress every day. I have been sleeping with her in her bed. She cannot lift her upper half up to get out of bed. Also, she needs help shifting around when she gets into an uncomfortable position and cannot move. She did a little dance yesterday and is able to get up from the floor on her own. She is slowly getting less subdued and becoming more like her old self. When we first got home, she was very untalkative.
We had planned to have her return to camp on July 29, but she seems too delicate. She is also nervous about people trying to hug her; it hurts her to be hugged too hard. We will see how she's doing over the weekend. My dad came to town last night. He returns to CA on July 29. Cleo's first day of school is August 7. She is cleared to return to school but cannot participate in PE or recess until 8 weeks from the date of the surgery.
We found a new pediatric cardiologist for Cleo. He had no availability the week of July 29, which is when Cleo's surgeon wanted her to see him. So, we are seeing a different doctor in the new doctor's practice on August 1. Cleo will see her pediatrician on August 2. I will return to work on August 29 after I drop my dad off at the airport. I will take time off to attend Cleo's 2 doctor visits next week.
We saw Cleo's surgeon yesterday for a follow up visit. A nurse practitioner who works with Dr. Kanter removed Cleo's stitches from her chest tube incision. She removed the steri strips from Cleo's chest incision. Both incisions are no longer covered in bandages. The nurse said it's good for both incisions to be exposed to the air
Since we have been home, Cleo has not complained of any pain. We gave her ibuprofen at night for a few nights just so she could sleep comfortably. She's been so stoic and brave throughout this whole experience.
Sidney has been working very hard to be gentle with Cleo. He gives her kisses on her cheek, sometimes spontaneously. It's very sweet.
We are delighted and relieved that things have so far gone as planned. We take nothing for granted. We saw so many sick kids during our stay in the hospital. We realize how lucky Cleo is.
Tonight, Cleo's kindergarten teachers, Ms. Edwards and Ms. Frazier, are bringing over a spaghetti dinner with all the fixins and lemonade. I am looking forward to seeing them.
