Let the rejoicing begin

I don't know how many people can say that immediately after surgery that they can see the results and know that it was a success....but I know that I can say that. Yesterday was a pretty traumatic day for Katherine (and an emotional one for me). We took her to Casper to have surgery on her eye for the blocked tear duct. Before the surgery, I was still hoping that it would clear up and we wouldn't have to do it, but now I am glad that we did. Katherine was a trooper. She didn't bat an eye at what was to come, the nurses were coming in and giving us information about things and having us sign papers and she would smile, blow kisses and just be all-round cute as only babies can seem to manage. The nurses were just in love with her. They did give her some medication before they took her back to help calm her and make it easier for them to take her back to the operating room....and it worked. The picture of Katherine with her hands in Gabe's mouth are taken after that medication started to work and man she was relaxed. The procedure itself was only about an hour. The most trying time for me was after she was done and waking up they let us go back and be with her. She was crying, trying to rub her nose and eye and making a big fuss. I took her and couldn't get her to stop, Gabe took her and had a better chance and getting her to settle....at least enough for me to be able to interest her in feeding, then she settled. That is until they came to take the IV out. After they did that, we had to work again to settle her down. Then she was just happy as a clam. I did notice that right away her eye was swollen, but it wasn't runny. With all the crying that she was doing, it wasn't running down the side of her face----it was actually make her nose run!!! The doctor wanted us to spend the night and we had planned for that, but we were still undecided. We went to lunch and ran a few errands while keeping a close eye on Katherine. There were no signs of a bloody nose (which we were supposed to be watching for) and the swelling actually got better without doing anything. At 5 the doctor called us on our cell phones to check. We discussed with him what we were seeing and with his permission started for home. Now after 24 hours, her condition is still improving. I was pleased to be able to get her up this morning and NOT have to wipe out junk from her eye. She doesn't even seem to know it is there, but we do and given the right angle you can see the stint in her eye. In 6 months that will have to come out, but it won't be nearly as much of a trauma as yesterday was. The picture that I did take of her eye today is a little blurred, but I am including it mainly because you can see that her eye is probably going to become wonderful colors, as it is starting to bruise. She will also have bruising on her hands (yes, you read that right hands) because of the IV, they tried to put it in one hand, couldn't get it and so then put it in the other-----I thought that maybe they would get it as they put the IV in while she was sleeping, but I guess that didn't help and they still poked her twice.

The picture of that little pink thing, is the stuff animal that they gave Katherine. When they first gave it to her, she really wasn't thrilled about it, she could have cared less. I thought that it was just a toy that they were going to let her play with while we waited. After the surgery they gave it back to her and I found that it was hers to keep....AND that she really liked it. It is a pink orangutan

I am glad that yesterday is over and I am glad that Katherine is doing better and knowing what I know now, I would have it done again if we were ever in this situation. I need to thank Grandma Sherry for holding down the fort while we were gone and making sure the kids didn't tear the house down, and thank the doctors and staff of the surgical center for helping with Katherine. But I also know that if it weren't for a blessing the night before that Katherine wouldn't be doing this well.