Leila's 2nd Surgery

So, after one surgery, and a couple grand out of pocket, we were right back where we started with Leila's goopy eyes. It is so frustrating! Her doctor said that when he was in there the first time, it was all clear, so scar tissue must have grown in and blocked her tear ducts again. Yay for us! We scheduled another surgery, and October 7th finally came.
It was a pretty sad day. Leila couldn't eat after midnight, and we weren't scheduled to be there until 11:15 the next morning.

Here we are in waiting room number 1.



By the time we finally were seen by a nurse, it was probably 11:45 or noon, and this little girl was starving and now we were getting close to nap time. I don't know if it was just that, or if she was having memories of being here last time, but she was not a happy camper. As soon as anyone but me tried to even get near her, she would cry. They tried to get her oxygen levels, take her temperature, listen to her lungs and heart, and then gave up on the blood pressure. They gave us the cute little hospital clothes again, and left us alone for a minute. You can tell in the pictures that she's been crying.
Waiting room number 2

Finally a little smile. It was short lived. Another nurse came in right after this.

To take us to waiting room number 3.

This is her attempt at a smile.

She found this car, and finally was having a bit of fun.

Her doctor came by to see if we had any questions. Then the anesthesiologist came and I knew it was time. I gathered up all of my things, and walked back with him. I told him that I had refused any anxiety medicine, and that she was going to cry pretty good when I handed her over to him. He said he was ready. As soon as we got to the doors, I gave her hugs and kisses, and went to give her to him and the second I even leaned over she started screaming. He looked at me surprised, and I just said, "I told you. Good luck!" They walked back, and I could hear her screaming the whole way. It was awful. Part of me wishes I could have gone back with her to help settle her down, but the other part of me is so glad I don't have to see what goes on back there!

I then walked to waiting room number 4 and called Brock to tell him she was finally in surgery. It was 12:45pm. At about 1:30, her doctor came in to tell me everything was done, and it went perfectly. Such a relief. I had to wait about 20 more minutes to see her.

When I went to her bed, she wasn't there. She was rocking peacefully in a nurses arms asleep. I was a little bit jealous that I didn't get to be the first person she saw, but was so happy that someone was loving her when I couldn't be there. It was really sweet. She said that Leila had started screaming when she woke up, and she rocked her back to sleep. I swooped her up, and hugged my sweet baby girl.

We went to yet another room where we got to sit until she came to enough to drink some juice. It was about 40 minutes. I just held her and rocked her. Her nose was bloody, and bled on and off the whole day. When her nose runs, still to this day there is a little blood in it. I guess that's normal. They said that her tears might even be a bit bloody, but that hasn't happened with her.

The nurse was sweet enough to take a picture of us. She was finally drinking, and boy was she MAD when that juice was gone! We hurried to fill it back up! You can see the blood from her nose in this picture.

Here she is before we got her dressed. Grip of death on that bottle.

She now has tubes that are stitched underneath the skin near the middle of her nose, up through her tear duct, up to the upper lid. You can see the tubes in both eyes from the bottom tear duct to the top. I can't imagine how uncomfortable that must be. It's about the width of a hair, and that is what it looks like. A hair on each of her eyes. Annoying. Her doctor said she won't even notice it. So far, so good. We have been giving her eye drops 3 times a day, and only have to do that for a couple more days. Her eyes may still be teary for the 2 months she has the tubes since now they are blocking her ducts. The stitches will dissolve, and in 2 months we'll go back in and Dr. Dries will pull the tubes out. Supposedly with no pain. This has been a problem we've dealt with since she was born, and we pray that this is the solution, and that this will all be over soon. We're grateful for all of the prayers and well-wishes from so many friends and family.