On December 16th, we went to Texas Children's Hospital to correct Brooklyn's Kidney Reflux. We started off the morning, bright and early. We had been to TCH so often that she wasn't even aware of why we were there.
She really enjoyed playing with the police car, while daddy tried so hard not to seem worried (It obviously didn't work!)
When the nurse called us back to the pre-op room, she immediately began to scream and cry. The nurse had to give her drugs to calm her down so that she didn't scare the other children. While we waited another 15-20 minutes for the surgery to begin, the drugs started to take full affect. She kept playing with a needle toy that shows the impression of whatever you put up to it. She was so focused on the toy and totally "calm" that she began drooling and almost fell out her chair!
Her reactions were so slow that she seemed like a totally different child!
The surgery lasted 2 1/2 hours and was a success according the Doctor.
We owe a big THANK YOU to our families and Bro. Schneider for staying with us in the waiting room.
We finally made it to a room and she had many visitors!
The first night was VERY ROUGH!!!! Richard went home, since there was only enough room for one us on the couch-bed. I realized that night, I wasn't going to be able to do this alone! Brooklyn threw-up all night and we couldn't keep liquids in her system. At 4:00 in morning the nurse realized that she wasn't putting out as much urine as she should have been. By 7:00 the next morning when her urine output was non-existent, the staff started to get worried that her ureters were blocked that she might be having kidney failure. She began swelling and her blood toxicity levels had increased so dramatically that they decided something needed to be done!
Later that evening, we had to have a 2nd "surgery" to place a tube directly into her kidney to release the excess buildup of toxins and fluid. We stayed in the hospital for another night and 1/2 a day. As she started to show signs of improvement, we were able to leave the hospital room with a urine bag always in tow!
We even had a visit from Santa and carolers.
By the last day, she was looking MUCH better! The doctor released us to go home, but said that she would have to keep the "Bag" in for at least 5 days!