Almost as soon as we set foot into her room, the nurse put hot packs on her arms and hands...and Audra knew exactly what was coming next:
IV in...
NG tube in...
Prep started...
Audra wore herself out fighting it all...
Never underestimate her strength, despite her petite size!
Tuesday evening/night:
throw up,
hurry to the potty,
clean Audra up,
change the bed sheets,
get her back to sleep...
then repeat...
and repeat, and REPEAT!
Every 30 minutes...for almost 9 hours!
Finally, at 1:30am they said Audra had had enough...and the prep was stopped. She and I slept like rocks...until phlebotomy arrived at 6:00am to draw her blood.
Wednesday morning:
The morning passed quickly, although I had forgotten to prepare myself for the fact that I wouldn't be able to eat in front of Audra...or leave her side...for the 24 hours from our arrival Tuesday until she went into the OR on Wednesday. So, by 7:00am on Wednesday I was drooling at the very thought of snacks from the vending machine in the OR waiting room.
Audra was her happy self as she waited for her turn. Happy as long as she had her flamingo-bunny, her pinwheel, and her silver glitter boots on.
And...YES...she wore her silver glitter boots all.the.way into the OR :)
She fought the anesthesia like a bear this time. Usually I hold her, the anesthesiologist puts the mask to her face and she drifts off to sleep in my arms. But today she wasn't willing to go without a fight. My little tough cookie :)
She came out of the OR with a NG tube drain in place (just like the one she had for a week and a half after her malrotation surgery in November). This was not something I was expecting and it caught my attention right away. Turns out Audra had more bleeding than expected during the procedure so her GI doctor put the tube in as a precaution (aka...she doesn't trust Audra, rightly so!). And because she is so cautious with Audra she wanted her to stay another night, just to be safe. They will check her hemoglobin a couple times to make sure she doesn't have any further bleeding at the biopsy sites.
As far as results: they found the same areas of inflammation and friable tissue that she had on her last scope in May. Something they found, which they had not seen before was "bumpy areas"...which they biopsied. "Bumpy areas"...the GI doc was pretty non-committal about what these could be until the biopsy results are in. Hopefully we'll have results Friday or Monday.
Wednesday evening/night:
Turns out the GI doctor's intuition was right. Audra's been having a rough time. She can't manage to keep anything down :( She was so anxious to get something to eat...the minute she returned to her room! But as soon as she takes a sip or a bite she gags and wretches. Then she throws up and her tummy feels a bit better so she tries again...but the same thing happens. Over and over. And she is sooo disappointed. She WANTS to eat, but her little tummy just won't cooperate. Her sad little face breaks my heart. So far the only place she hasn't thrown up is in her stroller. So now she believes that if she is in her stroller she won't throw up. And she wants to keep moving. We have done so many laps around to unit we have had nurses, nursing students, volunteers, and even strangers offer to push her for a bit to give my legs a break! And when I finally said no more walking she still insisted on sitting in her stroller, even as she fell asleep:
Hoping that tonight brings some peaceful sleep for my little love and that tomorrow morning brings a more cooperative belly.
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