The day after her big day...

 Everything went beautifully yesterday with Audra's double surgery. 

 

The hospital actually called us in the morning and asked us if we could bring her in earlier than scheduled.  We happily agreed...as we were running out of ways to distract her from wanting to E.A.T.!

 

She went into the OR at 1:00.  The ENT doctor did his part first, the tympanoplasty.  It ended up taking longer than he anticipated because she had a fair amount of scar tissue with the perforation of her ear drum.  Once he was done the general surgeon stepped in to place the gastrostomy tube.  This part was pretty quick and then she was out of the OR about 5:00. 

 

Our little trooper slept off her anesthesia for a while, and when she woke up she sat right up to the amazement of her nurses who said they haven't seen a kiddo move around so much after abdominal surgery. 

 

That's our Audra...she did the same thing after her surgery last November. 

 

One.tough.cookie!

 

Audra and her faithful friend...

pink-flamingo-bunny...

who's been with her for every test, procedure, surgery!



 

This morning her ear bandage came off

and she happily enjoyed a popsicle...

 

Today the childlife therapist brought in a "Tubie Friend" for Audra.

It's a real Build-A-Bear with an actual G-tube!

They are donated to the hospital (to give to children when they get their G-tube) by a organization called Tubie Friends.  What an awesome idea!  We used the bear all day with Audra to show her what the tube was like, let her play with it , and prepare her for what needed to be done with her own tube.  I have already sent an email to the company telling them how grateful I am.

One happy girly and her tubie friend!

 

Audra's tummy has "woken up" in record time after this surgery.  She was so happy to be able to eat real food this afternoon.  She will get the special formula through her G-tube for ten hours tonight.

The formula she will be getting is an elemental-type formula that is broken down to make it easier for her impaired GI system to digest and absorb.  She will still be able to eat what she wants by mouth, even though her body does not absorb all of it properly.  This is kind of  a "best of both worlds" situation.  She will now be getting the nutrition that her body needs and should be able to absorb, which will hopefully result in her growing better...AND she can continue to eat by mouth as she loves to do, which will really be for pleasure because her body doesn't seem to find the food as appealing as she does.