I meant to post this yesterday, but as you can imagine, it was a hectic day! This post may be a little longer than the norm, so bear with me...
We woke up around 4 a.m. because we had to be at the hosptital by 5:30. Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 but they needed time to get her checked in and take her vitals and get her nice and happy. Surprisingly, Angelica tolerated the getting up early part of things very well. She didn't make a peep the whole ride there, but she was wide awake. That's my girl!
The whole process went pretty quickly. We went to Arnold Palmer, got checked in, got taken up to the third floor surgical waiting room, got taken back to pre-op, got her vitals taken, and then she got some medicine in her nose that made her very happy. Scott had stepped out of the room for about ten seconds...she got the medicine right after he stepped out, and before he got back she went from being tense and agitated to being very relaxed.
That part was actually really funny. She hates doctors and so she was all tense about getting her vitals taken. She had napped, woken up, got more tests and then the medication. Within about 10 seconds she turned into dead weight in my arms and just looked up at me and started giggling. I though to myself, Oh my gosh, my baby's drunk! That was probably the only part of the experience that made me laugh.
At that point she loved everyone, doctors included, so when the nurse took her from me to take her to the OR, she just smiled away. At that point, Scott and I went to wait in the lobby.
It was about an hour later, Dr. Johnson came out to let us know how everything went. She said Angelica did fine, she tolerated the anesthesia well, and the surgery went by the book, no complications. They got all of the cyst and said they were confident that it was a dermoid cyst, as they had suspected, but it's going to pathology just in case.
We then went back to wait for a few more minutes for her to wake up, and then we got to see her. She was still drowsy, and was for pretty much the rest of the day.
She woke up at home around 1:00 and ate, and then we snuggled on the couch and had a good time. She was back to herself by the evening and today she woke up at her normal time, ready to go.
I have to say though, she does look rough. Her right eye is swollen shut and is a little tender if she tries to rub it, but otherwise it doesn't seem to bother her!
She's got a follow-up appointment on the 28th -- the day before her first birthday. My only hope is that she's made a good recovery by then so she can enjoy her birthday party!
My girl is a trooper. I wish I could be brave like her :)
Edit: Anyone who is going through a similar experience and has questions, feel free to ask! I searched the Internet for information on what to expect when a baby has surgery or what to expect following surgery to remove a dermoid cyst and came up with very little. Just click the comments button and ask away!
3 comments:
Hi there. My little 9 week old baby boy just started to get a lump on his eyebrow about 2 weeks ago. It is quite big now, probably a bit over 1cm in diameter. It started out barely noticeable and blue like a bruise. It is still blue but a lot bigger. Does this sound familiar? How old was your daughter when she got her cyst? The doctor doesn't know if it is a bruise or a cyst and we are going back to see him soon. I just know he will say it is a cyst. I just don't want him to have this thing on his face for years, but I don't want him to have an operation this young :(.
Hi Ash, thanks for visiting my blog! We first noticed the cyst on my daughter's eye when she was about 4 months old. It was near the outer corner of her eye, just below her eye brow. Hers was never blue though, at first it was barely noticeable but over time it continued to grow. When we first had it evaluated, they approached it from a "wait and see" standpoint, had us visit a pediatric neurologist (who eventually did the surgery), who was thinking it may go away on its own but it didn't. She was re-evaluated at 10 months, and at 11 months she had the surgery to remove it. It was nervewracking but she got through it just fine and is no worse for wear because of it now at almost 14 months old. She has a tiny scar that is already starting to fade away. Your doctor will be the best to determine if it is a cyst or something else, though, so keep in touch with him. Best of luck to you, I hope everything turns out well, and congratulations on your baby boy!
[...] in May, I wrote about Angelica’s experience having a dermoid cyst removed from her eye at 11 months old. I’ve noticed that a few people have landed on Minute for Mom looking for information about [...]
Post a Comment