Simple Things

Avery's surgery went well. It was scheduled for 7:00 am on Monday, February 1st. We were told to be at the hospital in Pocatello at 5:30 am. Which means leaving Soda Springs around 4:15 am or when the weather is horrible 4:00 am. I got up at 2:00 am, not leaving much time for sleep. We woke Avery up at 3:40 and she was in great spirits. She kept tellling us that she was "ready for her surgery." I am glad one of us can be so chipper at 4:00 in the morning. She chatted with us the entire way to Pocatello, which was good otherwise Jeff and I would have probably fallen asleep.

This was just after she had been admitted to the hospital. She is still in good spirits and has the comfort of Dad and her stuffed animals.

Here she is playing with a mask that is similar to the mask that will eventually put her to sleep. Her only request through all this was to "please let me be asleep when they poke me so I don't feel it."

The day after surgery Papa Bill and Grandma Niecie came to visit Avery. She was still in a lot of pain which we struggled with for a few days. Papa Bill gave her a $10 bill to go shopping with after she was feeling better. After her drugs kicked in, she fell asleep with her money in close check.

After Avery's surgery, she wasn't allowed to eat anything except soft foods. Mostly broth, jello, yogurt, and most importantly ice cream. She took full advantage of the "all you can eat ice cream" idea. Avery asked for ice cream and the nurses said "what kind?" I am sure she consumed at least 10 cups of ice cream during our four day hospital stay. I normally don't feed my 4 year old like I would an infant. But, she had a hard time sitting up due to the pain from her incision and she is my baby of which was in the hospital. So, Jeff got a picture of me feeding Avery ice cream. Avery's surgery last about 2 hours and Dr. Norman told us that everything went really well. Her recovery was a little more trying than I ever would have imagined. She was a tough little girl who went through a lot. She had trouble with muscle spasms around her incision sight which caused a tremendous amount of pain. She had trouble with her IV clotting off a couple of times causing some additional pain. And finally, her catheter began clotting off on the third day which eventually lead the nurse to finally taking it out. Our two day hospital stay turned into a four day hospital stay. We managed on a limited amount of sleep and she is home now and doing extremely well. She is playing like a kid again and doing all the things that little girls like to do. She still has her stitches and will be getting them taken out on the 17th. She will have to take an antibiotic for a couple months so we can be sure that the surgery worked and that she won't be getting anymore infections. Avery and I were able to spend the entire four days together. We talked about a lot of things and we both realized how grateful we are for "Simple Things."

Avery's List of Simple Things
1. Cartoons

2. ice cream

3. Mom's (my) cooking

4. Her own bed

5. Playing with her big sister

My List of Simple Things

1. My own bed

2. A Homecooked meal

3. Showering whenever I feel like it!!!

4. Our health

5. Helping Alexa with her homework.

6. Undisturbed Sleep (being woke up every hour is overrated)

7. Good Friends

8. Family

During the last week we have had and continue to have such an amazing support system. Our families helped us out by taking care of our dogs and my parents by taking care of Alexa. And, this week my Grandma Wilson has offered to watch Avery so that I could come back to work. We've had numerous visits from family and friends which helped to boost little Avery's spirits. Meals, cards, phone calls, prayers, etc. etc. the list goes on and on. So, 4 days in the hospital, 10 cups of ice cream, 22 balloons, and 8 stuffed animals later Avery is home and is doing well. We are so grateful for all that we have and most importantly we are grateful that Avery is home with us and getting better everyday.