On the eve of surgery...

     Okay so here we are, the three month wait has finally come to an end. Today we had Amaya's pre-op appointments with her surgeon and the anesthesiologist dept..  We had to wait two hours for the surgeon, because they were trying to squeeze us in, since we missed our appointments on Monday (we were snowed in).
     On the drive Amaya started to show some signs of nerves and anxiety, but the two hour wait seemed to distract her and calm her down.  She was also able to see other kids in casts, crutches and wheelchairs.  Once we got in, she did great.  Dr. Nelson said that the good news is that the bone structure in her hip is so good that he doesn't have to do a full super hip procedure. Usually they have to cut the bone and re-align it. But in her case her bone structure is so good that he only has to cut some of the muscles to allow for more rotation and mobility in the hip. The next part of the surgery involves cutting her thigh muscle and using it to create the ligaments that she's missing in her knee.  He said that she would be casted from the waist down to the toes on the left leg, but didn't think he would have to cast the right leg.  He's going to cast her in a reclining position between sitting and lying down.
     The surgery she's having tomorrow, the super hip super knee, is to stabilize her hip and knee in preparation of the lengthening surgery that he will do in about 6 months to a year.  I'm confident in him and his knowledge about her condition and his ability to correct it.  So the appointment was reassuring, helped answer some questions and calm some nerves.
     After that we went to the anesthesia dept. and they did a physical and screening for tomorrow. Then gave us information about tomorrow. We check in at 10:30 tomorrow and begin lab work and registration.  Her surgery is scheduled for 1:10 pm at the Loma Linda Children's Hospital.  Surgery is expected to last about three hours and then she'll spend about two hours in the recovery room before she gets put into her own room.
     She can have visitors once she's stable and in her own room, but since that won't be until late Friday, Saturday would probably be the soonest she can have visitors. You can call the hospital or us to see if she can receive visors yet. We still do not have a number to call or when visiting hours are.  But they did say the no one under the age of 14 is allowed to visit, not even Lidie.  You can also call or text us. We might not have reception inside, but we'll try to go out and check our phones often. And I will update facebook as we know more. They said they will give us a pager once she goes in and send us updates as things progress. I'll pass that information on as soon as I get it, either by text or facebook.
     Thank you all for your kindness, patience, understanding and support. It makes getting thru this so much more bearable.
Martha