Even though I feared sleeping in late (or secretly hoped it) we woke up at seven and got ready for the day. After Lidie and I got ready we went upstairs to get breakfast started. Josh tried helping Amaya get ready, but she had a mini meltdown. She didn't want to put her socks or shoes on. When she came upstairs she had them on but thru tears said "I don't want to go to my appointments." I gave her some extra TLC and distracted her by reminding her that she had plans to have yogurt with Mason later today. After that she was fine.
After Josh's mom came to watch Lidie we left. On the ride down Amaya was calm and playing with a sticker set her Grammy had brought for her. When we arrived at the orthopedic office it was very crowded. We checked in and spent fifty five minutes waiting to be taken back. We noticed three people in the waiting room with fixators on. Two had theirs on their shins and one on his ankle. The youngest boy was in a wheelchair and the other two were walking. They all had the round halo type. When the nurse took us back she weighed Amaya and got her height. She told Amaya to take off her shoe so that she could get an accurate height reading, then realized that with the lift on she should be okay (its funny, that Amaya's shoe thru her off).
After that we went back into a room where the nurse took the rest of Amaya's vitals. She gave us instructions for the night before surgery and an antiseptic swab to clean her leg with. Amaya looked at it nervously, since we didn't have to do that last time. After the nurse left we only had to wait a few minutes for a resident to come in. He said that he would be assisting with the surgery, answered our questions, and filled in lots of paperwork. He mentioned that Amaya would be given a wheelchair to use, but could walk when she felt ready(the fixator is strong enough to support her leg). He also said that he thought she would only have to spend two days in the hospital (but her admitting forms said four), so we'll see. He said that prior to her being discharged they need to make sure that we are proficient and comfortable using the tools to adjust the fixator and clean her pin sites. We'll get the tools while she's in the hospital. He talked to us about the risks (the most common one is infection, but he said they actively treat any sign of infection with antibiotics),and the alternative to surgery (not lengthening, which he said they don't recommend). He examined Amaya's knee and was impressed with the work Dr. Nelson had done on it. He described Dr.Nelson as a "ninja" and said that Dr.Nelson was so good at this "that he is so passionate about this." He told us that the only other doctor that they had who did lengthenings would only do them on adults, but Dr.Nelson did them all. After talking with him and signing the release forms we felt comfortable and ready. He left and asked us to wait while he made copies and then brought them back in to us. An hour later the nurse brought the forms in to us(I think they might have forgotten about us).
After the appointment we were running late for our anesthesia appointment so we just grabbed a quick snack from the cafeteria there. At our second appointment we did the registration for the hospital then went in to see a nurse and a nurse practitioner. They took Amaya's vitals again, weighed her (she was .8 lbs. less without her shoes) and checked her height. The nurse was friendly and brought Amaya a coloring book and crayons to keep busy. The nurse practitioner asked how Amaya did with the anesthesia and pain during her last surgery. We expressed our concern (we also mentioned it to the resident) that she did great with the anesthesia but had a real hard time with pain management the first night. The nurse practitioner was very helpful and looked at Amaya's records from last year to see all the medications that she was given. She noted in the chart for them to address her pain more aggressively so that she can avoid pain. I'm so relieved. That was so hard having her in such pain for so long last time(her first night was really rough and she expressed concern about having a repeat of that). Thankfully the resident and the nurse practitioner both seemed helpful and genuinely concerned. They told us that Lidie would not be allowed to enter Amaya's room but that Amaya would be able to go out to the waiting room to visit her (once she was stable). Hopefully that will happen because I know Lidie will have a hard time not seeing her sister for that long. Before we left the nurse practitioner said she needed a finger prick from Amaya. She asked Amaya if she could prick her finger and Amaya was so brave, she kept calm (no tears, no yelling, or crying). She just took a deep breath and made a grimacing look. In that moment she looked so mature, and so sweet.
As promised we met Mason (who won a spelling bee today!) for yogurt afterwards. It was cute, when they sat at the table Amaya showed him her finger and told him what they did. And silly Amaya switched the band aid onto another finger (saying that, that one hurt more now). Amaya and Lidie enjoyed their time with Mason and I with Shannon and Mason.
Thank you all for your love and support. The calls and texts are helpful. Hopefully this post fills you in on what happened today (it's so much easier writing it once than explaining it many times).
Josh and Amaya keeping busy in the waiting room.
Mason (sporting his Spelling Bee medal!) and Amaya.
Mason and Amaya making silly faces.
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