Ava's Surgery was a Success.....

Ava did not like the blood pressure cuff...

Before surgery rocking with Daddy

Cuddling with Mommy after surgery

It was an early morning for us to be up and at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls by 5:30-5:45 am for Ava's lacrimal duct opening surgery. As the usual surgery routine goes, Ava was not allowed to eat or drink when she woke up that morning, and I was a little worried that she was not going to be in a great mood. We got Ava up right around 5:15 out of a dead sleep, and with her usual perkiness, she was able to stay awake for the whole trip over to Sioux Falls. She was pretty quiet, but kept those eyes wide open so she could see why we were in the car when it was still dark outside. The roads were a little icy, so we did not get to the hospital until almost 6 am. Ava was really good until we had to change her into the gown and the nurses checked her vitals. Once that was over, she was fine again. Then at around 6:45 they took us into the pre-op holding area where we met the scrub nurse and anesthesia people. Dr. West, the pediatric opthamologist performing the surgery, came in to talk to us as well. Everyone was very nice and reassuring. When they took Ava from us to take her into surgery, she went to the male nurse anesthetist without hesitation. She turned and looked at us, so we waved to her and said goodbye, and she waved back and smiled at us. That certainly made us feel better. They started the surgery at 7 am and paged us at 7:10 and told us it was over and she would be heading to recovery. We got to see her by 7:30. It was very short and she came out of surgery crying pretty hard. She was very happy to see us. Her eye was very red and watery, but other than that she was fine. They were able to just use gas sedation and never had to start an IV which was nice. She slept on me (shockingly!) for about an hour after surgery. Then she woke up and we offered her some food and she perked right up. By far the most traumatic was the blood pressure cuff and the stethescope. She had to do quite a bit of crying over those things, but other than that she remained in very good spirits. We left the hospital around 9:30 and headed to Fryin Pan for breakfast. She was cheery as ever and ate almost a whole pancake. We are so thankful that everything went well. It has been a week now since surgery, and you can definitely tell her eye is not nearly as watery or mattery as it was before. I am sure she is loving that I am not washing her eye all the time.