Erica, Sue and Sally arrived at Denver Children's Hospital at 5:30am. We were quite tired after not getting a good night's sleep. Erica was especially tired due to two seizures last night. A nurse got us settled in and asked lots of questions. Then Erica experienced yet another seizure...hopefully the last one ever. She rested for a bit, and then it started to get quite busy. The two "child life" nurses that would document the surgery with pictures and a story arrived.
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| Erica with Felix, her lucky elephant! |
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| Getting ready for surgery! |
Soon after, Dr. O'Neill (aka Superman) arrived. Yes, he looks like Clark Kent in the office, but we suspect he turns into Superman in the OR. He has a VERY calm and confident demeanor and is very easy on the eyes. :-) He autographed his initials behind her left ear to indicate the general location of the surgery.
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| Dr. O'Neill's Autograph |
Lots of other nurses came in to do physical checks. Then a visit with the anesthesiologist. He's quite a character! Throughout it all, Erica remained very calm, brave, and positive. She was SO ready to get it over.
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| The anesthesiologist! |
Because Erica has a broken ankle/leg, they wheeled her down to the CT room. We were able to go with her. Along the way, many of her doctors and nurses joined us. We met up with a nurse holding the hardware and frame that would be placed on her head during surgery. It was all becoming very surreal. We arrived in the CT room with about a dozen nurses and doctors.
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| On our way to begin surgery |
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| Team in CT room waiting on Erica |
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| Dr. O'Neill is furthest on the right by her elbow. |
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| The Queen's Crown (frame for her head during surgery) |
They got her settled on her bed and had her select the "flavor" of air she'd like to breathe. They rub smelly chap-stick in the mask that will put her to sleep. The anesthesiologist asked her which of three stories she'd like to hear; the zoo story, the jet pilot story, or the nail polish story. He warned her that he struggles telling the nail polish story, but all three stories end with something smelling bad. She giggled and chose the zoo story. She held on tight to her lucky elephant, began to cry a little, and watched me as they placed the goofy gas mask on her. We gave her kisses, told her we loved her, she whispered, "love you too", and quickly drifted off to sleep. She didn't stay away long enough to hear how terrible the monkey house smelled.
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| Off to sleep! |
At about 8am, they escorted Sue and Sally to the waiting area and let us know that for the next hour, she would be having an IV started in several places, intubated, and catheterized. Additionally, they would be using the CT scan to set the frame on her head and locate exact measurements of the tumor and incision location. They assured us they would call every hour to provide us updates. And the waiting began...
After about an hour, the OR nurse called to inform us that they are leaving the CT room and heading to the OR. Erica was doing great. We took a walk down to the gift store, used the restroom, and continued to make updates with family and friends. At 10:00, the nurse called again to update us that they have made the incision, completed a biopsy, and are inserting the fiber wire for the laser. Soon they would be heading down to the MRI to zap the tumor! Erica was continuing to do very well.
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