Quite the impression

Dear Madeline,

Everyone who has been involved in your care here at Hopkins so far has been quite impressed with your progress. Your surgery last night went very well, but it was also unexpectedly intracate.  Shortly after you arrived pediatric intensive care unit after surgery, the PICU staff time and again marveled at your vital signs. They had expected you to experience a more challenging post-op recovery. What a champ you are!

The PICU nurses removed your breathing tube this morning and you are breathing very well on your own. Your chest x-ray is clear and PICU wants you outta there! They are a little concerned though. Despite my warnings, they are finding how fiesty you are and noted your increasingly level of aggitation. What they don't know is whether the aggitation is because you are in pain or because you are just so darn annoyed at being tethered to all of these wires and lines.

... and now we wait.

Dear Madeline,

After hours of waiting for a bed to open up in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the wheels were finally set in motion for your surgery today. We wheeled you down one floor from the pediatric oncology unit to the operating room at about 3 PM. Your mother and I escorted you into the surgical prep area, dressed in scrubs, discussed the game plan with the anesthesiology team, and then kissed you one last time before the anesthesia went to work.

Mom and I met up with family in the general OR waiting room, and then promptly got up to go for a walk to clear our heads and talk to each other about what we were thinking. We ended up in the chapel saying some major prayers as tears streamed down our faces before collecting ourselves and rejoining our support system.

We got word at about 4:30 that surgery was finally underway after 90 minutes of prep work to implant a central line, breathing tube, and IV sites. And now we wait some more. We were advised that the surgery itself would take at least 3 hours, perhaps as many as 5-6 hours. We know you're in great hands, but you are your father's daughter, and I'm not very patient when it comes to things like this.  I'm anxious to be by your side as your recover in the PICU.

Love,
  Daddy