Maya's Big Surgery Day! 2/28/11

Maya woke up the morning of her surgery at 5:15 AM rearing to go!  You would think we had a trip planned to Disney!  She was smiling, laughing, dancing.  It made my heart break more because I knew what was in store for her.  We got to Beaumont by 6:15 AM and waited for about 15 minutes until they called us back.  Madeline missed school in the morning so she could be with her little sister.  I’m so happy Madeline was there because Maya loves her so much.  Madeline laid with her in the bed up until they took her to the OR.  About 20 minutes before Maya went into the OR they gave her a little “kiddy cocktail” to loosen her up.  At first she was laughing then about 10 minutes into it, she started looking like she was a hippie child from the 60’s!  Life was groovy!  We were all cracking up watching her.  When they took her back to the OR, she went to the nurse Anesthetist, Tamara, with no problem.  Then as they walked away, Maya looked at me and started calling out, “Mama!”  Yes, it was the hardest thing I’ve had to do since becoming Maya’s mom, but she needed this surgery.  I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t cry.  I kept saying to myself, “Pull it together Kris, you need to be strong for Maya!”  The wait began…Luckily for us there’s a Starbucks inside of Beaumont, so I was able to have a Chai Latte and chill out for a while.  The ENT came out of the OR about 20 minutes after Maya was whisked away and told us when he put the tubes in her ears, tons of fluid came out.  I’m thinking Maya will now think we’re all yelling since she’ll be able to hear us better!  Her surgery to repair the palate took about 2½ hours.  Dr. Shaheen came out and told us he was able to repair the entire palate and it was quite frankly, huge and her mouth was a bit of a mess.  He also told us that there is no way her palate would have been repaired correctly in China, it would have been too big of a job for them.  Can I say again how thankful we are that a skilled U.S. surgeon repaired her palate?!  Once they took John and I into recovery, I honestly will say it took my breath away when I saw Maya.  Her mouth was full of blood and she was not a happy camper.  I held her as she thrashed and cried.  When they gave her another dose of Tylenol 3 that seemed to take the edge off of things.  She HATED the IV in her foot so the one nurse looked at her said, “Maya – do you want me to take that out?!”  Maya looked at her and nodded yes!   She finally relaxed and fell asleep in my arms.  We had the BEST nurses in recovery.  They were all so sweet and just loved Maya.  Every nurse in that area actually came back to see her.  The nurse Anesthetist came back to check on her and we chatted for a bit.  She has 2 daughters adopted from China.  Her youngest, who is 21 months old, is from Maya’s province (yea for the Spicy Girls)!  The BIG news we got in recovery is that Dr. Shaheen put her down as an outpatient and we had orders to take her home.  I was surprised but honestly, much happier that she would be able to recover in her house.  Dr. Shaheen came back to check on Maya and told us the reason he wanted her to go home was because she would rest much better and it was better for all of us sleep wise.  He could not have been more right!  When I took Maya to our bed she just collapsed into the pillows and crashed out.  I had beach towels everywhere because her mouth and nose were leaking blood so much.  She looked so pathetic but I know she felt better in her own house.  John and I lied with her and tried to keep her as comfortable as we could.  She didn’t want to drink anything but we managed to get some liquids into her.  Thank goodness for Tylenol 3.  The minute that stuff starts wearing out, you can tell.  It was a long day and my nerves were frazzled, but we got through it.  I can’t say enough to all my awesome friends for texting me nonstop throughout the procedure and afterward to check up on Maya and send us their prayers.  And a big thank you to my sister, Nan, for picking Madeline up at the hospital to take her back to school.  My sweet mom, God love her, came to our house at 5:30 AM so we could take off for the hospital and she got Will off to school.  Then she came right to the hospital to sit with us during the operation.  I was happy she got to come back in the recovery and see her little Maya.  Grandma Rose came to our house after to bring Maya a “get well” gift.  That perked her up for a bit.  And my friend Vicki, who is in China right now adopting her little Molly Kate…Maya’s friend from the orphanage.  In the midst of her crazy adventure, she took the time to let everyone know about Maya’s surgery and ask for prayers in her blog!  THANK YOU EVERYONE!  I can’t say enough about how lucky our Maya is to have all of you in her life!  

Maya didn't like her hospital bracelet- Not pretty enough!











She liked the teddy bear she got!





Being cute and cuddling with Mama!





Poor baby!