We knew Aubrey’s Bilateral Ureteral Reimplantation Surgery to correct her kidneys was coming so we went all out the day before and took both Aubrey and Jeremy to the Oklahoma Aquarium and then Incredible Pizza for dinner. They both had a blast and I was glad Aubrey was able to run around and have fun because I knew it would be a few weeks before she would be able to play like this again. Once we got home all of us were exhausted so we went to bed early. I knew the next day was going to start off with a challenge because it was no food or drink for Aubrey after midnight. She was not a very happy camper especially since her surgery wasn’t until 11:30am. She actually did a lot better than I expected especially since no one ate or drank anything around her. At the hospital they quickly got us back into a room, did some vital signs, and got her in her gown. At this point she started to get a little nervous so my mom gave her a stuffed animal and book and this took her mind off of everything going on around her.
At 11:00am the doctor came in and talked with us and was great about answering all one hundred of my questions! One of my biggest concerns about the bilateral reimplantation surgery was the bladder spasms that can cause severe and sudden pain. He assured me that Aubrey would be well medicated with both narcotics and also Ditropan which calms the bladder. They would also be using a Caudal Block that would help to make her more comfortable for several hours after the surgery is over. After he left the nurse came in with the “Crazy Juice” aka Versed. It didn’t take long for Aubrey to become a very funny little girl, she would come up with the most off the wall comments. After about 30 minutes the nurse came back in to let us know the surgeon had to assist with an emergency and Aubrey’s surgery would be delayed. This made me very nervous because they had already given her the versed, and I didn’t want it to wear off before they took her back. Luckily the nurses came in very shortly after this and were ready to take her back. They were both AMAZING and made Aubrey much more at ease by giving her stickers and other fun things to hold on the way down to the OR. I was so scared to let my baby go, but I knew that this had to be done in order for her to get better and fix her kidney reflux.
The nurse told me to wait in the family waiting room and she would call me when they got started. It took over 45 minutes for them to call and the whole time I was on pins and needles picturing Aubrey crying because she was scared or in pain. The nurse quickly put my fears at ease and let me know Aubrey did fantastic and not one tear came out of her little eyes. She apologized for it taking so long to call, but assured me that it can sometimes take that long to get a child prepped especially when they have to have the Caudal Block. After hearing she was ok, my husband and I decided to head down to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat. I knew we had to hurry because the nurse told me she would call back in about an hour or so to give me an update on how Aubrey was doing. After about and hour I got a great update that surgery was going great and that she would be done in about 30 minutes or so, this was the longest 30 minutes ever. All I wanted to do was see my baby and make sure she was ok. After surgery was done the Dr. came out to let us know Aubrey had done great and their were no complications. He did tell me that as soon as he opened her up and looked at her ureters he could tell the the right side was far worse than he expected and it would have never corrected on it’s own without the surgery.
Aubrey was waiting for us in the recovery room with her eyes wide open and drinking a cup of juice. Although she was a little out of it, she knew where she was and what had happened. She started to get a little sick so they gave her some IV medications and she passed right out. After about 30 minutes she started to cry that her tummy hurt, I was a little surprised to see that she was in pain so soon but the nurses were great about getting her pain relief quickly. She tried to have a few bites of food to eat but ended up throwing it all up so we just gave ice chips and water for the rest of the night. At about midnight Aubrey started to spike a low fever (which is normal for post surgery) she also had low blood pressure and very low urine output so the Dr. ordered her to have a bolus of fluid, which helped. Aubrey slept great this first night and only awakened a few times to say she was in pain. It’s amazing to me how much pain and discomfort kids can take, I would have been a blubbering mess and the worst patient every if I were in her shoes.
The next morning Aubrey woke up about 7:00am and the first thing she asked for was breakfast. She ate almost a whole bowl of cereal and drank a little water. We are hoping to get her catheter taken out around noon and the Dr. will decide whether she can go home or if we need to stay another night. She is definitely ready to go home!