Pre-op procedures complete, ready to go 1st in line tomorrow

Last night we had a late departure time for Boston. Between Victoria finishing up work projects, me setting up an AOL Instant Messenger account and program for Brianna so we can use web cams to chat with her while we are up here, and the emotional farewell to Grandma and Brianna, we didn't move out until 10:00 PM, and didn't get into the hotel until past 12:30. We then had to awaken at 5 AM for 7:30 AM start to a day of pre-op procedures and consultations. So needless to say we are all exhausted.

Before I describe Maya's day, let me say that Brianna was such a compassionate and loving sister yesterday to Maya. She insisted Maya accompany her to Taekwondo, and I know it was because she wanted the extra time to see her sister before she left for the hospital. Brianna is aware of generally what is going to happen and how long Maya will be gone for. On the ride home from her Taekwondo lesson, Brianna said that she didn't want Maya to go. "I want to get the operation for Maya," she offered, then demaned. How loving is that?!

So on to today. After check-in, we were taken to a central control room where all of the pre-op procedures and all of the patients were written on a white board, and as procedures were finished, the nurses crossed off that procedure. There were about 12 children all getting the same pre-op day procedures done. We ended up talking with many of the children and parents and spent the day crossing paths with them as we waited in various areas. The procedures and consultations/legal sign-offs were pretty quick, but the waiting was very long, especially to talk to the surgeon, which didn't happen as he was too busy operating. We did meet with the cardiologist, anesthesiologist, and the surgical fellow from the team. The one bit of information that we learned from the surgical fellow was that her procedure is actually very painful, much more so than open-heart (cut open the chest via the sternum) procedure, although it is safer, as she will not be put on a heart-lung bypass machine. So they will keep her out cold the whole day, so deeply that a breathing tube will be doing the breathing for her.

She will also have a "central line" installed for the entire time she will be in the Cardiac ICU, which is an IV inserted into the jugular vein in her neck. That brought back visual images of my dad waiting for his liver transplant because he had the central line as well. I do remember that dad told me it wasn't painful, despite how disturbing and uncomfortable it looked. As for her recovery, she will be in the ICU and heavily sedated for a few days, with a nurse dedicated and in direct sight of her exclusively at all times. She then will be graduated to a general pediatric cardiac unit for about another week once she is deemed to be eating, breathing, etc. on her own. Once she is in the general unit and doing well we will bring up Brianna with Grandma Mimi for some joyful reunions. We hope if things are going well to bring Brianna to the New England Aquarium, the Children's Science Center and other tourist sites in the city.

After we left the hospital at 3:30 PM, we came back to the hotel and headed out to dinner. We found an IHOP nearby and I fed Maya exactly what I knew she would love, and as much as she wanted. When she saw the children's menu and we asked her to point to the picture of what she wanted, she got a mischevious look in her eyes and hit her palm on every item on the menu, one at a time, many times over as she laughed and we laughed hysterically. I ended up ordering her Double Blueberry Pancakes and a fruit cup. She ate quite a bit of them with various syrups, the strawberry seeming to be the best liked by her. She really loved the whipped cream as well.

After dinner we stopped at a market and I bought her milk and Fig Newtons
so that she could eat as much good (as in tasty) stuff as possible before her midnight cut-off time. It will seem like an eternity to her before she feels free and eats without pain or restrictions, so I wanted her to live it up.

So here are the pictures and movies of Maya from today-

Here is what the hospital looks like as you walk towards it from the garage

Maya getting ready for a chest x-ray

Exhausted Maya sneaks a nap

Maya tries on sunglasses to be funny at the hotel

Maya tries to fit her sunglasses on daddy

Maya plays while waiting at the hospital