OK. Get Her Out of Here.

What a summer it has been. What a year it has been! Two kids… six and a half months apart… and we’re in our 40’s. Oh boy!

Since I last posted in March, Lee & I have been pretty busy. A LOT has been happening over at Casa Myers. 14½ month old Molly is growing like a weed and running (walking is just not fast enough for her) all over the place. She is Mommy’s little helper, whether I want the help or not! She has turned into a delightful little toddler who has just recently learned the fine art of throwing herself on the floor in tears if she doesn’t get her way. Lovely! She and Daddy belong to the “Adventure Club”. They can generally be found outside riding on the Gator, checking on the horses, or swinging in her swing. Molly would be outside all day if we let her.

Cory is also growing. Not so much like a weed, but rather more like a 100 year old oak tree... very slowly! He is a happy little 14½ pounder and is now 8 months old. He is full of smiles and chuckles and loves to pull hair. He absolutely lights up when his sister walks into the room. He likes to roll on the floor (although he sometimes gets stuck in an awkward angle) and he loves to watch the dog. His favourite TV show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Sometimes I think he is going to bounce right out of his bouncy chair with excitement when the Mickey Mouse theme song comes on! He gets a great big grin on his face as soon as Mickey says “Hey Everybody!”

But I can update you on our summer a little later in another entry. You’re probably all anxious to hear about how Cory is doing.

In late April Cory had his Heart Catheter surgery at Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg. This is a procedure where a tube is inserted near his groin and threaded up to his heart. Then the doctors can take a look at how Cory’s heart is functioning and if there are any concerns for his upcoming surgery. Everything looked good the doctors were very pleased with what they saw.

We were notified that Cory’s second surgery would be performed on July 3rd in Edmonton. We were excited that he would be getting his Glenn Procedure done. After he recovered from his surgery he would hopefully thrive and grow and we wouldn’t have to be so protective of him and keep him away from germs anymore. Lee & I decided that it would be best to leave our very active Molly at home with my Mom & Dad this time. This way we would be able to focus 100% on Cory and his recovery. Turns out Molly was sick and probably wouldn’t have enjoyed the flight too much anyway.

Lee & I boarded the plane with Cory on July 1st. As it turns out, Lee & I weren’t feeling so hot either. Lee & Cory spent the evening watching the amazing Canada Day fireworks display from our hotel room window. I, however, spent the evening in the hospital emergency room hoping that the doctor would in fact tell me that I wasn’t going to die despite the fact that I felt like I was going to drop at any minute. I dragged my butt back to our hotel room and tried to get some sleep. We were to meet with the surgeon the next morning at 7:00am.

The next morning I was coughing, Lee was sneezing, and Cory had a tiny bit of a runny nose. The surgeon walked in, took one look at our motley crew and immediately cancelled the surgery. I was so upset! But the risks were too high if Cory were to get sick in recovery. The surgeon told us that we could wait in Edmonton to see if Cory was going to get better or worse and possibly get a surgery date for late the following week. Lee & I decided that we could not leave Molly without us for that long and boarded a flight home that same day. There was no guarantee that we would get surgery and we likely would have been in Edmonton for close to a month. We were both so discouraged.

Cory was first on the waiting list for cancellations in July. We kept hoping to get a phone call saying they had a spot for us, but the call never came. The surgeon was on holidays during August so it looked like we would be waiting until September for his surgery. It was a long summer keeping an eye on Cory. The oxygen saturation levels in his blood (his O2 sats) were jumping all over the place. His fingers and toes were turning blue from time-to-time, and I was starting to get really frustrated. We spent most of August going back and forth to the Heart Centre in Winnipeg so they could keep an eye on Cory.

We finally got a call that Cory would finally be getting his surgery on September 4th. Again we decided it would be best to leave Molly in Winnipeg and again Lee and Cory and I boarded the plane. When we met with the surgeon yesterday (September 3rd) he told us that Cory looked really good and surgery was a go! Cory was slated in for the first surgery in the morning and we were thrilled with that as there is less risk of having surgery bumped due to other surgeries running late or other unexpected emergencies.

Yesterday was a long morning. Cory was not allowed to have his formula past 4:00am as he was going to be sedated for one of his tests. We started our day at 7:00am and met the surgeon, the anaesthetist, and the physiotherapist. Cory had x-rays, blood work, an EKG, and a sedated echo-cardiogram done. By the time all the procedures were done at 1:00pm Cory was one hungry little boy. He was so good throughout the whole morning though. Barely fussed considering what he had been put through!

I was told yesterday that I would be able to bring Cory into the operating room and stay with him until he was asleep. That made me feel good. I’m not sure how I would have felt handing off my scared little baby to some stranger and watching her walk away with him. So this morning, Lee and Cory and I were all here at 7:00am again. We finally were brought to the OR waiting area where I confirmed that I could go in with Cory. Everyone was very friendly and smiley with Cory when they walked by the waiting area. Finally the nurse came to get us. Daddy gave Cory a kiss and a hug and told him to have a good surgery. I took the baby from Lee and following the nurse to the operating room. I held Cory in my arms as they tried to find a good vein on his hand to insert the IV. Cory was a little upset (and understandably so) so they decided to use the gas mask to help Cory fall asleep. He was still in my arms while they were holding the mask to his face. Cory did not like this at all and was putting up a struggle. I think he was also holding his breath because when the doctor took the mask away and said that Cory should be asleep now, Cory shook his head and let out a big cry. The doctor tried again and this time Cory slipped away to Sleepy La-la Land. I laid Cory on the operating table and had intended to give him a kiss on the head and I wanted to tell him to be brave and strong through surgery. I was going to tell him that Mommy and Daddy would be waiting just outside and would be here when he woke up. Instead, I heard someone (presumably the anaesthetist) say "OK. Get her out of here." and I was whisked away by the same nurse who had brought us in. I was taken by surprise and totally off guard so as I was leaving I called out to Cory to have a good surgery. No kiss. No assurance that we’d be waiting for him. Nothing but a holler across the operating room. Oh well. At least I know he is in very good hands with is surgeon Dr. Ross. No need to worry.

So now here we sit. Out in the waiting area with all the other parents who look as anxious, if not a little bored, as we do. At least I have my blog to keep me busy for part of the wait. Cory went in at about 8:45am and it is now 11:00. We haven’t received any updates yet on how the surgery is going. Kind of frustrating, but I guess no news is good news. The surgeon told us the Cory would be in there for about 4 to 5 hours and that this was to be a fairly straight forward, easy surgery. I’m glad he thinks so! Nothing easy about open heart surgery to me!

I now find myself looking up every time I hear footsteps… wondering if it is someone who can tell us how Cory is doing. No news yet. So I guess this means it is time to sign off. I will update you all again later to let you know how surgery went and how Cory is doing with his recovery.

Thank you to everyone who has sent their thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. It is so comforting to know that everyone cares so much.

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Hi! Me again! It is now 11:40 and Dr. Ross just came out to tell us that the “relatively simple procedure” went very well and that Cory is doing great. They are going to keep him in there for about another hour and take out his breathing tube once he wakes up. They find that most babies do very well without the breathing tube after the third operation and, since Cory is doing remarkably well after this his second operation, they want to take out his tube before he even gets to the PICU. Cory’s sats are exactly where the doctor wants them to be and he is very very pleased with how everything went. He expects that Cory will recover very quickly. Yay!