Surgery Day

So today was the big day! Well, one of many big days for our little Ukrainian dochki. I'll assume you have read (if not, please do!) the back story in prior posts, so let's sum up and zoom ahead.

A few months ago we found that Shriners accepted Galyna's case. The procedure they would perform is called tissue expansion, which is basically the placing of saline-filled "balloons" under the scalp in areas where she has hair coverage. The amount of saline is increased over time, which stretches the skin. After a while, there is sufficient extra skin, with hair follicles, to cover areas on her scalp where there is no hair currently.

It's genius, really, and especially effective for this type of situation.

We showed up at the hospital today ~ 8:00, and the two-hour pre-operative process was fairly straightforward. There was a quick shower (did not see that on the pre-op prep instructions, or we'd have done that at home last night), the taking of vital signs and the ceremonial (or not) shaving of her head. After that we went into pre-op, where she was allowed to select her own scent (strawberry-kiwi) for the happy-sleepy gas, as well as the color for her bandages (pink.) From there the surgical team took Galyna into surgery, Shannon took Tierney & Amissa to their cousin's for a few days and I headed to the waiting room. Just under three hours later, Shannon returned and Galyna came out of surgery. The timing was propitious; they waited until Shannon and I ran down to the cafeteria for a quick lunch to let us know we could go see her:)

They placed four tissue expanders in her scalp, and clipped off one smashed fingernail (another trauma from her prior life.) As I type this, roughly 4 hours after she came out of surgery, she is just now starting to awaken. She's nibbling on crackers, watching cartoons and coloring her very own floppy hat. She's also going to color a baseball cap for her bear, Ashley, who kept her company through surgery. Loyalty like that must be rewarded.

The rest of this evening will be some more clear foods, rest, cartoons, rest, visits from my folks and maybe another friend or two, followed by more rest. They have placed Galyna on a PCA drip, which allows for her to get a boost of pain killer if she needs it, but so far she's been showing no signs of pain. Post-op narcotics and residual anesthesia seem to be taking care of that. Her energy will return in fits and starts, and in about 48 hours she should be back to completely normal.

The next event in the process is a follow-up appointment in early September where we learn how to add saline to her expanders. That will be interesting. My prior experience at a plasma donation center will come in handy, although I never had to stick a relative before. I just hope to earn some good brownie points by not having my wife do it.

Thanks, as always, for the thoughts, prayers and support. They are definitely felt and appreciated. With the way we've seen God work through all this it's obvious they are effective too.

God bless,
Ron