Hannah’s open heart surgery | It’s today!

Or is it??

Clouds and silver linings…

Hannah woke up just before the alarm, at 5.30am, for breakfast (she was allowed food until 6) then went straight back to sleep. She then woke up again; I said “get some more sleep”. She said “I tried”. I said “try harder”, climbed into bed with her for a cuddle and she was asleep almost within seconds!

Hannah eventually woke up at 8.15 when Simon arrived – later even than at home! And just in time for a visit from the Anaesthetist. He talked her through what to expect when she wakes up: the ventilator tube in her throat that will be taken out as soon as she’s awake, where her lines and drainage tubes will be, the urine catheter.  That she’ll have plenty of pain killers so will feel discomfort and irritation but not pain. He also reckons she should have a lot more energy and stamina after her surgery.  The surgery is planned for around 1.30pm.  There are three planned surgeries and three ICU beds so unless any emergencies crop up it should go ahead as planned.

Hannah must be nervous…she opted for the Midazolam premed to help take the edge off before she goes into the anaesthetic room!

While I was in the shower, the cardiac liaison nurse came to tell us that the ICU visit would be at 11am.

I then went to hospital restaurant for breakfast, leaving Simon with Hannah.  There’s nothing like a full English breakfast when exhausted and tense!

There was a fire alarm somewhere in the hospital mid-morning, which meant nobody could move from the wards they were on.  All doors & windows were shut.  This gave me the chance to plait Hannah’s hair so it wouldn’t get all knotty in surgery and ICU.  Then we had the ICU visit, which went really well.  The department looks much nicer than last time and it wasn’t that bad even then!  There’s a lovely kitchen area for family and other visitors and the visiting hours and rules are pretty accommodating.  Hannah seemed reassured by the visit.  She got particularly excited when she was told that they have iPads in ICU that patients can use once they’re awake!

By 2pm nerves and boredom were beginning to kick in.  At one point, I felt tears threatening to appear as I’dhad too much time to ponder, but managed to hold them back for for Hannah’s sake.  Plenty of time to have a good cry when she’s in surgery!

Hannah continued to hold up really well and posted a thank you message on Facebook thanking everyone for their support that nearly broke my heart.

We also made sure we finally took a photo of Hannah and Kate (Oops!  Sorry for referring to you as ‘Katie’ all this time, Kate).  Kate always makes us feel like we’re kind of coming home when we come to the ward.  She makes us feel so welcome and makes a big fuss of Hannah, making her feel very special.

Oh, and we took a group ‘selfie’, too! 🙂

Time started to get on a bit, and at around 3pm I said to Simon “If Hannah doesn’t go to surgery soon, it won’t happen today – not when it’s at least a 5 hour operation”.  I was also getting a bit worried about how tired the surgeon and team would be!

Just minutes after I’d said this, Kate came in with the news.  The surgery wouldn’t go ahead today but Hannah would be first on the list for tomorrow.  The surgeon would come and see us in a little while.  He came in to see us, looking tired, and explaining that the previous surgery had gone well but had taken longer than expected.  I thought about the parents of that baby that had been in surgery for so long, and how worried they must have been.  What a relief to know the surgery had gone well!

Hannah was allowed to eat & drink normally again and, actually, this turned out very well for us: We were allowed to take Hannah out of the hospital for a few hours, so we took her to look at the amazing parents’ accommodation (that I hadn’t seen yet, either), then went to my mum’s hotel to meet my mum and Charlie there (along with Simon’s mum and our eldest niece as they’d both gone to Manchester to pick them up from the airport).

I was so excited to see Charlie again and that she and Hannah could spend some time together before Hannah’s surgery tomorrow.  We went to the Chinese quarter as Hannah’s favourite food is Chinese and we all had an early dinner together, before dropping my mum back at her hotel, Charlie going home with Simon’s mum and Simon and I taking Hannah back to the hospital.

Simon stayed with us for a while before going to Ronald McDonald House, then Hannah and I watched most of ‘Back to the Future II’.

All in all, not the kind of day we’d expected.  Hannah didn’t have her open heart surgery, but it was a lovely day, with lots of cuddles and unexpected family time to get everyone more relaxed before tomorrow’s surgery.

Tomorrow, Hannah won’t have to go hungry or thirsty for hours, either!  The nurse will come and gently nudge her around 6am to let her have a big drink of water (6.30pm is the cut-off time), then she’ll get up at 7am for a shower with the special disinfectant shower gel (again) and for me to plait her hair again.   Pre-meds will hopefully be administered around 8am.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow…and let’s hope Hannah has another great night’s sleep and I manage to get more than a couple of hours.