Samantha's Disimpaction

Nothing about that title sounds fun. And it isn't.

For Samantha's procedure, she had a 2 day prep time. Wednesday she had her "last meal" before it was time for the first treatment of magnesium citrate to try and loosen things up. Wednesday was easy.

Thursday was pure torture. Thursday was a "Clear Liquid Diet" day. Guess who did not like this? She did awesome until about 12:30. Once it was time for lunch, she wanted NOTHING to do with jello or juice. She wanted milk, cheese, pickles, anything. She cried. And cried. And threw jello. And threw a Popsicle. And knocked over some chicken broth. And cried.

I ended up basically holding her until 4:30 while she cried that she was hungry. We watched Cailou. I couldn't eat anything, obviously, put her down to use the restroom, help Kaitlyn get ready or accomplish the things I wanted to do. By 5, it was time to take Kaitlyn to cheer. Samantha was starting to fall asleep in the car, so after we dropped Kaitlyn off, I drove her around to get gas so we wouldn't have to do it this morning, and as soon as she fell asleep I took my butt to Taco Bell and scarfed down some food as she slept.

We went to pick Kaitlyn up at cheer and got there a few minutes early. I was hoping she would stay asleep, but she had other plans. She woke up as soon as I stopped the car. She cried. She kept saying she was hungry. It was heartbreaking. There wasn't anything I could do but offer the things she did not want. A little girl watching her brother practice called her crying annoying. I may have shot her a look.

After practice, and Kaitlyn finding out she made the team, we headed to Dusty's parents to drop Kaitlyn off. The surgery center asks that you not bring siblings, and considering that we had to be there by 6 and it took both of us to help Samantha, it worked out best that she had a sleepover with her cousin at her Nana and Papa's house.

Samantha cried the whole way home. She basically cried until she went to sleep at 11:30. It was exhausting for all of us.

As soon as she was asleep, I fell asleep. I was beyond tired. It was an emotionally and physically draining day. Not too long after that, Dusty came into the bedroom and the smell woke me up. Archie and Chico were hard at work protecting the yard when they cornered an animal. Chico won't back down from a fight and a skunk is no exception. It didn't end well for our stinky dogs. The smell just from Dusty touching them was horrific.

This morning started with a nice 4:30 AM shower. By 5:30, Samantha was up (on her own) and calling for Mommy, Mommy, Help! I grabbed her and headed to the car. I must have somehow forgotten that we have steps at our front door, missed them and fell on my ankle. Not a good way to start the day.

We arrived at the valet parking right at 6, went inside and wandered around until we found where we should be. Samantha was in a great mood. She loved the kids waiting area, there were fishies painted on the wall and cartoons on the TV. She was not at all thrilled when we were called back into the prep area. We met her nurse. Samantha still wasn't happy. They had a bed set up for her with toys, dolls, books and a special pillow case.

She wouldn't let the nurse do anything really. She was on high alert the entire time. She didn't want her vitals taken, she didn't want to wear the arm band, she didn't want the nurse to even look in her direction. I was ok with the nurse, she was trying really hard and very genuine, until she was explaining the medication they would use for her to "sleep" with and followed up the name by whispering, "you know, the stuff Michael Jackson used." Totally did not need that visual.

When it came time for her IV, they decided to wheel her next to the procedure room so she wouldn't upset the kid next to us.

I suggested using the left arm. She's given blood there before and it went really well. They decided to use the right. I laid on the bed, her on top of me, Dusty and another nurse distracting her with bubbles and songs, and the nurse mentioned above completely blowing her vein as Samantha watched it swell in her arm.

She screamed. Loudly. Passionately. There was no way in hell she was going to let anyone else get close to her. The incredibly kind anesthesiologist came in and told us she wasn't going to let it happen that way again. We could go into the procedure room with Samantha, hold her and she would put in the IV and then immediately administer the medication. She would fall asleep in 30 seconds and hopefully not remember it at all.

This time, Dusty held her. Distraction was not an option and there was no way I could control her this time with a belly in the way, not with how she was fighting it.

They tried her right hand. Blew the vein. Blood was everywhere. They tried again, she was asleep about 15 seconds later. We kissed her as she slept and went to the waiting area.

About 15 minutes later, the doctor came out. She had pictures from the colonoscopy for us to keep as souvenirs. (yuck) Her exact words were: "There was a lot of poop. A lot. of. poop." We were worried that because of her x-rays and symptoms that she just had one main "piece" of impacted stool, it would be broken down and removed. BUT, it would also mean that the colon would be stretched out and take time to get back to normal. Fortunately for her, it was not just one piece, it was spread out through the colon. Which means that while the first 24 hours of recovery are tougher, there is more gas, cramping and overall fussiness, BUT, it also means that her colon is perfect. No stretching, no wider spots, nothing to heal, perfectly healthy. We have the before and after pictures to prove it.

We immediately went to be next to Samantha, who was sleeping better than she probably has since birth. It took about 15 minutes for her to start to wake up, she wanted daddy. And she heard the words juice and crackers. She absolutely wanted those. She drank 2 juice boxes before we left 10 minutes later and 2 packs of crackers were demolished. On the way home, she wanted french fries. The fact that it was only 9 AM was not a reason in her mind not to go. Luckily, Jack in the Box serves lunch all day.

Most of the day has been going back and forth between being super happy, eating, drinking, playing, laughing at the dogs taking baths, annoyed, sleepy, hyper and everything in between. By tomorrow, they say she should be an entirely different kid. She was down to 23 lbs today, (10th percentile) so hopefully she'll start packing those pounds on.

We will continue with miralax for probably another 6 months so she gets used to her stools being soft and comfortable. After that we would have the go ahead to start potty training if we chose. It is not at all advised to start before then and could cause another blockage. We may even wait until she's nearly 3 based on the new research that has come out encouraging postponing.

I'm beyond ready for bed, the dogs are bathed and the stinky skunk smell is out of the house. Yay!