We finally got to go!: Unplugged

Friday morning we got up in the unholy 4 o'clock hour to be ready and make the drive up to Salt Lake for Elena's port removal surgery. Other than a really long wait (why exactly did we have to be there an hour and a half before the surgery for "registration" when it took all of 10 minutes and then we sat in our room for two hours waiting with a fasting, tired 4 year old?), things went well. Elena was really nervous to get her port out. As evidenced by this little conversation:

Elena (with a worried, thoughtful look on her face): "So, how do they get my port out, Mom?"

Me: "Well, they'll just put some sleepy medicine in your port and then when you wake up it'll be all done and your tubee will be gone!"

Elena: "No, but how do they get it out?"

Poor thing was starting to connect two and two and was wondering how something inside of her was going to get outside of her. :) Sometimes I think we still think of her as the naive two year old she was when we started treatment, rather than the sharp as a whip almost 5 year old she is now. We decided though, that with how nervous she was, it would only freak her out more if we told her they were going to cut into her to get her port out. Was that the right thing to do? I don't know... one of many tough judgement calls we've had to make along the way. Anyways, we changed the subject and ended up just leaving it at "you'll go to sleep and you'll wake up and it'll be all over" and it turned out alright in the end. She was just excited to wake up and find her port gone! Hopefully she's not too scarred from all of this. :)

Waiting in our room pre-surgery

Had to document the last time we'd see her port accessed!

Like I said, we waited forever! A volunteer brought in some toys for Elena after a while and she wasted no time in fancying right up.

Awesome face.

Finally the anesthesiologist came to get us! We recognized him from a few of Elena's back pokes we had done in the RTU. That was nice. 

When we got to the point where we had to leave and he and she would head into surgery, Elena was a mess. She was tired, hungry, and scared. Poor thing. But in this picture, the doctor's pushing some sleepy medicine into her port and about 10 seconds later, she was alright. :)

And then Eric and I had to walk the other way and go wait elsewhere. We've done that whole bit - turning our kids over to the anesthesiologist to go into surgery- a TON of times between our two kiddos. But I don't think you ever get over being on the brink of tears. It is not fun and it doesn't get old and "routine" the way that other parts of treatment do.

But like I said, everything went perfectly. She took a while to wake up from the anesthesia - which makes sense because she was way low on sleep and probably just catching a nap. :) But when she did wake up and got hooked up with some food, she was as happy as could be and SO excited to have her port out. She was talking for weeks about when she wouldn't have to get any more "tubees". Such an exciting milestone for her! She's been such a trooper all these years!

We stopped at In and Out, per Elena's request, for some lunch and then headed down for a playdate with her cancer friend, Daphne. Elena has missed Daphne so much since we moved! Daphne and her mom had a surprise waiting for Elena when we got there. They opened the door to us with a big "way to go" sign for Elena and cheered, the house was decorated with banners and balloons, and they had a present waiting for her, as well. It was so sweet!

It's so fun to watch these girls together. They share a very special bond - knowing what the other has gone through. Daph had gotten her port out a month earlier and then finished treatment the week after Elena - double celebration!  

After Daphne's house, we headed to visit with one of my old roommates and dear friend, Jen, and her cute little family. Her oldest daughter was having a birthday party and Elena was excited to play with Ariyah for a bit. Unfortunately, it became abundantly clear about ten minutes into the party that mommy had overscheduled the day. Surgery, lunch out, a play date, and a birthday party combined with too little sleep, steroids, and the after effects of anesthesia made for one absolutely beside herself Elena by about 7pm. Oh dear. We had to leave before the presents got opened. Elena was one sobbing, snotty, vommity mess as we pulled away from Jen's house. And by the time we got back to Julie and Rob's house where we were staying, she was zonked out. Bad mom - duly noted. Lesson learned. :) It's hard when there's just so much you want to do and so many people you want to see in one short week!

Elena = passed out.

The nice thing about ending our evening early was that Eric and I got to chill out a little, too. After the girls were in bed, we unwound by watching Captain America. It was the second to the last movie we had to watch to finish all the superhero movies leading up to The Avengers. (Now, when is The Avengers going to get out on video already?? :))

Next up: Our last day - Aunt Julie's salon, fires, and Bryce Canyon!