Hannah has now had four, yes four, surgeries on her neck. You can read about the first one here and second one here. And apparently, I didn't blog about the third one. Bad mom.
Long story short: The cyst keeps coming back. While we loved Dr. Mintz (Hannah's ENT at Good Samaritan) she said this was something that needed to be referred to Children's Hospital.
My favorite place.
(Sarcasm is coming through, right?)
So we met with Dr. Lin (great doctor if you ever need an ENT--and he has an office in Glendale so you don't have to suffer through the CHLA experience) and he requested a CT scan to see where the cyst was originating. Apparently, it starts in her ear and the tract goes down to her neck.
It's been a PITA trying to do all this from Vegas, and while there are specialists here that could also do it, our HMO is strictly SoCal only....and so we drive back and forth and back and forth....more times than I can even count between Sammy and Hannah's doctor visits. Ugh.
Regardless, we got all the pre-op tests done and were scheduled for surgery at CHLA on December 28th. Samuel had Sammy and Helene for a few days while I stayed with Hannah at the hospital.
Our experience at CHLA was a nightmare. Was there any doubt? I tried to have a good attitude...I really did. But after making her fast (from both food and liquid) since 8pm the night before, and surgery was scheduled for 9am....and we sat in pre-op for 6 hours--and then she didn't ever get into the OR until about 4pm, it would be an understatement to say I was livid.
Pre-op
She was so bored and so hungry and so thirsty and kept begging for something to drink...it made me so sad. And I didn't want to eat or drink in front of her, so I was suffering right along with her. A big thank you to Krista for hanging out with us in pre-op and keeping us company!
Apparently, they were waiting for a machine that is supposed to monitor her facial nerve in case they had to cut into her jawline and ear area (like a standard facelift cut) to remove the cyst. Turns out, no one ordered the machine in advance (of course), so it had to be ordered and they also had to call for technician to run the machine. I still have no idea why that takes 7 hours to do all that. Ugh.
She finally went in. Surgery went well--better than expected. They were able get everything they needed by going in through her neck area only and they didn't need to mess with her facial nerve after all. Recovery was smooth and they took her upstairs to keep her under observation for a few days.
Post-op
When Sammy was here for his surgeries, they were building a new hospital wing. It was finally open and Hannah was lucky enough to stay in one of the rooms.
They were a m a z i n g.
Touch screen TVs to watch on-demand movies, internet access, and you could even order your meals (apparently as many times as you wanted, whenever you wanted from 7am-8pm).
It was awesome. I only wish wish they had all this when he was here.
Krista and Ally came for a visit and the girls did crafts and played in one of the play rooms.
Yay for friends! <3
She was released 3 days later and was doing great until about a month ago, when I noticed her neck swelling up.
Again.
Ugh.
I called Dr. Lin, who was incredulous that it had returned--especially so quickly after removing it. We're going to wait until school gets out in June before we start up all the driving to Los Angeles and back for doctor appointments and what is sure to be another surgery.
Remind me again why I don't have my own plane?
