Endoscopy.

My brave girl!

Luckily I got a better night sleep then I anticipated, I'm sure the glass of wine David poured me before bed helped. The morning started out pretty uneventful, Ava even managed to eat her waffle by 8am. Around 10:15 the "I'm hungry" whining began, we decided to leave early and thankfully Ava fell asleep in the car. The worst part of any procedure that involves anesthesia is the waiting. We had to be at the hospital 2 hours early. Ava was amazing why we waited. She changed into the hospital gown and socks with no problem and there was a t.v. and of Daddy's iPad to distract her. She was very cooperative with the nurse and answered any question asked of her. We were very excited to discover she had even gained a pound! Yeah Ava!! Just as she started to complain of hunger again, the Anesthesiologist came in to meet us. We were almost ready to go, he explained his part of the job and made Ava and us very comfortable.



Ava was being so brave and well behaved it made it easy for me to hold it together. Even when Ava got wheeled into the procedure area she was perfect. Answered questions and was even acted silly. Finally Dr. T arrived, she explained the procedure and what to expect after, then it was time to go. Both David and I were allowed into the procedure room until Ava was asleep. Things were going perfectly there was no tears from anyone until Ava looked at the nurse and said "I don't want a cast!" My heart stopped, immediately everyone started talking at once reassuring her no cast would be involved today. Little did the people around David and I know the next time we went through this there would be. I was crushed and could not control it any longer and the flood gates opened. The Anesthesiologist placed the mask of her little face as I held her little hands. She fought some but with monkey & blanky by her side she went to sleep.

Recovery

David and I were told to wait in recovery until the procedure was done. The 22 minutes (yes, I counted) went surprisingly quick. Before we knew it Ava was being wheeled backed in and just coming out of it. It only took a few minutes for her to become alert and she began talking a mile a minute. One of her first complaints was about  the iv in her arm. She looked at her hand, then the nurse and said "Can you take this out? I need to go get my Wuggle pet." That's my Ava...she kept her part of the bargain now we needed to keep ours. She kept chatting away after that and the nurse looked up at me "She's a chatty one, huh?" Yep but much better then crying, don't you think. Dr. T came in and went over the procedure and handed us pictures of Ava's insides..EEEEEWWWWEEEEE! A little more then I needed to see of my daughter. Things looked good but her stomach had  slight gastritis (mild irritation). She's not sure what that is from. The biopsy results should be back next week, let the waiting begin.

Ava and her Wuggle pets!!

The nurse took out the iv and Ava insisted that Daddy had to be the one to take the heart monitor stickers off her chest. This was the only part she really cried, not that I blame her that hurts. She drank 1/2 an apple juice and ate a whole Italian ice. She wanted out and knew what she had to do. She got dressed, her vitals were good and we were on our way. Ava was super patient when we stopped for lunch (neither David nor I had eaten all day.) We went straight to Rite Aide after and Ava was over the moon with her prize. After picking Jack up from his friend's house it was straight home to make her Wuggles pets. Ava's life was complete. I am in awe of my daughters strength and she did amazingly well today. She is an incredible little girl who is so brave. I dread June 12th, when she wakes up with that cast on, she is going to freak. My heart breaks when I think about it, thankfully we have a little over a month to prepare her and hopefully make her okay with it. My sassy girl can teach us all a lesson on bravery.