Dawn’s Surgery – In Beijing
We left on Monday morning, April 14th to take Dawn and one House Mother to Beijing for Dawn’s surgery. We arrived at the hospital a little after four in the afternoon and got them all settled in. The doctor told us the surgery would be the next day at 5:00 PM and it took place as scheduled.
Above left then right – Dawn just out of surgery. The nurse is getting her connected to the monitoring machine. Then she put arm restraints and leg restraints on her so she couldn’t grab at the surgery area and also her IVs were in her little feet so her legs got restraints also. (She was sure upset about that when she woke up!)
After about ten minutes Dawn started coming in and out of the anesthesia but mostly she slept for the next hour.
Next day, April 16, 2008
She would cry then want to play… it became obvious after a little while that she was not in much pain but more aggravated about the arm restraints… not being able to do what all babies her age like to do… stuff things in their mouth… She would laugh (couldn’t get a shot of that since the flash was bothering her and she quickly figured out how to duck her head when the camera was pointed at her) and bounce and kept reaching for our cell phone and the camera.
Ye Ye let her play with his cell phone. She liked that! And she really liked being pushed around in her little stroller. By the way, that wire looking thing over her mouth is common practice with cleft lip surgeries. It will stay there for some time (even after the stitches are removed) to protect the surgery area.
So, Ye Ye started pushing her around in her stroller.. up and down the halls in the hospital we went. She couldn’t get enough of that, but after awhile, Ye Ye had enough!
Finally, visiting hours were over and we had to tell her goodbye. We are going back to Gongyi in the morning and will return to take Dawn and the House Mother back to Gongyi in about eight days.
Next day, April 17, 2008 – Picture taken by the House Mother
Each day Dawn seems to be doing better. The single picture above was taken on the 17th and sent to us by the House Mother staying with Dawn in Beijing.
The two pictures below were taken the following day on the 18th and she seems in better spirits yet and the House Mother confirms that she is playing with some of the other children now and doing fine.
Dawn arrives back in Gongyi – She’s Home! April 22, 2008
We don’t need to say much about the two above pictures…. they are pretty much self explanatory… especially the smile on Dawn’s face. She is obviously glad to be home. We show you these pictures so you can see how the surgery turned out. There is still much swelling and redness but all in all it looks as good as any we have experienced to date. We are very happy with the result!
Of course Dawn is happy to be back in her familiar territory, especially with her brothers and sisters. And of course Beau (above left) and Jacob (in the crib) are glad to have her back too though they are not sure what all the excitement is about.
The surgery was very successful.
A big Thank You to everyone who contributed to this milestone in Dawn’s life. Without your help, surgeries like this would not be possible.
If you would like to contribute to the medical expense for Dawn, Charity, Beau or Mathew you can do so at our donations page.
Posted: April 22nd, 2008 under Abandoned Babies, Special Activities, Surgeries.