Violet's Port-a-cath Surgery

We just made it home from Seattle Children's Hospital. Violet's surgery was successful and lasted almost 2 hours. Then, she was in recovery for another 2.5 hours. The first thing we were told when the anesthesiologist and doctor came in was that it took a little longer than expected because they had a hard time finding a vein for the IV. Our poor little baby had her hands, wrists and feet poked and when they could not get any of those to work they ended up shaving some of her hair and getting the line in on her scalp by her temple. My eyes quickly welled up with tears with the news but I then took a deep breath and tried to focus on the fact that she was awake and well ... something to be very grateful for.

The doctor let us know that the port was inserted by 2 incisions, one in the neck and one in the chest on her right side. There are dissolvable stitches in place on the skin and underneath the skin as well. The port is stitched into the muscle of her chest wall and the line goes from there into the jugular vein in her neck. He informed us that there are risks of infection, blood clots and the dislodging of the line. He said that in babies we have to be extra careful because the line is shorter so it can become dislodged easier. This means that we will have to take great care in how we pick her up, move her about and play with her.

I understand this port is very important and that was especially shown to me from what happened today with the medical staff having such a difficult time finding a vein to access. However, I am very sad about this port in how it changes the handling of our baby and needing to be so careful as to not disturb this line. When I just want to grab her up and squeeze her or lift her up in the air to play, I will have to hold back and be careful. That is really hard as a parent. I know we will adapt, but the news of this is just ... hard.

We were led back to another area when Violet was coming out of recovery. They brought her in and she was still very groggy from the anesthesia. She had the IV in her head on her right side and I could see the steri-strips on her neck and chest with a long bruise forming quickly in between the two. My mom and I both shed tears for a minute. It was obviously a really startling sight.

Violet started to slowly become more aware of her discomfort and hunger so she began to cry. The nurse listened to her tummy to make sure it was starting to awaken so that I could give her some fluids. It was and so I was able to feed her. I was so scared to pick her up wrong or move her the wrong way. But, it all worked out just fine and she was able to get some nourishment and then fall back asleep for a little bit.

The nurse came back in and said that we could go home. She gave us instructions on after care and what to look out for. She had to remove the IV and all the tape so that was pretty horrible for Violet. She cried. I hated seeing her in pain like that. Once we were able to leave and get Violet into her carseat and get on the road she fell back asleep.

Violet is sleeping now and I am praying that her recovery is quick and as comfortable as possible.

Thank you Lord for seeing us through this and for giving us strength. Thank you for keeping Violet safe and for loving us. Thank you for all of the wonderful people reading our story, for any knowledge that they may gain from our experience, and for the encouragement they share with us each day. We are grateful.