Are We There Yet?

The Rest of the Story...

We arrived at the hospital bright and early -- well, actually just really, really early -- at 6AM this morning. Between packing and worrying, I got roughly two hours of sleep last night, which did not bode well for what was supposed to be a L-O-N-G day. We kept Molly in her PJs...
...but, of course, she still had to have a big bow in her hair. (She was closing her eyes in anticipation of a gift Meggie had brought for her.)

Daddy, Molly and I headed back to the prep room with the nurse around 6:15. We let Meggie come along -- she was just too distracted with worry to go to school today -- and she hung out in the Same Day Surgery waiting room with Aunt Nikki. (Thanks bunches, Aunt Nikki, for coming to the hospital so early!)

Molly was just chilling...
...and thought it was pretty cool...
...that Wa-Wa got to wear a bracelet just like hers! A parade of people came in and out of this closet-sized prep room...including "our Deacon"...who just happened to be our good friend, Chris, from Church. He said telling them he was a friend wouldn't get him in and that, if Deacon didn't work, he was gonna claim to be our Pastor. Now THAT, my friends, is dedication to the cause! (Thanks, Chris, for schlepping all the way downtown to check on us so early in the morning!)

After meeting with multiple nurses, a nurse practitioner, the anesthesia team, and the surgeons, we headed to the induction room. Molly had received some oral Versed to calm her nerves and was cracking everyone up with her drunken ramblings. (I tried to videotape her with my phone but could never quite catch her funniest moments on film.)

I got to hold Molly while they induced her with the "sleepy air" (which she hates, but tolerated much better than normal with the help of the Versed) and we were escorted back to the waiting room with the expectation that we had at least two hours of waiting time ahead of us. Our entourage (which now also included Grandma and Grandpa B) headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.

I no sooner got a tray in my hand and started deciding what to order...and my cell phone rang. It was Connie in the waiting room telling me not to worry (yeah, right) but the surgeon needed to talk to us right away. Daddy and I dropped (literally) everything and RAN back up to the third floor. We were put into a tiny room...to wait. I thought I was going to be sick.

I kept going over in my mind what possibly could be the reason for this impromptu consultation with the surgeon...and was thinking, of course, only the worst. After a few minutes -- which felt like HOURS -- the surgeon came in and told us he was canceling the surgery.

WHAT?!?!

He drew a sketch on the white board in the room to explain what he found. Apparently, after Molly was under anesthesia, he was able to do an in-depth (no pun intended) rectal exam and found that what was thought to be a teratoma on the MRI was actually a tiny (think eraser on the end of a pencil) cystic structure that appears to be "communicating" with her spinal cord. In a child with no symptoms AT ALL, it was just too risky to remove it knowing it might be connected to her spine and contain spinal fluid.

His quote was, "We too often ruin good by trying for perfect." I thought that was pretty profound. He ended our little consultation with the observation that, based on Molly's spinal issues, the fact that she can walk without issue and has no problems with bowel or bladder control is -- his words -- "a miracle."

I'll take it!

The surgeon also said he expects to check her with an MRI in six months. If there are no changes, they will do an MRI again in one year. If that one is OK, then she will have MRIs every three years. Yes, folks, it is very possible she may not need surgery at all.

When Molly woke up in PACU, she was furious that the doctor didn't "fix her back." She was looking forward to them revising her scar -- which used to really bother me, since it is quite the eyesore. But you know what? I was so distressed over the possibility of creating problems in her otherwise symptom-free spine that I have decided I LOVE the sight of that horrible horizontal scar across her lower back.

We will not be ruining good trying for perfect...no need, she's perfect enough the way she is!