Tuesday, February 1, 2011

her pearly whites

Gracie is having quite the extensive dental surgery today. They are crowning and root canaling (probably not a word) all of her teeth right now. Her teeth carry a high risk of infection and needed to be taken care of before her heart can be operated on again. Since the Mayo Clinic does not have pediatric dentistry, we are at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City.

Gracie is quite the patient--she has everything figured out, tells the nurses exactly where she wants her blood pressure taken and which little finger should hold the pulse oxymeter. She did tell them they could do anything today, but give her pokes and if they do give her a poke, they are only allowed one! No tears, no crying, just complete sweetness--she is amazing!

Since they haven't worked with Gracie before, I did get to hear how involved her heart disease is. The anesthesiologist pulled up a chair and explained all of the risks--any time Gracie has anesthesia, it carries a significant risk. Today's surgery is expected to be quite long--the longer on anesthesia, the higher risk it carries. So...pray for Gracie, that her body can tolerate the meds, that she will have adequate oxygen throughout the procedure, and that her airways will not be blocked in any way. They will ventilate through the nose since they are working in her mouth--this will be new for her.

I am using a public computer, so I should let someone else on. I will update as I hear anything!

Thanks for praying for Gracie!!

Love,
Gayle

3 comments:

Blessed Mom of Four AND More said...

Oh, Gayle, what a blessing Gracie has been to you and your family. What difficult lessons we the mommies learn through the trials.

You are in my prayers, dear sister! And, don't forget we MUST meet some day soon.

Mel said...

Gayle,

I just decided to check your blog today... we will be praying for Gracie and all of you.

Faye Verquer said...

I hope you have a chance to update us on her recovery. We are praying for all of you and especially little Gracie. She is such a treasure.

God Bless all of you

Faye