A Long Day Comes to an End

Dr. Wisoff said the operation should take about 3 hours, and that no news was good news. We ran out and got a quick bite to eat at a local diner. We had left our cell phone numbers in case we needed to run back right away. I'm glad we didn't get any calls, because I know we would have freaked if either of our phones rang. We picked at our meals and tried to eat, but neither of us had much of an apettite. It was a cold night and we walked back quickly to the hospital.

We got back and waited in the Pediatric ICU where they would be bringing Isabella after the surgery. 12:30 AM came and went with no word from the O.R. Again, no news was good news. At 1:30 AM, we began to get a little nervous. If Dr. Wisoff was as good as we hoped he was, we figured he was a perfectionist and was making sure he was getting everything. But of course, there was always that feeling of dread in the back of our heads.

Finally, at 2:30 AM, Dr. Wisoff briskly came into the room and announced that he was done. He said that he had gotten everything that he could see and was extremely pleased with the outcome. A huge wave of relief swept over Julianne and me and we thanked him profusely. They were going to close Isabella up and bring her up as soon as they were done. She would have a follow up MRI the following afternoon just to make sure they got everything and that her brain was shifting back in place.

Around 4:00 AM, they finally wheeled Isabella into her room. She had a giant bandage covering her entire, but amazingly, she still had most of her hair. We were never so happy at that moment to see her come through the surgery. In the Pediatric ICU, there is only room for one parent to sleep bedside with the child, so Julianne stayed. I went to the parents lounge, where I finally got to sleep around 5:00 AM.