I read once that when you move to different part of the country be prepared for an initial increase in colds, sickness and doctor's visits. Over our past year in St. Louis, the kids have proven 100%, without a doubt, that theory correct.
Giselle and Everett seemed to be competing neck and neck for first prize with number of doctor's visits and weird diagnoses , but that Giselle, she's stubborn and a fighter, two characteristics I hope will serve her well throughout her life. Just before our year mark, our baby girl came in with a medical procedure that all but assured her the title of "Giddens Kid with Most Doctor's Visits and Weird Medical Issues" (What? You didn't know about that award?)
Sometime last May, around Giselle's first birthday, I felt a small bump on the right side of her neck/head. It felt odd to me, but I wasn't too worried. Worrying's not really in my nature. At her year check-up I pointed it out to her pediatrician who suggested that it might be a swollen lymph node. She said to keep an eye on it and let her know if it didn't go away.
By the end of the summer the lump was still there and if anything, seemed bigger and harder. When I pointed it out again to the pediatrician, her first comment was, "Whoa, that seems bigger." So off to get an ultrasound we went. Since by this time the bump was causing Giselle some pain, imagine how fun getting that ultrasound was! A perfect stranger pushing a weird device all along the back of Giselle's head, pressing on the painful bump. I think the entire floor of the hospital heard Giselle's screaming that day.
The ultrasound proved inconclusive, so our doctor recommended seeing a pediatric ENT specialist. This was right around the holidays and since things got busy, we decided to wait until January to schedule an appt. When we finally met with the specialist he came in and immediately recommended surgery. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but due to it's location, he wanted it out asap. Surgery was scheduled for the end of March.
I was still fairly confident that this would turn out to be nothing, but during the time between meeting with the specialist and going in for the surgery, I felt like I was inundated with more than one story of something tragic occurring to children. Thankfully, lots of prayers were said and Will, with the help of one of our home teachers, gave Giselle a blessing the Sunday before her Tuesday surgery. While still a bit apprehensive, I felt peace.
The night before her surgery, Giselle was fine. The morning of her surgery, Giselle was fine. In the pre-op room, Giselle played in the sink. This girl had not a care in the world. She fussed a little when they took her away, but overall, she was fine.
The surgery took all of 40 minutes, during which time Giselle was under general anesthesia. The doctor reported that he took quite a big mass out of her head. He said it was so big that he had to take it out in chunks. Dr. Clary (really awesome, by the way) said he thought it looked like a benign hair follicle tumor, but that he would confirm that once he had the pathology report.
The last time I was under general anesthesia was 20 (!) years ago when I had my wisdom teeth out. Will, on the other hand, has had it much more recently than that. He, along with the nurses, warned me that Giselle would not be happy when she came out of surgery. Oh boy was she angry! Screaming and crying and yelling about the I.V. on her hand. She wanted me and then she didn't, she wanted Daddy and then she didn't. She was calm and then screaming. It was actually kind of funny. We took her home about an hour after she came out of surgery. Once we got home, she. was. totally. fine. I couldn't believe it! We had all sorts of warnings about how she might be fussy, or tired, or have a hard time balancing, or sleeping, etc. Giselle was outside running after the big kids by 4 o'clock. She didn't skip a beat!
That was two weeks ago and things have been completely fine. Her incision site is healing and she still has a couple of stitches that have yet to dissolve. They don't even seem to bother her.
We went for a post-op check-up this morning and Dr. Clary confirmed that the mass was exactly what he thought it was. Giselle was given a clean bill of health and everyone's happy. Yea for modern medicine and lots of prayers!
