Malia Moore

March 6th, 2013

The night flew by and before you know it Carolina was coming in the room to bathe me at 5:30 am. I am tired and ready to go back to sleep! After my bathe I was ready to go. Once we got downstairs to the operating room my mom and dad were able to come in the room with me until they took me away. Right before I left to go downstairs the hiccups started. THe hiccups are usually always a sign of phlegm and aspiration. My parents were on edge about me having them and I could see in their eyes how worried they are for me. I wish I could tell them that I am going to be fine. Once the anestheologist came in and Dr. Castro it was time for me to be taken away.
The surgery could last anywhere from three to four hours.

MariaJose came to be with my parents and my grandmother is flying in tonight from Canada. It is always good to have a good support network!! My parents went upstairs to the room to wait. An hour had passed when my mom’s cell phone beeped ad it was a message from Dra. Castro. She wrote to my mom to tell her that they had put the I.V. in me and were ready to start surgery. My mom was thrilled that Dr. Castro was writing to her. Dra. Castro who is my pediatrician was not actually inside the operating room but standing outside of the operating room watching through a glass window. The next text message was that I was doing really good and everything was going great. Two more messages my parents would receive the last one saying that they were putting stitches in me and taking me off the tube! I managed to breathe on my own as soon as they took the tube out! Finally Dra. Castro told my mom to meet them outside of the operating room where I would be taken to intensive care and spend the night there for observation. Once I was being monitored it showed me to be at 98% and only 1 liter of oxygen. I am quite proud of myself. I have accomplished a major feat!

My night in ICU went fine. I had many phelgms and had to be aspirated a few times but other than that I was doing really well. One more week of being cooped up inside but it is all worth it!!! my doctors were amazing! They did a fantastic job and we are all so happy. We are about to experience a major life change for all of us.
Love Malia

March 5th 2012

I stayed the remainder of my time at Krystal’s house and on Tuesday we checked into CIMA. Dad had to stay back and finish some work up and he was also moving all our things into our new home. This was a very big job!! Last summer little by little we have been working on a one floor home. My dad moved everything out of our old home and into the new as the plan was for me to come home from my surgery to my new home. I am so looking forward to going home already!

Once inside the hospital, we ran some blood work for the anesthesiologist and another Complete Blood Count. Everything is coming back clear. My cardiologist Dr. Rafael Gutiérrez came by that evening to run an Eco Cardiogram before the surgery. I have a slight miscommunication between my left and right ventricle. Dr.Gutierrez wanted to make sure that everything was okay with me before I was put under anesthesia. That night three out of the five doctors came into my room to talk to my parents. They explained to them all the risks and complications of the surgery. They were all very much concerned that once they intubated me they I would like the ventilator breathing for me and not be able to come of the tube. Ny lungs were not in the best of the shape. In order to do laparoscopic surgery my stomach will have to be filled up with Carbon monoxide. Sometimes kids have a hard time with tolerating the gas and then open surgery will have to be performed. Even after all the risks were put in front of my parents, they decided the benefits outweighed the cons. I was scheduled for surgery at 7am the following day.

That night around 9pm I began to have the hiccups. This lasted for an hour and then the phlegm and trouble breathing started. Before I knew it I was on 6 liters of oxygen and having a very hard time breathing. Mom went out to the nurses station and asked them to call Jose my respiratory therapist. Jose has been working on me since I have been 1yrs old. My parents totally rely and trust him. After 20 minutes had passed mom went back out to the nurses station and asked for Jose and Carolina told us that he was in Emergencies with a patient in very bad condition. Ok, my mom says how long will that take? There was no answer. After another 20 minutes had passed and mom and dad working on me things really had not improved. Mom told Carolina that I needed to be aspirated and mom really did not want to have to do that. Besides, she is just my mom not the professional and hey we were in a hospital paying!!!!! Why was there not another therapist on the floor????? The nurse Carolina suggested that she could aspirate me. So at that point mom did not care and said yes do it as I really needed to be suctioned. She began to aspirate me just when Jose walked in the door. I have to say my mom was a little mean when he walked in the door she pounced on him as she and my dad were very frustrated that no one was there to take care of me in a very crucial time… Heck I have surgery tomorrow! I need to sleep!!! Finally at 12:00 am I was finished with therapy! Time for bed now.. No one really got any sleep.
Malia xo