FAVA surgery

This surgery has been a long time coming. Gwyneth has been suffering from what was determined to be a FAVA (Fibro-Adipose Vascular Anomaly). It’s rare and painful; read more about it here. 
After more than a year of appointments, testing, MRIs, etc, etc etc. we finally had a course of action. Rather than surgically removing the mass (which would have been more invasive, taken a large portion of her muscle, caused intense physical therapy afterwards, produced a large scar on her leg, and may have even left her with a limp) the doctors opted to operate using cryoablation. 4 tiny little probes were inserted directly into the tumor and extreme cold was used to destroy the cells. Modern medicine is truly remarkable!
We arrived at 5:45 am to check in at Children’s Hospital with a tired, anxious and hungry girl. We were then transported by ambulance to University Hospital for the procedure. It’s about a 30 second drive but University has the cryo machine and Children’s doesn’t. 
Of course, there’s always some waiting around time and that’s when our girls started to really get anxious and a bit hangry. 

The surgery lasted approximately 3 hours which is absolute torture for the parents.  We couldn’t wait to hug our girl after this was all over. We walked back to recovery to find a very upset little lady. Her little body was so, so cold from the procedure and they were doing their best to raise her body temperature. She was shivering and in a lot of pain. Her entire body was trembling from her tears. It’s so difficult to see your child suffering like that. I wanted to just snatch her up and hug her close. It makes you feel so powerless and helpless.

She was transported via ambulance back to Children’s and into her own recovery room. We were meant to stay one night at the hospital but this girl was in a lot of pain. The doctors were having a difficult time managing it. She slept most of the day. Around 4 pm the intense pain set in and she was nearly inconsolable. She was thrashing around, couldn’t get comfortable, and couldn’t sleep because the pain was so intense. They tried all different medications. The pain was excruciating until about 11 pm. The night was restless and we had doctors in and out every 4 hours. We had to get an ok from the physical therapist for our release. Gwyneth couldn’t/wouldn’t take a single step. We were asked/told to stay another night.

Around 4 pm she started to feeling better, the pain was less intense and that smile we all know and love made it’s appearance. She scarfed down lunch and was ready to give those crutches a try.

She would stay awake about 15 minutes at a time. Enough to eat and take a few steps with her crutches.

Her amazing girl scout troop leader, Kristin, stopped by with a giant cards and gifts from her friends. It was so, so kind of them to think of her.

Kids under the age of 13 couldn’t go to the rooms because of a flu outbreak. Her friend Ruby really wanted to visit and Gwyneth’s doctor gave her special permission to meet in the lobby. The visit only last 10 minutes, Gwyneth didn’t have the strength for more, but she was grateful to see her friend.

She had a few more visitors and worked her way around the room on her crutches. 

The absolute highlight of her day was the visit from her sister. Oh man, these two are thick as thieves. B, Yaya, and Annabelle came down for a visit after Annabelle’s dance class. Gwyneth could hardly contain herself.

Annabelle pushed her around in her wheelchair, caught her up on the all the happenings at school, and was an absolute amazing big sister. I could see the love, support and care in their eyes, smiles, and laughter. It makes a momma’s heart proud. I hope they never lose this connection.

Gwyneth lasted longer than any other visit that day. After 30 minutes she was wiped out and it was time for everyone to call it a night.

The next morning was pancakes, physical therapy and a very eager girl for a hospital discharge. She mastered the stairs on her crutches and we were given the ok to head home.

We are so thankful to everyone who took such good care of us, for all the phone calls and texts, and for the pain relief for our little lady. Recovery here we come!

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