Surgery #7

Sophia is having her 7th surgery tomorrow.  She's having a dermoid cyst removed and a mediport implanted.

The Dermoid Cyst

A dermoid cyst has been growing rapidly on her forehead since September.  Her surgeon said that they remove them all of the time.  He also said that surgery wasn't urgent and he would remove it before Sophia went home.  I didn't expect it to be removed so soon.

The Mediport

In the meantime, she got sick and needed an IV.  For some reason, the nurses have a difficult time finding a vein.  When they find a vein, they stick Sophia and the vein moves or blows.  They even used a sonogram machine to find a nice vein.  They find a vein, stick her, and the vein moves or blows again.  A couple of times some of the nurses would chase a vein and Sophia was not happy.  There has been two people that have conquered Sophia and has gotten an IV in.  The problem?  Her veins blew in two or three days and they started the search for a vein all over again. 

 At the top of her arm is a bruise from a failed attempt.  The red dot underneath the bruise was a great IV but it went bad in a couple of days.  The bruise underneath her arm was a nice IV, too.  It also went bad.

They moved to her right arm.  After five or six failed attempts over two days or so, everyone decided to stop torturing her and let her rest.

Depending on the day, Sophia needs several drugs at a time.  They best way to give them to her is through an IV.  Without an IV, she gets poked every time.  Or, her meds go through her g-button in her belly but that isn't as effective as having an IV.  

Last week the PICU doctor proposed that they implant a mediport in Sophia.  Apparently, the mediport is a device that is surgically implanted and used to administer drugs and withdraw blood.  It provides long term IV access and should prevent Sophia from being poked so many times.  

I found this image online of a mediport and how it works.

The mediport became a priority because Sophia can't continue to be poked endlessly and she frequently needs an IV.  Since she's going into surgery, they might as well remove her cyst, too.  The procedures don't worry me.  Post-op does.  She always struggle after surgery and I'm somewhat nervous about her recovery.  Tests will be run on the cyst and I'm hoping everything will come back negative.  For now, I just want to focus on tomorrow.