Routine Appointment to Hospital Stay

First I am going to apologize for what will be a long blog post. So many people have been asking exactly what has been going on with Riley and this is the easiest way to explain it.

It all started last Sunday night when I noticed a small bump on Riley while getting a diaper on after her bath. I thought nothing of it knowing that Riley had a routine well appointment on Monday. On Monday Dr. Rufa looked at her bump which was 100 times worse than it was the night before. She immediately put Riley on an antibiotic and asked us to come back on Wednesday. By Wednesday the antibiotics did exactly what we wanted, for the infection to stop swelling and for her to be able to drain some of it. Dr. Rufa drained some of it, but could not get the whole thing. She asked for us to come back on Thursday and added a second antibiotic to take along with the first. On Thursday we went in and saw Dr. Rovell. She decided that this was something that needed to be drained by surgery. Within the hour we were at the Pediatric Surgeon's office where Dr. Browne took one look and said without a doubt that Riley would need surgery. We had no time to go home and prepare, before we knew it we were walking through the tunnels and registering at Upstate Medical for admittance into the Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital. As fast as all of this happened, and as scary as it was to go through this process, it felt all too familiar. It was only 2 short years ago that we were experiencing dealing with making fast decisions, listening carefully to what the doctors were saying, and hoping that in the end there are no long term affects.

The worst part was that this time around Riley was older and while she understood little of what was going on, she understood enough to know that she didn't want to be in pain and didn't want anyone hurting her. It's hard to explain to a 2-year-old that the doctors are there to help her, but she may experience some pain before that is able to happen. For instance, trying to get an IV in a toddler is like nailing JELL-O to a wall. They tried, they tried hard and finally they had to take her away to get the IV in. I am not sure how they did it, and I know I don't ever want to know how they got it in, but they did - right in her foot. This IV was going to hydrate her and give her antibiotics at the same time, which is great. What was not so great was telling her that since it was in her foot she couldn't be up and running around. Just wondering, has anyone ever had to tell their 2-year-old to stay in a bed for over 24 hours??? Not fun!!

We called her IV her "shoe" - she did eventually learn to like her shoe.

Riley did her best to make the situation better. She was "cheesing and posing" for me here with Baby AJ and Beeba.

We also did A LOT of reading

We were told on Thursday night that Riley's surgery would be scheduled for first thing in the morning since she would not be able to eat or drink after midnight. We woke up on Friday morning being told that the earliest she would have her surgery was 2pm. Which meant it could be later than 2pm. Really??? Now I would not only have to tell my kid she couldn't get out of bed, but that she can't eat or drink?!?!?! That was cruel for both child and mommy and daddy!

Notice that says "nothing to eat or drink."

So we were back to entertaining ourselves until surgery. Brushing Baby AJ's non-existent hair was a hit!

Thankfully we did not have to wait until 2. We were taken into the OR at 11:45am and by 1pm we were back in our room in the Pediatric Surgery Wing! Riley did well in the surgery and thankfully experienced no side affects of the anesthesia. And most importantly Riley loved her tiger print hospital gown.

Riley loved the balloons she received from friends, and all the visitors who came up to see her.


After she was given the thumbs up to eat, Riley ate everything she could get her hands on (and who can blame the girl)! I think her favorite was the ice cream.


We spent the rest of our day hanging out in the room where we watched lots of Dora, Deigo, Yo Gabba Gabba and Franklin.


But let's be real after 24 hours of looking at the colorful walls of our room - we needed to get out! Riley was able to ride in a green car around the hospital and a wagon. She loved being pushed and pulled around and the fact that she could be out of the room.

Of course Beeba and Baby AJ could NOT be excluded from the trip around the hospital.

Riley was not only a great patient, who in the end let whoever needed to check her vitals and her boo-boo, but she was a brave girl too. By the end of this whole experience, Riley informed us that she was a doctor. Hey - maybe this will stay with her forever and in the end she will be a pediatrician or a pediatric surgeon. Our experience with Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital was nothing short of excellent. The staff truly cares about each patient there regardless of why they were there.

Riley is certainly on the mend. The minute we got home her room was torn apart because she could not wait to play again.

While out getting some items, I picked up a play Doctor's Kit. Riley loves it. When she put the stethoscope on, I said "Are you Dr. Clark?" and Riley replied "No, I'm Dr. Rufa." I am sure that Dr. Rufa would be proud...I know we are!!!