Edythe had her second surgery scheduled for May, but she got a cold and pink eye two days before. It was so disappointing to have her surgery postponed after waiting so long, but I had felt so nervous about it that it was a little bit of a relief as well. But then I'd look at her hand and want her to have full use of all her fingers, and wish we could get the surgery over with!
Jellybeans
The surgery was rescheduled for June 15th. We tried hard to keep Edy well, keep her away from sick people, and even made sure she had an extra healthy diet the week before. Then at church the day before the surgery a kind sister took her from me so I could play the piano for the meeting. When I peeked over the piano to check on her I saw that someone had given my 17 month old a bag of jelly beans. And she didn't say, "Thanks, just one", either. She was chowing down. I sat there and worried and tried to figure out what to do. What would this do to her immune system? To her stomach? Should I stop in the middle of the song and jump up and grab her? I been trying so hard to learn to trust the Lord, and I thought of that. Then the thought came into my head:"Do you think I can't handle jellybeans?" Of course he could. I let the worry go. When the woman holding Edythe caught my eye and motioned to ask if they were okay I mouthed "One." She looked "Whoops!" and took the rest of the bag and put them away. And I forgot about it. Later that day we made the trip to Salt Lake City. I was still checking her nose every once in a while in case she was going to come down with a cold at the last minute! Right before our three hour drive was over, Edythe suddenly vomited all over me. Everything in her stomach. All the way down to the jellybeans! Well, that was one way to take care of them. She showed no signs of upset stomach after that.
Surgery
Early the next morning we arrived at Shriner's Hospital in Salt Lake City. I'd felt some anxiety all week that I'd continually tried to push away, but that morning my prayers were answered and I felt totally peaceful. We went through all the preparations we had before.
Things had gone so well the first time that I prepared myself for something- anything- to go wrong. But nothing did. Her surgery started on time, she wasn't too starving before then (she couldn't eat after midnight), the nurses and doctors were as kind and helpful as last time... And this time when she was wheeled back to her room, she wasn't still asleep but was sitting up on her bed. She didn't dry til she was us. And though her voice sounded a little hoarse, she wasn't croupy like last time. She was a bit cranky, but more than happy to nurse and then down the bag of goldfish the nurse gave her. She REALLY wanted the IV out of her foot and the monitor off her toe! Once that finally happened she was ready to go play in the playroom with the big cars. Wow. Last time she was rather lethargic afterwards, so we were surprised. On the drive home she was no worse than normal on a long car drive ;) and she was so happy to see her siblings again. Before bedtime we tried to give her some Tylenol since she was getting fussy, but I don't think much went down. That was a really long night. Since I didn't know how much she got I didn't want to give it to her again. But the next day she had it only in the morning then about 7 hours later. Then next time it was 10 or 12 hours. And she just played all day like nothing had ever happened! Her finger was basically cut in half, and she doesn't seem to care! What a precious girl.
I have to add: So many prayers were answered with this surgery going well. Faith of many people brought this about, but it was Edy's faith, too. The week before her surgery our family fasted for her, and later in the day my husband gave a priesthood blessing to one of the other children. When he had finished, Edythe came over and climbed up on the chair and turned and looked up at him. He laughed, "Do you think she'll hold still?" he asked. "No!" we all answered. We know her too well. But she just sat there, so he place his hands on her head and gave her a blessing. And she sat still and quiet the whole time, and when it was over climbed down and walked away. Can a one-year old really have faith to be healed? I think so.
