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Surgery

Surgery day came quickly.  Katie wasn't allowed to eat from midnight the night before, so Emily and I didn't eat either.  Solidarity, sister!

When they put the IV in the back of Katie's hand, she squeezed my hand so hard I thought she was going to break some of my bones and they'd need the surgery room for both of us.  Katie didn't cry, but you could tell by her face that it hurt a lot.

As soon as that was done, Emily stood up and said, "I'm going to go find something to eat."  The nurse, who was still bent over Katie's hand, took one look at Emily and said, "Sit back down!"  Then she turned to another nurse across the room and said, "Get some juice and crackers!"  Emily had gone white, even her lips were pale.  She can handle getting shots on her own, she just doesn't like seeing it happen to Katie.


We had to wait quite a while, but the time for surgery finally arrived.  They gave Katie something to relax her and then wheeled her out.  I didn't like them taking her away while she was still awake, I wanted to be with her when she went to sleep, but she doesn't even remember being wheeled out of the room.



Three hours later the surgeon came and found us in the waiting room.  "The ligaments in her foot were just blown apart," he told me.  "Blown apart."  He had put in a metal plate and five screws. 

They let us back to see her and she was having juice and crackers.  She looked at Emily and said, "I really want to throw this juice box at you."  Apparently anesthesia makes her aggressive.



The nurse told me to put ice on her foot for 30 minutes several times a day.  I looked at Katie's foot which was wrapped in three inches of padding and asked, "Do you think the cold will get through all the bandages?"

"Probably not, but do it anyway."

They let her leave the hospital before she could even walk.  She conked out on the way home.

Back at the house, she asked Emily to make her a hamburger because she hadn't eaten all day.  She had a little trouble actually eating though!

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