When Amber had her ACR in December 2004, we didn't stay the night. We stayed at a local hotel the night of surgery with Amber as it was an outpatient surgery recently at that time. Dr. Kozin provided his number to get in contact with him if we had a concern during the night, and we had an early AM appointment for follow-up in the AM at the clinic.
Pain medication prescription was given, but what a pain in the neck to get it filled at Temple where it was suggested to get it filled. Took forever and of course our BCBC insurance wasn't accepted there. Doesn't cost a lot of money, but just be prepared to have to possibly pay for it. We actually never even gave her any of it. We gave some over-the-counter medication (Tylenol and/or Motrin works well).
She came into the recovery room screaming and basically screamed the whole time. This is not unusual for children to have this reaction with anesthesia, along with it being a scary process and they wake up unable to move their arm. How do you explain to a little one they won't be able to move their arm? They don't understand and remember when they're that young so they're scared and upset at first. It will pass.
Bring a favorite cup or bottle with you with some clear liquid juice for the recover room. It's a comfort measure to have something familiar along with you will know what your child's favorite juice is. Make sure it's clear liquid though (no orange juice type of juice). Sips of that in recovery an be helpful to your child.
Carseat gets fitted before you leave. Some carseats don't fit your child the same with the cast on after surgery. Be prepared for this. You will have to eventually bring the carseat in to be fitted prior to leaving. They want to make sure your child is safe for travelling.
Amber figured out moving around so quickly. She was a little off-kilter for the first few hours in the hotel room, but that could also be from the anesthesia still, too. By the evening, she was moving around and running around (she was 2 at the time) like it didn't bother her. In fact, she tripped and fell in the hotel room and fell onto her front side. She jumped right back up and kept running around! Didn't faze her a bit. We put a pillow on the floor for her to put under her chest while laying down watching TV because the cast was bulky (she preferred lying on her tummy for TV). Next thing you knew...she was sound asleep on the hotel floor. We didn't have the heart to wake her as lifting her and moving her was harder with the cast, so we put some blankets on her and let her rest right there. She slept through the night as she was exhausted (as were we)!
Clothing: I just bought 2 sizes bigger for shirts that pulled over her head or buttoned up the front. Cotton so they're stretchy. Same with PJ's. The cast itself went down onto the hip area, as did the brace afterward, so stretchy waisted pants worked fine. Her coat was a bigger size as well, but she ended up using it for a few years as she grew into it the next season anyway, so not a problem.
Pre-op area was fine. Medicine by mouth to make her dreamy-eyed there. Lots of questions asked by the staff to you. Paperwork. They try to help you entertain your child (they have some toys, bubbles, TV, books). Amber got a toy given to her while there that was a bear you can draw on the shirt as a memory. She still has it 5 years later! Once they're ready for her in the operating room (OR), a staff member carried her to the OR and we went to the waiting room. Dr. Kozin came to the waiting room once she was settled to let us know that he was about to start surgery and her IV went in well while in the OR (hence the dreamy eyed medicine beforehand). Next thing you know, he was back in the waiting room telling us how things went and we waited a bit more for them to come get us to allow us to see her (they have to settle her and make sure she is physically doing well recovering from the anesthesia before you can come in, which is standard hospital procedure). A few hours in recovery room (at least for us), carseat fitting, paperwork, discharge teaching, you go get the pain medicine at Temple, then out the door to the hotel we went. Back early in the AM for a follow-up appointment then we drove 5 hours home.
We did a red cast because she was wearing it all of December and thought it would blend into the holiday spirit. I still clearly remember my two kids were getting pictures done with Santa and she was wearing a dress with a red shirt underneath it (red cast, too). The photographer kept saying to her "honey, can you put your right arm down please" not realizing it was even in a cast because the red cast matched the red shirt sleeve. I explained it to him and he was a little embarrased. Her arm stuck straight out to the side (modified position compared to most ACR post-op positioning of the arm). I chuckle when I think about it.
Good luck to you. We're going for a follow-up in the middle of December.
