Surgery was set for February 21st, 2013 at NCH in Naples.  A few days before, we had to do a pre-op admission at the hospital...it gets the insurance details taken care of and we met with the anesthesiologist.  We saw a student nurse anesthesiologist who talked directly to Melissa, not me.  He explained what his function was and how different types of anesthesia works....all broken down so a 14 year old could understand.  He made her feel very comfortable.

Two days before surgery, my mom flew into town. Little did I know how much I was going to need her help.

Morning of the surgery arrived and Melissa checked in at 6am.  She was immediately taken to pre-op and I stayed with her until they were ready for her.  She did not seem scared...maybe just a little nervous.  She was anxious to get this done....this was the big step in getting her life back.

Once they took her in, I went down to the cafeteria to get some breakfast.  The hospital has the worst coffee I have ever had in my life. Douwe Egberts instant foodservice stuff.  Yuck.  I returned back to the family surgical waiting room and found that they brew real coffee...thank god.  My mom arrived around 10:30  Just after noon, Dr Churchill came into the waiting room with copies of her xrays.  She had handled it well and would be going upstairs to pediatrics soon.

They had opened the bone in her femur approximately 3/8ths of (seen above as the white area at the bottom of her femur.)  Lots of long screws and a plate along the side of her legs.

About 30 minutes later, we were called out...she was ready to go to her room.  She was in the hall, still mostly out of it.  We were taken up the 3rd floor, the pediatric wing.  Brightly colored, nautical theme which is perfect for Naples. Double room all to herself....as we would find out later there were only about 4 kids on the floor.  For the first few hours, all she did was sleep...she would wake up briefly for meds, morphine. She was in pain with big blue braces on both legs.  Bright orange feet. She had some dinner around 7pm ...it was important that she eat so they could get her onto oral percoset, which would give her longer pain relief.  Soon her best friend arrived to say hello and see how she was....this put a smile on her face.

Around 10pm we settled down for the night.  We made a point of bringing her own pillows and blanket...made it feel more comfortable.  I had a pillow and snoozed in the reclining chair next to her bed.  She slept for about 2 hour intervals, alternating between percoset and morphine.  I probably cat napped about 3 hours.