Pigtails!

A picture is worth 1000 words, right? Are we blessed, or what!

Let the Sugar High Commence

Hannah was such a trooper for her surgery today. The nurses were all amazed at her calmness and she did great without eating all day. We arrived at the hospital about noon for her 3pm surgery. Of course, there was lots of waiting, but they wheeled her into surgery right on time. Kevin and I had to leave one they took her back, but she'd had a medication to calm her and she was pretty relaxed already. She doesn't remember anything after that until she woke up in recovery.

The dark spot on her neck is the cyst that was removed. In this picture it is the smallest it has been in months as 3 weeks of antibiotics helped it shrink. The cyst was larger under her skin than expected, but it was not infected, so that helped with it's removal. They took the cyst and the "tail" these types of cysts have with them. There is only a 5% chance it will return and it would return in the next 4-6 weeks if it is going to.

Here she is beginning to get prepped for surgery.

Gwen, Hannah's American Girl, went along for the day's excitement. Hannah chose a new American Girl activity book as her after surgery toy, so Gwen had to be there. Before I left the hospital Hannah said, "Gwen, it is time for you to start school."

Hannah is all changed into her hospital garb which she said has "clowns on it and makes me look like a clown."

Surgery was over in just about the hour and a quarter the doctor had predicted. When Kevin and I got up to recovery, we found an awake and very upset Hannah. She was in a lot of pain and was mad at the nurse. "SHE wouldn't let me drink the whole thing." She was very thirsty and didn't understand why she couldn't drink water more quickly. They got her pain managed very quickly and we spooned water into her mouth and calmed her down. The HS Musical 2 DVD probably did the best job of taking her mind off her woes.

At one point I almost fainted and had to sit down. That is not typical for me as I don't usually get squeamish. She has a large bandage on her neck and was irritated by the IV. By the time we left recovery and got up to her room (about 6pm) Hannah was doing much better. Ordering her dinner made her very happy. I stepped out to make a couple phone calls and returned to see Hannah eating her "appetizer."

Hannah's "appetizer, chocolate pudding.

After a day of eating Hannah's eyes lit up at the mention of a toasted cheese sandwich. It proved to be too harsh for her throat, still. But, by 9pm she had managed to also eat 3 orange sherberts and drink an orange soda and had the apple juice and chocolate milk waiting. So, as long as she doesn't give herself diabetes, she should be fine.

Hannah should be discharged in the morning. The cyst was draining quite a bit, so if it is still draining in the morning, it might be a bit later before she is released to come home. Kevin is spending the night with her as I need to be home to feed Melody.

We are especially grateful that Carla came to spend the day with the rest of our family. They had a wonderful time and Carla was a real trooper and took care of all Melody's needs. Rob joined her part of the time and I heard there was swimming and eating out as part of the day, so they were very spoiled. I didn't make it back home until about 8:15pm.

While I was telling Carla about Hannah's surgery, Elizabeth asked me not to talk about it and then went to sit down. She proceeded to pass out and then wonder why I was standing over her all worried when she came to. This is the second time she has passes out when medical things are going on. Guess none of our daughters will be nurses. :)

Surgery Update

Hannah's surgery will be at 3:oopm. She is the oldest patient tomorrow! So, pray for her as she goes the whole day without eating. She can have clear liquids until 10am. We need to arrive at the hospital at noon.

Hannah's Turn

Sisters! Hannah & Melody

Wednesday, May 19th, Hannah will be having surgery at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital to remove what is believed to be a thyroglossal cyst from her neck. If it is that type of cyst she will be there overnight. If it happens to be just a regular cyst or a lymph node, she should be able to be to come home that day.

This is the cyst we first discovered when it got infected about the time Melody was born. Over the past couple months it has continued to get infected. She has been on antibiotics for the last 3 weeks. It will likely continue to cause problems unless it is removed, so that is why we are having this surgery.

We are looking forward to spending the morning at Disneyland tomorrow before Hannah's surgery. I will be able to call between 1-3pm tomorrow and find out what time surgery will be. They schedule surgeries based on age, so we expect hers to one of the first of the day.

Carla is going to come to be with the other kids so both Kevin and I can be there for the surgery. It will be a crazy day for me as I go between the hospital and our house to care for Melody's needs. Kevin will be able to remain with Hannah and spend the night with her if necessary.

So far Hannah is doing great with her impending surgery. She has a box of popsicles waiting in the freezer and a couple of gifts to open when she wakes up. Doctor Rowe has answered all her questions and assured her she'll be asleep for most everything, even the IV.

Thanks for all your prayers. We know this is a simple surgery, but we also know that all surgeries carry risks. I'll try to update this after her surgery.

SOLD

Today the sale of our house closed escrow. It still doesn't seem real to think that we have really sold our home. When we first began to discuss it, Kevin told me there was about a 10% chance we would sell. Needless to say, a lot has happened between January and now. It has been a wild ride, and one that we know God's hand has been upon. We were able to sell our house for very close to what we paid for it 6 1/2 years ago. We made back every penny we spend updating it before we placed it on the market. It sold so fast and to the very first buyer. A coworker of Kevin's did some math and figured we lived in our house for $700/month! Not a bad investment. We anticipate having money from the sale in our bank account soon. Maybe that will make it seem more real.

Though we had a lot of wonderful memories in that house, everyone is moving on well. Only one of the kids even wanted to go back and see it this week before we closed.

Now we begin looking for our future home. We are not really in a hurry as we have a wonderful place to live currently. However, it will be nice to get settled into our own home. We are looking for a single story home, preferrably with a pool. We also are looking for a level driveway, no stairs or steps to access the house, and on a street with sidewalks or at least a walkable street. It will be easy to get discouraged as finding one in our price range that has what we need makes the possibilities slim. However, we know that as God has had His hand upon this whole process, He will provide. The hardest part is being patient.

We praise God for what He has done and we look forward in faith to what He will do.

Melody's New Brace

Yesterday Melody traded in her Pavlik Harness for a Rhino Cruiser Hip Abduction brace. The Pavlik was not working, so she has moved on to the next option for her unstable hip. Once again, we are praying this will solve the issue.

As with anything new, this brace is taking some getting used to. The biggest hurdle is that she can no longer ride in her infant car seat with it. The doctor wants her to wear it "full time," so that is obviously an issue. The orthodics provider which fitted her with the brace was of no help whatsoever as far as the carseat. "I can't legally advise you to have her wear it in a carseat!" I spent the afternoon on-line doing research and then last night Kevin and I were off to the store to attempt to find a seat that works. They make a special one that sells for $500, so we were trying to avoid that. We did find one and brought it home. Yesterday I had to take Melody's brace on and off each time we got in and out of the van.

Today I have spent much of the day trying to install the car seat and get it to work with Melody's brace. A rolled up towel and t-shirt and a removed base, and I currently have it working, However, the driver's seat in the van is forward almost as far as it will go. This works okay for me, but means that Daddy will never be able to drive Melody anywhere. Obviously, my work is yet finished.

The carseat issue seems to be the biggest hurdle. Melody is able to sleep on her stomach in this brace, and has been sleeping normally, so that is a HUGE praise. I have to take it all off to change diapers, but it is only 3 velcro straps, so not too bad. It takes about 10 minutes each time.

The brace has two straps that go around her thighs and one that goes around her belly. It appears that wearing onesies is the best choice to keep it from irritating her belly.

The brace is very hard, so it a bit uncomforable while she is sitting on my lap, and is very slippery. It is heavy and awkward to manuver her in it, but it does have a pretty good "handle" in a couple of places.

Here's her cute caboose!

I am having fun putting her in outfits she hasn't been able to wear for months. Last night she actually wore a sleeper to bed and I'm giddy about her wearing pants and shoes! I'll be shopping for legging with longer shirts and dresses to go over them. Bulky pants aren't very good under the brace as they bunch up.

I must admit the last couple of days have been a challenge. I wish it were easier. However, life will never be easy for Melody. So many things will pose problems and we'll have to find ways to "make it work." As much as I want to scream and chew out car seat manufacturers and orthodics providers, I need to face the facts. I need to approach each new challenge with a "we'll find a way to make this work" attitude. Melody and I are going to need that. As well as passels of creativity. Oh, and a boatload of humor wouldn't hurt, either.

Catching Up

We just finished a wonderful week with my parents here. We all enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa very much. They were here to help me celebrate my birthday and my entrance into a new decade. We managed to get a lot of celebrating into one week.

There are a few other noteworthy items in our lives:

1- The sale of our house should close escrow in 8 days! We continue to pray it through and know that nothing is final until it is closed.

2- Melody's Pavlik Harness has not been able to resolve her hip issue, so she will be moving into a new brace, the Rhino Cruiser. We're still awaiting insurance authorization and a call to schedule a fitting for that.

3- May 19th Hannah is scheduled for surgery. The best option seems to be to have the cyst in her neck removed. It will probably continue to be an issue otherwise. It should be a one-day or overnight event. She has to be free of infection in order to be removed, so we are praying and working to that end at this point.