POST-OP DAY 3

Boy is it nice to be home! We arrived here around 5:30 last p.m. Bree and I chilled on the couch, napping and watching TV. We officially retired for the evening at 10:30p.m. I set the alarm for every four hours to keep the meds on schedule. I actually had to wake Bree up to give them to her. I think we both slept so well being back in our own beds! I awoke at 9a.m and looked over and Bree was lying there awake and sucking her thumb. Doug and the girls had gone to church, so we lounged around. I cannot believe how well her pain control has been today. This evening my mom and my grandma (G.G.) arrived for the week. Bree has been a bit challenging with everyone around-we think she enjoyed all the one on one with mommy for the last few days.
"I am the Lord your God; I strengthen you and tell you, "Do not be afraid; I will help you.'"
Isaiah 41:13

POST-OP DAY 2

Yesterday afternoon went well. Brynn and Brooke came up after school with balloons which Bree loved. We took her for a wagon ride to the play room and library for quite a while. She slept better and we haven't used as much pain meds, but her right foot is still causing her much pain.
When the doctor rounded this morning he decided to take down her splint and make sure she wasn't having any complications. They gave Bree a little "forgetting" med and checked out her foot-she did awesome. Her foot looked so great in its new position! She has two pins in each foot that won't come out until about 6 weeks. She was very interested in looking at her own foot once the splint was taken off. They then resplinted the foot a bit less tight. The rest of the afternoon we spent in the wagon and then napping. Brynn and Brooke came back up to visit before going to a bday party. If all goes well and she doesn't require any morphine, we will go home this evening. On December 1st, we bring her back to the hospital and under anesthesia they will place her actual casts. The plan is a minimum of six weeks in long leg casts and then 2-4 weeks in short leg casts. We are so grateful for the wonderful care she has received and the many prayers and blessings cast upon her.

POST-OP DAY ONE

Well, we made it through the first night and as I told the surgeon, it could have been worse. We slept ofor 60-90 minutes at a time. The surgery was very successful. They felt that they were able to get her feet in the right position without compromising her vessels or muscles to much. She had a fever in the middle of the night-not unexpected per the surgeons. She is very well pain medicated most of the time. She can get IV morphine for breakthrough pain every one hour and we have managed to space that out to two hours. She gets valium and oxycodone orally every four hours. Clearly her right foot hurts more since it was the more severe of the two. They could not cast her post-op due to swelling, so she is in splints that cover two-thirds of her feet and legs. They came in this am and loosened the right one as she kept pointing to that leg and saying "ouchie". We have had periods of her being conversive with us and as the day goes by she is more comfortable. Hopefully, she will perk up once the girls come to visit after school today. We continue to lift Bree up in prayer and plead the blood over her "and this is the confidence which we have in Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, He listens to and hears us. And if we know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know that we have the requests made of Him" 1 John 5:14-15.

SURGERY DAY

As I sit and write this update, Bree is in surgery. She was such a good girl this am. Never fussed once in pre-op. I was allowed to go back to the operating room with her and hold her until they put her to sleep with a mask. She barely fussed when we did that. I must say it was gut wrenching to walk out of that room and leave her behind. How blessed we are that I know everyone that is going to be with her for the next 4-5 hours. They came and spoke with us already to tell us that she passed her BAER (hearing test) that we did since she was under anesthesia. Thank you to all who have and are praying for Bree today. I will update later after she is out of surgery. God Bless.

UPDATE

We are five days and counting until surgery day. Bree of course caught a germ and has had a 102 plus fever for the past three days. Her poor sleeping is preparing me for post-op! Through it all though she has been a trooper. A week ago she decided she would like to potty train. I have said all along that she is ready as she is dry for hours and then soaked. So, last week after one of those long dry spells, I put her on the toilet and the rest is history. With the upcoming surgery I wasn't sure if I should encourage it, but now she scoots toward a bathroom saying "mama pee pee potty" so a way we have went. We'll see what occurs after next week.
Bree had her first speech eval appt. last Wednesday. We saw a therapist that I use with my own patients. She did awesome and the S.T felt that her visits with Bree would be minimal. Her vocabulary is pushing 75 words, we are just working on putting words together and her articulation.
The other first for last week was her first hair cut. I guess I didn't realize how much her hair was growing until I look at old pictures. Once her bangs were over her eyes, I decided it needed to be done and a minor trim ensued. Now we just have to get the sides to grow over her ears so her hair stops winging out! She is not big on hair clips, but she will humor for short periods of time with them in.
We marvel daily at what a blessing Bree is to our family. She is just an awesome child and we are so ready and eager to get this surgery over and watch her world expand with the ability to walk! We will keep you posted. God Bless

FIRST HALLOWEEN

We're not really sure just what exactly Bree thought of this whole idea of Halloween. She was more than eager to don on her bumblebee costume since she watched sissies putting on their costumes. The actual carving of the pumpkin intrigued her and she made it quite well known that she had no interest in touching the pumpkin insides! She most definitely is into candy and had that bag of hers open wide when trick or treating. We had to hide the "loot" after the first few days however, as she only wanted to point to the candy bowl and say "eat" when she was put into her highchair for any meal. So now, pumpkin, candy and eat are very regular words in her vocabulary.
We go tomorrow to have her casts changed again. This will be the last set prior to surgery. She definitely has not let these casts slow her down. She has learned to crawl up the stairs and goes down on her tummy. They are, however, lethal weapons if she is "acting two" and having a temper tantrum.