Chrissie's Surgery

My last few months have been spent with anticipation, hope, worry, and so many other emotions and thoughts tucked in the back of mind. We (my husband, daughter, and I) made the decision for Chrissie, my daughter, to have surgery to help her legs so she could walk better. This is a blessing! Although this is a very positive thing, it doesn't make the anxiety of it any easier. It is a great blessing that the problem she has with her legs and her walk can be repaired. How great would it be if there was a solution to everyone's disability, illness, or issue, a fix... In that aspect of things, we are extremely fortunate. We thank God for that.

So much time went into research, and preparing her for the upcoming challenges she would face. She took it all in and embraced it. She has seriously been the strongest, bravest, most wonderful child through all of this. I have been so inspired by her! I am the Mama to one amazing little girl, somewhat fearless it seems. She understands what she has to do and she isn't afraid to do it!

The surgery, bilateral femoral derotational osteotomy, was preformed on April 11th.

The week prior to this we spent figuring out what we would need, what to be prepared for, explaining details, concerns, fears, and comforting each other. Lots of emotion to say the least!
Tuesday night, April 10th we all went to bed and when the alarm went off, (the day I had stressed over and tucked into my mind for months has arrived!!!) I immediately jumped up in tears and ran to the bathroom so no one would see my moment of weakness. I have felt many emotions and she didn't need me to expose all that. She noticed though and told me it was okay for me to cry and be the chicken, cause she wasn't gonna do it! LOL! WoW! Guess I'm not too good at hiding my feelings! I told her I would take on the job of worrying and stressing out and she could be worry free, she agreed happily and laughed! We had already packed up so now it was time to get dressed, get into the car, and get on the way!

We arrive at the time we we're told to get there (my plan wasn't to be too early because I didn't want Chrissie sitting around the hospital with all the anticipation of what was going to occur soon), but due to someone's scheduling mistake, we ended up waiting for quite sometime. I was told to arrive at 11:45, so we were a few minutes early for registration and all. They call us back to check vitals and then ask us "Why are you so early?" I explain that I was told to arrive at this time, then they realize that they are the ones who messed up! The O.R. wasn't scheduled until 2:45!!! What! Are you kidding me? I have a nervous, hungry child and we have to wait 3 more hours! Yep, we sure did. We did puzzles, colored and other activities to pass the time until the time arrived.

We go back to put on the dreaded hospital wear (my daughter says she is going to create fashionable hospital wear one day) and Chrissie gets upset, she has her moment. Who can blamer her? We console and comfort her and each other, and then it's time to go back. Originally when I had spoke with the pre-care nurses, anesthesioloists, and the surgeon they had told us we could be with her until she went to sleep. This was not the case, so Chrissie got upset again, but then she pulled herself together and went on down that hall to do what she needed to do. I fell to pieces, my heart was broken for her. This is so much for a child to go through. I said another prayer and went into the waiting room to wait for the next 3 hours. The longest three hours of my life... I could not wait to be back with my baby again (I am aware she is 10, she is still my baby). The doctor came into the waiting room and told me how great she did! I was so proud of her and of him, so hugs for everyone!!! :)

We then go to recovery of course, then up to her room! SHE DID IT!

So, she doesn't like the hospital room any better than the ugly hospital gown, and she just wants to go home. She got a little upset, which was expected, she had been through so much! She then slept alot and did so great! The little patient who constantly smiles! She exceeded everyone's expectations in all aspects! We stayed for two nights, then we came home!

Yay! We're home!
The outpouring of love has been tremendous! When we arrived home she had 22 cards waiting for her in the mailbox, and before we ever got home, her wonderful cousin Beth Willett called and offered her an Ipod touch 4! She was so thrilled! Thank you to all you wonderful, generous, considerate, caring people! God Bless You All! We <3 you with all of our hearts!

She has done great with pain and being stuck between the bed and a wheelchair and is doing so wonderfully! She can't bear any weight whatsoever for 8 weeks! That is quite a long time, especially for a kid. So far, so good!

She just amazes me!!! :)

Updates to come! Keep prayers coming for recovery!

Preperation...

Yesterday we had to go UNC Hospital to meet once more with the orthopedic doctor who will be preforming surgery (Femoral De-rotational Osteotomy) for Chrissie, our daughter, on April 11th. His name is Dr. Edmund Campion, and I think very highly of him. We only had a few more questions to ask him, he gladly answered and he promised he would take good care of our baby during surgery. :)
He told her how nice her room would be and told her it was okay to be afraid and/or concerned. She is being so super brave. She has had a few moments of tears, and worry. I, on the other hand have had numerous, and I'm sure there are many more of those moments to come in the upcoming days for us all.

We then took the transit over to the main hospital to talk to the anesthesiologist about the process and options of the morning of surgery.
See that smile on her face! WOW, what a brave and inspiring daughter we have!

They gave us the different options of anesthesia, and we will discuss it more the morning of. They also said it is possible to give her an epidural to help control her pain for a couple of days while she is in the hospital.
We are all excited for the outcome of this surgery after the rehabilitation, especially her.

In the meantime, we are really excited for Easter and Easter weekend! There is lots of fun ahead in the soon to come days!

I will be updating frequently here and on Facebook.
Thank you for your continued prayers.

I'm a Prankster!

Hope you had a great April Fool's Day filled with fun! We certainly did. Saturday night, my husband, Jake and I stayed up late to prepare for the morning to come! My daughter Chrissie and my niece Emma were in for quite a few surprises! Oh the anticipation that was in the house that morning when they started to get up! I'm going to mentally walk you through the fun and laughter that was had in our home this April Fool's Day!

The girls get up and start scrambling around! The first thing I have them do is go to the kitchen sink to wash their hands. This usually takes place in the bathroom but I had something up my sleeve...
Following a light shower, I tell them to go to they should go to the bathroom, this is when I hear a scream and apparently this was discovered...
This prank is accommodated with a flat plastic spider rolled up into the toliet paper, so it will come spiraling out at just the right moment! LOL! Oh the screams followed by laughter...

So onto the kitchen, where at this point they are starting to get paranoid, with good reason, Jake and I tell them to get some bowls and fix themselves some cereal...
The night before I had switched out the cereal. Chrissie swings the cabinet door open to get the bowls and out comes a huge plastic rat from Halloween! She ran backwards yelling then began laughing, and telling me "that is enough MOM!!!" "Knock it off!" ! Of course, I will....
Yea right!
So Emma begins to pour the cereal, and this is what's for breakfast...
Then Chrissie gets the milk out of the fridge and it's orange! "What's this?" LOL! It's carrot juice, and it is great with dog bone cereal! EWWW!
"Okay, Okay, I'll get you some cereal." I tell them, and I do... You should've seen their faces when they finally think it's over and they dig into their bowls and it's frozen.
They think I've super-glued their cereal! It was hilarious! At last, we let them eat!
Now they should go brush their teeth. There is mustard toothpaste awaiting them, but they don't trust anything at this point... So they caught me on that one.

Later that day my daughter gets the silverware out for our dinner, this is where she finds a plastic hand lying in the silverware tray! She screams and laughs some more!
Then she gets to the dining room table where she finds this...
OH NO!!!
Oh My, this isn't good at all!
"Chrissie, what have you done?" I ask...
"I didn't do it!" She begins repeating! She started to freak out a little when we began to laugh, Once again, she had been got!!!! :) Too much fun! I can't wait until next year!

Also that day I did a pretty challenging April Fool's Day 5k! Water balloons, squirt guns, Popsicles, an inflatable obstacle course prior to the finish line, and tons of hills!
WOW!
I did it!
This is me:
Here is the obstacle course:

This concludes our April Fool's Day of 2012, it was a fantastic!
Another blog coming soon!
Thanks for reading!