Life as a Leach

Abby and I came home early this afternoon!  She was excited to see Chloe and Caleb.  The kids have played really well today, which is always nice!   I'm not feeling so hot, so I've been banished to my room.  The eucalyptus is infusing by my side, my breathe easy oil concoction has been applied, and I've used a lot of tissues.  But I'm still sneaking in the laundry! I'm still so amazed at how well Abby did after this surgery!  Thank you Lord for taking care of my girl! My dad has surgery next week, so please be praying for him as well!

Abby is doing so well with this recovery!!  It has just been so different from the last surgery.   Yesterday, she went to the playroom and gathered lots of toys!  I couldn't believe she had just been in surgery that morning! This morning, Abby got to play music with a music therapist and hung out at the radiothon downstairs for a little while.  Then she had a wonderful surprise (for her) visit from Anna, Lucy, and Aunt Amy!  They played in the playroom, watched a little Frozen, and had several intense games of hospital bingo where all 3 girls were able to win Barbies!  They were all thrilled with their prizes. S Abby drank her required milk today and ate decently.  She's kept everything down, so we should be able to go home tomorrow!!!  Yippee!

The surgeon just came out to say surgery is done and was successful.  Here are some pictures of the metal that was in her jaw!   That's a lot of metal for a tiny mouth! We heard words today we really never thought we would hear.  Abby went from a grade 4+ airway (the worst) to a grade 1 airway (the easiest).  This is phenomenal!!!!  Our Ent has to make the final call, but her days of being a difficult airway are coming to an end!!!! Thank you Lord!!!!  We are so grateful that this surgery was a success.  It wasn't without its difficulties, but it was certainly worth it to open up that airway.  God is faithful.

Tomorrow afternoon, Abby and I will be heading to our home away from home--RMH!  She has a pre-op appointment at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, followed by a long audiology appointment to get her hearing aid molds done and get some training on the hearing aids.  I'm happy that Abby will have a little time to enjoy RMH after appointments! Matt will come up Monday evening after taking Caleb to my parents' house.  Then, Abby's surgery to remove the hardware in her jaw will be bright and early on Tuesday morning.  The surgeon is being very noncommital about this hospital stay, based on Abby's shenanigans the last time!  We are hoping that it will only be a few days on a regular floor with no PICU stay, but who knows with Abby! During this surgery, the anesthesiologists will scope Abby to determine her airway status.  We are hopeful that she will go from a 4+ airway (no visibility and extremely difficult) to a 2 (partial visibility and mildly-moderately difficult). ...

We got 7 inches of snow here on Monday night into Tuesday morning, which caused us to be out of school for Tuesday and Wednesday and have a delay on Thursday!  With a day off already on Monday for Presidents' Day, this was a very short school/work week! It is bitterly cold here with wind chills well into the negatives, but the kids still wanted to play outside.  Caleb is of the age that he wants to play with his neighborhood friends, so I didn't get any pictures of him.  He had a great time sledding outside and watching movies with them though!   Chloe REALLY loves the snow, which is surprising for a Boxer!  They are typically fair-weather dogs, but she really enjoyed gallopping around in the snow and eating big mouthfuls!  She tired herself out running around and around the back yard!  (She loves our fenced-in yard!) Abby begged me for several hours to go outside, despite my best efforts to entice her to stay in where it is warm! ...

I had an idea for Valentine's Day to write characteristics of the kids and Matt on hearts.  Then I decorated their doors with it!  The reactions matched their personalities to a T! Abby was beside herself and had me read everyone multiple times. Caleb never even said anything about it until I asked him specifically about what he thought about it.  He said he saw it.  Matt said I was cute. Regardless of reactions, I thought it was a sweet way to tell my loves how much I adore them!

She looks just like me!  Glasses, hearing aids, and all!

This week is Feeding Tube Awareness Week.  While we would love for Abby to not have to rely on a tube for extra calories, we are very thankful that the tube allows her to maintain a healthy weight and to get nutrition after surgeries.  Here are a few thoughts related to feeding tubes: