Life as a Leach

But this time, we were volunteers!  My sister, niece, mom, friend Karen, and I did a snowman craft with the kids today.  We also took little "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" Bags with play dough and everything needed to build a snowman.  The kids seemed to enjoy everything, although we only had 2 kids.  A lot of kids were contagious and unable to come out, but we enjoyed the time with the two we had! I think we all enjoyed spreading a little cheer! :)

We're facing big decisions, folks. Ones that the doctors don't want to make for us because, as our ENT put it, "It's anyone's guess.  Don't believe any doctor who says he knows the right answer, because it's just not true." We met with the new jaw surgeon today at Hopkins.  He is extremely knowledgeable and has a lot of experience with jaw distractions , which is why they brought him on.  We were really impressed with him and the before and after pictures he showed us of his past patients. During the distraction, an L-shaped cut is made on both sides of the jaw and metal bars are put in.  The bars are attached to external screws that go behind the ear, which we will turn for 14 days.  The external screws will be removed after that, but the bars will stay in her jaw for several months.  Because of Abby's airway issues and the swelling around her face due to the surgery, she will be intubated and sedated for about 5 days before they attempt to ex...

I never want blogging to become a chore.  When I don't have time or don't feel like writing, I don't.  That's why I'm not a money-making blogger; I can't commit to blogging that much.  I like to write and it's therapeutic for me, but it is also put to the side when other things take precedence. That being said, I've been short on time the last few weeks during our travels to and from Philadelphia and I have lots of medical stuff to share! *  Abby had a dynamic MRI done on May 29th.  Our concern wasn't the MRI itself, but the intubation that needed to happen.  She was successfully intubated on the first try in just 15 minutes!!  We had anesthesiologists from the "Difficult Airway Team" (that in itself makes me happy!!) who were excellent.  They took detailed notes of what they did and what they saw the whole way down, and I couldn't have been more pleased.  Abby came out of anesthesia just fine too.  Once she woke up, she was in a ...