happy feet

Do you remember my post back in October about how I miss my Docs? Those wonderful shoes that stood the test of time? Well, look at this...

I'M SO EXCITED!!!
My amazing sister Valorie had read that previous post, and decided to do something amazing for me for my birthday this month. She secretly got in touch with several friends of mine, and they all pitched in on getting the boots for me! Yes! They're now mine! Seriously! These are my happy feet, snuggled into that burgundy bliss this afternoon...

Aren't they so beautiful?!? There were about 15 of my friends who generously jumped on board with the secret birthday surprise! Even though this happened weeks ago (the boots came in today), I'm still blown away by the love my friends have shown me. I know some people might just look at this as a pair of boots, but to me it's as if they paid for me to go on a cruise or something huge like that - it's just as important to me! Really, these are definitely a luxury to me, something I've always wanted, but just never took the time to save for myself. Val & my friends took the idea and ran with it, and made my heart so happy! But what makes my heart smile the most is the fact that they all care about me so much to do something so wonderful for me.

You all know who you are - thank you. Thank you for showing me how amazing a friendship can be, even without the gifts. Thank you for accepting me for who I am, and celebrating who God created me to be. Thank you to my old friends and my new ones. Thank you to those who I have the privilege of being related to by blood, and to those who I've been "adopted" into a family with. Thank you for memories past, present, and those yet to come. Ups and downs - that's what shapes us. Change is good, and I know many of us have seen a lot of that in our lives. I like seeing that through it all, the bond of my girlfriends will always remain. Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU!

P.S. Not only did the funds collected pay for the boots, but it also allowed me a few other things like a new coat, scarf & gloves, jeans, & a hoodie! I was spoiled!!!

it's a good day

It's Wednesday afternoon, and Kirsten's bouncing around the house as if yesterday didn't even happen. Talk about the resilience of children! She snapped out of the post-surgery anesthetic state late this morning, and seems back to normal. The vomiting has stopped and her appetite is slowly returning. Her discomfort seems minimal, if anything, and she's busy running around with a princess dress on & playing doctor as I write. I think as she examines the unsuspecting patients in her room, I have a few minutes to post some pictures and details of yesterday's event!

As I mentioned previously, Kirsten didn't get to sleep until really late Monday evening (I'm talking almost midnight!). I woke her up at around 5:45am yesterday, and her mood was fine. Not crabby, not nervous, just normal. Karen came over, and we took off for the hospital. I decided to do the valet parking there for the first time, and it turned out to be much easier for us. We checked in at admitting and had to wait a while there. The staff had toys that patients could pick from, and Kirsten found a green Care Bear to add to her collection of "buddies." She slowly started to mingle with some of the kids there, even asking one fourth-grader to read her a book (of which he so kindly did). When it was our turn, they led us upstairs to the surgical waiting room. All I can say is "WOW!" They completely renovated the waiting area up there & it looks amazing! They went with a train station-type theme, with some brick wall accents & beautiful murials painted on the walls. There was a new play room set up, complete with all sorts of books and toys imaginable. It was wonderful!

From there we were led to where they set her up for surgery. She was weighed & measured, and she was very cooperative as they took her blood pressure & such. (She used to be very nervous and resistant with those things. Now she just asks what they're doing, and goes along with it fine.) They had her change into the hospital attire before the rest of the nurses and doctors made their way in to speak with us.

I had to make sure I waited for the questions - I could tell I was sort of in this auto-pilot mode where I was about to answer before I was asked (I think I've been thru this too many times! LOL)! Dr. Madgy came in to go over the game plan & to visit with Kirsten for a moment. She handed him a picture that she so carefully colored for him last night, and he joked around with her a little. He has such a great bedside manner with his patients - Kirsten mentioned that she loves him! I guess she really feels at ease around him (she's been seeing him since she was around 5 months old!)... I'm happy to see that. I donned my funny little coat & hat & Karen waited patiently while I accompanied Kirsten to the operating room. It was nice that she was allowed to walk down (without being on a stretcher). Up to this point she was doing fine... until the O.R. door was opened and she saw about a dozen people waiting in there for her! She stopped fast in her tracks and had the look of a deer caught in the headlights! We went in and I explained how everyone had different jobs to do, trying my best to calm her down (all she needed was to know what was happening). Dr. Madgy introduced her to the staff ("This is Kirsten, not Kirsten!" - using the correct/incorrect pronounciation of her name) and proudly showed off the artwork she gave him. I think she liked that. More hesitation came with having to put her on the bed, but this is expected. She picked the watermelon flavor for them to put on the gas mask thing, but she wasn't interested in that getting anywhere near her face. A few nurses helped as we gave her positive assurances and I kissed her before I left the room, with her drifting off.
Karen & I went to the waiting room. We admired some more artwork we found in there - there was a tree decorated by a Detroit area high school, and the art was amazing!

Even the tree skirt was painted like part of the top of the Sistine Chapel.
We had our late breakfast and some much needed coffee, then had a great opportunity to just relax and catch up on each other's life. That was definitely great.
After what seemed to be a longer time than I had anticipated, the doctor came out to tell us how things went. He said her nostril is opened larger than it's ever been, and he was leaving her in the O.R. for a while with a lot of packing in there. He wanted it to be as dry as possible before applying the Mitomycin (a chemo drug, used here to help prevent scar tissue build-up). After that, she went to recovery, where we eventually were sent to join her. (Oh, he also cleaned out her ears from any wax build-up. He said her tubes were still there, but ended up coming out. Those have been in since 9/11/01!)

Karen & I were quite warm in there, but we knew it was because the kids coming from surgery would be on the cold side. Karen said how she loved the feeling of the heated blankets, and I caved in and asked for a cup of ice chips to help cool me off! (I love the texture of them!) Kirsten slept a lot, and eventually managed to eat 1/2 of a Popsicle, sleeping in between bites, of course!

One time when she woke, she complained of her ear hurting. The nurse gave her another dose of morphine & our stay was prolonged a little. Doogie Houser's younger brother came in to take out her IV (seriously, we debated about how young he must've been... 12 was a thought!), and when he was done, we noticed Kirsten had some blotchy spots on her face. They dissipated quick enough, though. She vomited, and we saw the spots again, this time in a larger area of her face. Karen saw my concern & got the attention of a nurse for me. She ended up sending in the anesthesiologist, and he told us not to worry, unless it stays. It's just something that hasn't happened before. It happened once again before leaving, but it quickly went away.

Oh, one more thing happened out of the norm for us. Kirsten has a little mark on her cheek. I thought maybe she scratched herself unknowingly, but the nurse had to bring it to the anesth.'s attention. He came & looked at it, and said it might've accidentally been from a certain clamp they use when draping a towel over the patient's face. Dr. Madgy came in, confirmed the suspicion of where it came from, but then stated they didn't use a towel like that - so they have no idea what happened! It's not bleeding or anything, so I'm sure it'll heal quickly enough on it's own. Just weird as to how it happened!

I decided to have them take her down in a wheelchair - much easier!

(Did you see Karen behind her there?!? LOL)
We were home by 2:30, and she fell soundly asleep on the couch.

I went to pick up the meds she needs (antibiotics, nasal spray, Motrin, and Tylenol), and we let her sleep as much as she needed. She ended up taking in a little bit of jello & some of a popsicle, but she also threw up some more. I don't think her vomiting has been as much this time around, and I'm thinking it's because we decided not to give her Tylenol w/codeine this time.

As I said, she seems to be pretty close back to normal now. She's eating more, not throwing up, and hasn't gone back to sleep yet. I'm making sure to give her pain meds regularly for today, just in case. I really think God has blessed her with a highter tollerance for pain, but I want to make sure she's comfortable. I think we'll take a little nap together soon... we can both use it!

Dr. Madgy wants us to follow up with him in a few weeks, so we're just praying that this is IT! I think I'll be nervously watching to see if this closes up or not. Hopefully the excitement of Christmas will kick in soon & take my mind off this. No sense in freaking out about something we can't control! If you haven't checked out her blog, Karen put a little post yesterday with some pictures about our little adventure, from her point of view!

Thanks to everyone for your continued support & prayer for our family - and specifically for Kirsten. We know we have the love & support of so many, and I believe that truly helps keep our hearts at ease a little when we go thru these life events. Many thanks to my pal Karen for being there with us yesterday - from before the sun rose until later in the afternoon, from un-caffeinated brains to a really late lunch, from a blocked nostril to an opened one... and everything else along the way during the day. Your love & support means the world to me - just being there for us was great. Thank you!

safe and sound

I've gotta be a little short with the details here since I've gotta get back out & pick up some Popsicles and her prescriptions! Quick version - 6:45am arrive at hospital, 8:15 I leave the O.R., 10:15 the doctor comes to tell us how well everything went, 11:30 we go back to the recovery area, 2:00pm we head home. Kirsten's on the couch resting & just asked me if she could have some candy! I guess she's feeling a little better! I'll post more tonight or tomorrow... details and some pictures! xoxo

so far it's a go

The current time as I begin this is 11:04pm. Why do I mention this? Because I just thought you'd like to laugh with me at the fact that Kirsten is in her room and STILL AWAKE! Um, we're going to be leaving the house in 7 hours! Oh well, she'll catch up on her rest in the afternoon, I suppose!

So yes, the surgery is on, and we have to check into admitting downtown at Children's Hospital at 6:45am. Matt's work schedule got messed up some (people called in sick, so he ended up having to work later than originally expected), so he won't be able to go with us. I know he feels bad, especially after Kirsten asked him tonight about being there. Poor Daddy Matt! Well, we know his heart is with us all the way. My dear friend Karen will be accompanying me on the adventure. I can't believe she volunteered to wake up before the crack of dawn to meet at my place at 6am! Blech! Talk about friendship! :)

Anyway... can you tell my mind's just all over the place? Oh yes, there goes her door, and here she comes...??? She needs to go to the bathroom. I'm sorry, when it's 3 hours past my bedtime, I'm usually sleepwalking with my eyes barely cracked open if I have to venture to the bathroom. Actually, I'm like Matt - I lay in bed, wondering if I have to go badly enough or if I can make myself fall back asleep instead. I usually just go - I've had too many bad dreams of wetting the bed! Here she comes, skipping back towards her room, stopping to tell me that at 7 years old you can be a princess if you want to. And there she goes, after one more pleading from me for her to just go to sleep. 11:12. And now she's singing. This is going to be a long night.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, Karen coming with me. Okay, she made arrangements for her 3 kids, and she'll be my partner in this tomorrow. She graciously agreed to meet at my place so we could ride together. My request for this (instead of just meeting downtown) is because Kirsten sometimes has problems after surgery and throws up in the car on the way home. Not fun to be alone during this! (I need to add some type of container to my list of what to bring tomorrow!) I'm thinking this will actually be quite uneventful, as far as surgeries go. There won't be a tube in her nose, so no stitches will be involved. That cuts back on her pain/discomfort. They kept their promise to get us in first thing in the morning, so I'm imagining she'll be done with the surgery by around 10:00 at the latest. We might even be home in time for lunch. For a nap. That's what I'll be longing for. A nice, quiet nap. We'll have to see what alternative they'll have for her to replace the Tylenol with Codeine that she's had in the past. We've been wondering if that's what added to her problems during those first 24 hours post surgery.

Okay, I'd better go post something on our website now. I'll be sure to update both of these tomorrow after we get home, and I'm anticipating it'll all be good news. Of course, the final results will show within the weeks following - whether her nostril will stay open or not. That's what we're praying for!!!

11:20pm... I don't hear anything. Maybe she finally conked out? What a sweetie - maybe this was a little anxiety, even though she says she's fine about this. Awwww!

11:27pm... just heard her change her CD... GO TO SLEEP ALREADY!!!

dashing thru the snow

Many Michiganders are not thrilled when winter comes blowing at us strong and hard. Many have lived here their entire lives, and still just aren't ready for the snow, or they plain 'ol don't enjoy it. I'm definitely not in that crowd - I'm so excited about it! Our area started getting the storm yesterday later in the morning, and it seemed to continue throughout the day, increasing with intensity by the hour. We went to a Christmas party last night, and on the way home I got to experience some of the fun of driving around in it. This morning was a completely different story...

"A weekend winter storm sweeping across the Midwest dumped up to 10 inches of snow on parts of the Lower Peninsula by Sunday afternoon..."
"The National Weather Service said the storm could dump up to 14 inches of snow through Sunday night in places."

"Blizzard conditions are anticipated," the weather service said in an advisory warning of the storm conditions. "Whiteout conditions can be expected at times, with significant blowing and drifting snow."

And here's our local forecast for today...
"Today: Snowy and blustery. Areas of blowing snow reducing visibility. Accumulations 4 to 6 inches. Storm total snow accumulation 8 to 12 inches. Highs 27 to 31. North winds 15 to 25 mph, becoming northwest 25 to 35 mph during the afternoon. Chance of snow near 100 percent."

(I took those photos on my way home from church this morning, with the top one being how thick most of our cars were covered!)
I'm sure Matt didn't enjoy shoveling out the driveway,

but I sure had fun driving around in the mess! It was a blast!!!

P.S. Yes, I went out again in it this evening, and still quite enjoyed my time driving around! I trust my car, and I know how well I can handle things, but I was having a few issues with some others on the road. You know, the type that decides to suddenly merge in front of you when there's obviously no lane tracks in the snow. Thankfully, I'm smart enough to be aware of my surroundings. Now, if only everyone else on the road would do the same!

decisions

So, how does one really know if they're making the right decision on something or not? My current situation is wondering if we're going to go ahead with Kirsten's nose surgery next week or not. It's set for Tuesday, the 18th. We set this up a little while back, after having two scheduled surgeries postponed on us - due to the hospital canceling on us. (Check out the previous post here for details.) Actually, after that post was made, the hospital rescheduled with us a week or two later. The same thing happened again, but at least that time we got the call the day prior, I believe. Still, it stunk.

I'm just worried about little things like how Matt doesn't have any time off work and I'll have to find someone else to go with me. I like when he's there. I know he wants to be there, but it just doesn't always work out. We don't know his schedule yet (his work weeks start on Tuesday nights), but he might have to work Tuesday into Wednesday, too. He just won't be available like we both wish he could be. This is also her last week of school before break. It's really not a big deal, but it's something.

You know, as I write this all out, I think I'm just worrying for nothing. Maybe I'm just anticipating the hospital calling to cancel again. Maybe I'm looking for a reason to cancel it on our end before they cancel it on theirs. She could go thru this successfully for the first time ever, you know? She could actually begin 2008 with two working nostrils! This could work! I just wish God could audibly tell me what the right decision to make in this would be. Seriously, why can't He?!? LOL I know, He does provide us with a good head on our shoulders. We research all the things with Kirsten. We ask questions. We talk to others about it. We pray about it. And we are open to whatever signs come our way in regards to it. Now we just have to trust the decision we make and go forward without looking back. I know, easier said than done!

Here's a little picture of my Peanut two years ago (7/05) at her 5th birthday party... with the tube from her recent surgery sticking out of her nose... what a trooper...