In Surgery Now

Mylee is having her tendon surgery today. The surgery itself was not scheduled until 2:00 which upset her a bit since she couldn't have anything to eat all day. When I told her that she said "What!? You gotta be kidding me?" She cracks me up.

Anyway, she continues to be her happy little self. We have already been given one update which started off by saying "she was so cute going to sleep." The one doctor had just finished taking out the expander and the other doctor was just getting started. When I asked how long it was going to take neither doctor could give me an answer. They said they really wouldn't know until they got in and got started. The nurse did tell us the surgery was scheduled for 3 hours, so we will see.

Mylee will definitely be staying overnight and will have a coddle (like an epidural) in to manage the pain in her leg for the night.

She is such a trooper. She marches in here like it is no big deal. My heart breaks for her because she has been through so much already in her short little life. She was so funny during registration because I honestly think she could have done the nurse's job. She kept asking when she was going to get her arm squeezed (blood pressure), when she was going to see her finger light up (oxygen level), and when are they going to bring my bed? She got to pick out her own socks and gown which just thrilled her. Of course the doctors and nurses are in love with her and just pretty much let her do whatever she wants. She knows most of them since we have been here so much.



When Dr. Havolick came in the first thing she said to him was "no more water, you can take the balloon out now."

Okay, I will do my best to continue to update. I have had some trouble getting on the Internet, so I bare with me.

Just the Way You Are

I saw this video posted on facebook today and knew it was something I had to share. Love this!

Just One More

Thank you all SO much for your thoughts and prayers yesterday. Unfortunately there was not much else in pain medicine they could (or would) give Mylee, so she was in quite a bit of pain again. As usual, the doctor was running very behind again so we had to sit around and wait for almost two hours before we were seen (which doesn't help).

By the time the doctor came in we were all pretty much ready to go. So, when he came in and started looking at her leg he said that everything was looking great but that he wanted to get one more inflation done before the surgery next week. So, we are now going back on Thursday for the LAST inflation. I thought Mylee was going to come off the table and strangle him (literally) when she heard she was going to have to come back again. She immediately starting crying saying she didn't want to see Dr. Havolik again and that she didn't like him because he made her hurt (this was BEFORE he did the inflation). Although Mylee nor I want to go back on Thursday, knowing that this will be the last visit is a little comforting.

Most of the trip home she was crying and screaming that she "hated" Dr. Havolik, and that she hated this day. I feel so bad for her because there isn't much I can do. It does seem to help if we get out and walk around for a bit before we head home so since I had my friend and the other kids, we stopped and walked around a mall for a bit, went to the Chinese grocery store for Jaxon and even made it to a fabric store. By the time we made it to the fabric store Mylee was feeling much better which made the trip home much easier.

So, Mylee was once again in quite a bit of pain yesterday and most of the morning today. She is one strong little girl though as she was determined to go to school today (which she did) so she practiced walking.

With all of that being said, the plan is to do one more inflation this Thursday then she will go in next Tuesday for surgery. The surgery is basically cutting the tendon in her ankle, stretching it, and sewing it back together (which is the same thing they did to her knees a while back). She will be put back into a cast which she is pretty pumped about. She will have to spend one night in the hospital, so assuming all goes well, we will be home sometime on Wednesday.

Continued prayers are appreciated, especially for the final inflation.

Prayers Please

We are headed back to Indy tomorrow for another tissue expansion for Mylee. I am SO not looking forward to it. I am planning on calling the doctor's office on the way to see what other options are available for pain since the vicodin didn't work either.

The kids are out of school tomorrow so Emma and Jaxon are going along for the ride as well as a friend and her little girl. So hopefully that may be a little distraction for Mylee as well.

I am also going to really encourage the doctor to be done. Miss Mylee cannot take much more of these and my heart can't take much more either.

Please pray that Mylee isn't in too much pain tomorrow and that this is the last expansion she has to have or at least one of the last.

She Continues to Amaze Us

I am such a bad blogger. If there was an award for the worst blogger, I am sure I would get it. I fully intended to continue to update and post to the blog regularly when we got home with the boys, but I have failed. So, for that I am sorry, but I am going to at least make one post a week (if not more).

Many of you have e-mailed me asking about Mylee so I thought I would update you all on her progress with the tissue expansions. First off, when they first inserted the expanders I was told that they were extremely painful and that she would have to sedated for every procedure. I didn't like that she was going to have to be put to sleep every week, but I also didn't want her to be in any pain. The first tissue expansion didn't go as planned. We arrived at the operating room at our scheduled time, but the doctor was stuck in surgery which was pushing everything back. Because I had asked earlier why she needed to be put to sleep, the OR nurses came out to explain it all to me and then asked if I thought she could do it without being put to sleep (this is all going on while Mylee is saying she does NOT want to go to sleep). I told them that as long as they told her what they were going to do, she would probably be fine with it. With the okay from the Dr. the nurses got everything set up to do the expansion without sedation.



They did put some numbing cream on the spot where the port was so she wouldn't feel the needle. Dr. Havlik came in and explained that if she did not cooperate, they would have to go ahead and put her to sleep. By this point, we were already 2 hours passes our scheduled procedure so I didn't really care what they did as long as it got done, and she could eat (because we thought she was going to be sedated, she was not allowed to eat or drink).

Let me just say, that Mylee is probably one of the strongest little girls I know. She laid there the entire time they were doing the expansion and sang. Yep, she was singing while they were doing a procedure that we were told has grown men crying. The doctor, residents, and nurses were completely in awe that she did it. I don't think they honestly thought they were going to be able to do it without sedation.

So, the doctor said that as long as she was this good, he could do them all without sedation. So, once a week we go to Indianapolis to have the expander in her leg expanded with saline water. When we get in the car I apply the numbing cream to her leg so she doesn't feel the needle, and other than that, she has been doing really well up until last week. Let me say that she sits there the entire time watching and asking questions about what they are doing. Last week one of the residents was trying to talk to her to distract her from what was going on, but she was completely ignoring her so she could focus on what the doctor was doing.

Last week was a little different than the previous weeks. She did great for the procedure, but about 30 minutes after she is in extreme pain. I'm talking screaming, thrashing, sweating, eyes rolling back pain. They gave her Tylenol 3 for pain and it was obviously NOT working so I pulled over, called the doctor and asked what I should do because she was in so much pain that she had already thrown up on me twice and we still had a 2 hour drive back home. They said to just give her another dose of the pain medication and if that didn't calm her down in a bit they could order something else. So, I gave her more medicine, and off we went for home. Luckily, she fell asleep and by the time she woke up we were almost home and she was feeling much better.

This week was much worse than last week and she had Vicodin for pain. I have never seen any child in so much pain. She was screaming, yelling, crying, etc. It. Is. Awful. But what makes it even worse is when she looks at you with huge tears in here eyes and says "mommy, please, please help me, it hurts so bad." That's when I got off the highway as quickly as I could, pulled into a McD's parking lot and sat there for almost an hour holding her.

She finally calmed down a bit after that and tried to sleep but would continue to wake up from the pain. She was in pretty good spirits by the time we got home and was excited to show everyone her Halloween bucket from McD's. I have her some more pain meds before bed and she even woke up about 3 this morning in pain so she got more. She usually goes to school on Tuesday afternoons, but did not today because she still can't walk on her left leg.

She is scheduled for surgery with the Orthopedic doctor on November 2, but the plastic surgeon thinks he is going to have to continue the expansions beyond that date. He said he is afraid there will not be enough skin for the ortho by next week. Apparently, the longer these go on and the larger her leg gets the more painful they get. So, I will be calling them to see what our options are for pain because it literally tears me up to see her in so much pain. We are scheduled again for next Monday so please keep her in your prayers because I have a feeling it is going to be a repeat of yesterday.

This is what her leg looks like now. I honestly cannot imagine it getting much bigger. Her skin is so shiny where the expander is yet it is also cracking and very dry. Mylee is such an amazing little girl. I know I have said that before, but I cannot imagine going through all the stuff she has in her 4 years. From what I understand as the skin is stretching it feels like it is on fire and very painful.

One Less

Several months ago singer/songwriter Mark West posted about his new album and how he wanted it to be about real lives, real stores, real people. He asked that people write in sharing their stories so he could get inspiration. So, I immediately joined several other adoptive families in sending in our story of adoption. This morning as I was checking through some of the blogs I follow, I was pretty surprised to see that Mark West had used the stories he received about adoption and has written a song. The song is titled One Less, and I cannot think of a better title.

One Less by Matthew West (The Story Behind The Song) from emicmg on Vimeo.

On The Road Again

Mylee and I are headed to Indy again today. Monday she had her post surgery check and the doctor said everything looked really good. He put a plaster splint on her leg after surgery so we were not able to see anything until he took it off. Honestly, I was a bit taken aback at the amount of bruising on her leg. It is pretty much entirely blue, but Dr. Havlick assured me that all was well and despite the bruising, it looked great and she could resume normal activity except taking a bath.

She was determined to go back to school yesterday and hobbled down the hallway step by step. Her leg is still sore, but she managed to get through the whole day and is actually walking pretty good today.

So, today we are going back to begin our once a week injections. Basically, she will be put to sleep while they insert fluid through a port under the skin. I am told this is very painful and that is why she needs to be put to sleep. We have to be there at noon and the procedure starts at 1:30 p.m. Mylee was not happy this morning when she realized she could not have breakfast this morning. I tried to explain to her why, and she wasn't getting it so I told her that on the way home we would stop for ice cream. That did the trick, and she is okay now with waiting to eat (we will see how long that lasts).

Please pray that all goes well today and she is not in too much pain. She is one strong little girl, that continues to amaze me every day.



Now, I must comment on Matt's post from Monday. Isn't he just the greatest? I am so lucky to have a husband that "gets it." And to answer several questions and e-mails, no we have NOT started the process to bring another child home however, we ARE int he process of getting things in order so we can. In other words, YES, we will be adopting again, but just not yet. Trust me, as soon as we begin the process, you all will be the first to know.