Now you see it...

It's finally time! Time to say goodbye to the ng-tube and hello to the g-tube. Lance and I are so excited to be rid of this tube, but I think Abbie is looking forward to it the most, if her constant grabbing, pulling, and clawing are any indication. We go back to Primary Children's tomorrow morning for the g-tube placement surgery. The surgery is pretty simple and quick but we may be in the hospital for several days to make sure that the g-tube is working properly. Anyway, the next time you see us, Abbie's face will be completely tube-free! Wish us luck!

Home Sweet Hospital!

Being back in the hospital brings back a lot of memories for us from Abbie's first few months of life. It seems like such a long time ago that we called Primary Children's our home away from home and I'm so glad that this trip is only a one night stay. Anyway, Abbie is doing awesome and is just resting now so she can get back to her normal crazy self.

Here's how our day has gone: We jumped in the car to head to the hospital at about 11am. Our surgery was scheduled at 1:30pm but while we were driving, we got a call informing us that the surgery was postponed and that we didn't need to be at the hospital until 2pm. So we turned around and headed back home. Finally, we got to the hospital and checked in. We waited in one room, then got called back to check Abbie's vitals and get her dressed in her little hospital gown, then we waited in another room until the surgeon was ready. When Dr. Kaza (our surgeon, who worked with Abbie when she was first born) and the anesthesiologist came to get her at about 4pm and we kissed her good-bye. Luckily, she was asleep when this happened. I don't think I could have handled it if she was crying as we handed her over to the doctors. Anyway, then we waited in another room for 2 hours. Dr. Kaza came in to talk to us when the procedure was finished and told us that Abbie did very well. He also told us that the skin on the spot where Abbie's pacemaker was had eroded and was very thin. He said it was very close to eroding all the way through the inscision scar and something like that would have been catastrophic. He echoed our thoughts when he said that God has a plan for all of us, and He knew that Abbie would need this surgery, even though her parents were trying to avoid it. Then we got to go and see Abbie and go to our room in the Children's Surgical Unit. She has been mostly sleeping and hopefully will continue to sleep through the night. We should be able to leave tomorrow morning sometime and then we'll come back in 10 days to get her g-tube placed and finally be rid of that rotten ng-tube (the one in her nose). Here are some pics of our little hospital diva.

Abbie modeling her hospital gown

Playing with toys, waiting for the surgeon to come

Finally, she gets to rest in peace

Surgery Date

We just wanted to let everybody know that Abbie's surgery is set for Friday, September 18th. We'll be at the hospital most of the day on Thursday for a full sedated echocardiogram, chest x-ray, and lab work to make sure everything with her heart and her overall health is good enough to undergo surgery. We don't know what time the surgery will be on Friday, but hopefully things will go well and we'll only have to spend one night at the hospital. Any thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated!

Time for an Upgrade

It's amazing how small a car can seem when you have to put a bulky carseat in the back, and a big stroller in the trunk. After 6 1/2 months of pushing the front passenger seat all the way up in order to make room for Abbie's carseat, and struggling to push and pull the stroller in and out of the trunk, we decided it was time to upgrade to something bigger.

We put an ad on KSL Cars for our '96 Nissan Sentra and a few days later, got one call, and Lance, our resident salesman, was able to sell it on the first try. The guy didn't even try to get a lower price. I got a little bit sentimental since I've had this car since high school, but we did get time to say our goodbyes. Hehe. Lance helped me feel better by letting me hold the cash for a little bit.

After a little more searching, we found a car that we were both excited about. We ended up getting a 2003 Nissan Altima that has a huge trunk for the stroller and a lot more room in the backseat for me and Abbie.

Just a quick update on Abbie. While the progress she has made with her feeding has been good, it just hasn't been enough. As much as we don't like to admit it out loud, this is going to be more of a long term problem than we had anticipated. Abbie has now had a tube down her nose for almost 6 months and she has let us know, in no uncertain terms, that she does NOT want it anymore. Unfortunately, this means another surgery. Normally the procedure to place a G-tube (a feeding tube that goes through the abdomen directly into the stomach) is very simple and quick, but nothing with Abbie is ever simple! Abbie's pacemaker happens to be right over her stomach so it will have to be moved to the other side of her abdomen. We don't know yet when the surgery will be, but hopefully it will happen within the next few weeks. We're not looking forward to the surgery but I think after she recovers, she will be so happy that she doesn't have a tube down her nose and layers of itchy tape on her face! We'll let you know when we have an actual surgery date.

Abbie riding her new car