Sarah's New Haircut

Sarah is now 3 weeks post surgery and doing great. She had an opportunity to get a hair cut and pick out some new headbands. Her excitment this week of course is her birthday and is very much looking forward to returning back to school on Thursday to enjoy cupcakes with her friends. Our girl looks so grown up :)

Momma's down for the count

Sure enough just when we thought things were looking up......Mom gets the stomach bug!!! The same day I was to return to work I felt a little sick to my stomach.....I thought maybe it was just some nervous jitters or something. I few hours into work and still feeling ill I was proven wrong.....it was the stomach bug. I had to leave work early and was down for the count. I was so so very grateful to the grandparents who took the kiddos in hopes to halt anymore illness and give me some well deserved rest. Bill who had made a wonderful corned beef dinner for the St. Patrick's Holiday ended up eating it all alone :) He did however make sure I was well taken care of. Still under the weather today I am forced to stay home. The kids are doing great!

16 Days Post Surgery Pics

16 days post surgery and Sarah looks great!!! Swelling has almost completely gone, just a little puffy around her eyes (probably something only a Momma would notice :) )

Mommy is heading back to work tomorrow and we will hopefully regain a normal schedule starting sometime next week.....say around Sarah's 4th Birthday next Thursday. If all is well Sarah will go back to school on her Birthday Day and celebrate with some cupcakes with her friends. She can't wait to get back to school.

A Minor Set Back

Just as we thought things were going well Sarah had a set back.......the stomach bug! Which at any other time would not be pleasant either but for a little girl healing from such a big surgery was tough. The stomach bug hit Saturday, and by that evening the pediatrician office was recommending we bring her to the ER at Children's Hospital. We are so grateful and thankful to our friend Mary who came over to stay with Jason who was already fast asleep in his bed. Bill, Sarah and I headed back into Boston. We had never been to the ER there but were surprised how fast we signed in and made it through triage. Sarah was quite dehydrated and in need of IV
Fluids. She was pale and lethargic and had a terrible belly ache. We were told she would be admitted and Bill headed back home and got there around 2:30 am with the time change. Sarah and I were in the ER until about 6am when they finally moved us up to her room, which coincidently enough was 2 doors down from her previous room. A sleepy Sarah and Mom "tried" to sleep but you know how it is at a hospital. Sarah continued to show difficulty with her eating and drinking so it was decided for her to stay another night. Part of the reason Sarah became dehydrated so quickly was her blood loss from her recent surgery and the fact that at the present time she is anemic. Monday proved to be a better day for Sarah and after she could show she was able to drink better we were discharged late afternoon. Bill and Jason came to pick us up and Jason and Sarah had sometime to play in the playroom. In fact the timing was just right that there was a music therapist that was there playing the guitar and singing. We headed home in rush hour traffic, but the good news was we were headed home. Sarah is slowly building up her eating and drinking and is feeling better today. She does still say her belly hurts but it is mostly around eating. On a happier note Sarah's surgery site looks great and swelling has gone down!!! Yeah

Guess who's got the stomach bug?

Just as things were looking up Sarah has now developed the stomach bug. We don't intend to gross anyone out with details so no worries there. We are concerned that her weakened body may not be able to handle the stomach bug if it lasts too long. We have been in touch with her pediatricians office and the team in Boston. If there are any signs of dehydration we will have to head to the hospital which would most likely be UMASS as it is closer. Let's hope that doesn't happen and think positive thoughts.

Successful Dr's Visit

Today Sarah and I headed into Boston once again for Dr. Meara to get another look at those fluid pockets. Our appointment was a 12:45pm.....and we were squeezed in between the Doctor in the OR and his clinic. We waited for 2 hours for great news. Sarah is doing great. Swelling is down. Pockets are getting smaller. We are out of the woods! Dr. Meara is very pleased with Sarah's progress and we don't have to see him until April 11th, unless there is a need to do so before then. Although Sarah does have some fluid left it is decreasing/absorbing more everyday and should continue to do so. We were aware Dr. Meara would be unavailable for a couple weeks at the end of the month so I kindly said to the Doctor "have a nice vacation" to which he responded "i don't know if I would call it vacation". I gave the doctor a confusing look and he responded "I am headed to Rwanda" and I said "well I guess that is not vacation then huh". He chuckled and I felt like a goofball. Dr. Meara is part of Doctors Without Borders and has been to quite a few places.......I knew I liked him. Something about a do-gooder that warms the heart. Even if there happens to be a need to return to the hospital for any reason there is a very good team of experienced doctors that would be able to help out.

Scrub-a-dub-dub!

These two love their tubby time and were happy to get into the bath tonight. We had to keep reminding Sarah not to submerge her head in the water and she did a great job listening! Even with some restrictions it was a happy time for them both.

Sarah is singing, dancing, playing, etc. She is happy most of the time, except when a little brother takes a toy or whatever. Night continues to be a struggle for her and she has been very restless in her sleep.

We continue to monitor the fluid pocket which can easily be seen in this picture. (Well at least we can see it) The right side is still pretty big and hasn't seemed to go down since yesterday. The left side pocket is still there but significantly smaller. We will head back into Boston tomorrow to see what Dr. Meara thinks. Again, we are hoping the issue resolves itself and does not need medical intervention.