6/30/2004 11:45:25 AM|W|P|Christine|W|P|Well I had to get up early again. At least it wasn't 6am this time. I only had to get up at 9am. Mom and I got to the office at 9:45 on the nose, but apparently they were a little behind. I don't know how they could already be behind by that time in the morning, but they must of been. Grandma Cathy met us there. I was tired and grouchy and they were making me sit in the waiting room, so I didn't even want Grandma Cathy to look at me. I just wanted everybody to leave me alone. I laid on mom's lap for a while. Then I decided if they weren't going to call my name I was going to leave. But mom caught me just as I was escaping out the door. Finally, twenty-five minutes later, they called my name. We went back in to one of the rooms. After a minute or so Dr. Emery came in. I remembered him from last week and was not to happy to see him. Mom laid me down on the table and I knew I was not going to like it. The nurse held my head, mom held my arms and put her arm across my tummy and Grandma Cathy held on to my feet. What in the heck are they doing? I was starting to get a little concerned for my safety. Then Dr. Emery started to come at me with some scissors. Oh no buddy. You keep that stuff to yourself. If I knew swear words I would of said them. Instead I kept saying "stop, stop" over and over again, but nobody was listening. Dr. Emery cut each stitch out one at a time. I didn't really hurt, but I still didn't like it. Less then a week ago that area was pretty painful after Dr. Emery messed with it. And it was still making me really mad that mom, Grandma Cathy and the nurse were holding me down. What is up with that? Then Dr. Emery pulled the scab off of my skin. The scab from the sanding he did between my upper lip and my nose. Now that was a little painful and I did not enjoy that at all. But after those three minutes of torture, everybody let go of me and mom cuddled me in her arms. Ah! Now that's what I'm talking about. As I sat on mom's lap, Dr. Emery told us that he does not expect to have to do anymore surgeries on my lip. He said we'll see when I get older and my face grows bigger, but he doesn't think I'll need anything else. He said my next big hurdle will be dental issues. But we'll work with Dr. Kelly and some day an orthodontist on those issues. I'm coming back to see Dr. Emery in three weeks. Just for a little checkup. Then we should be back to yearly checkups. I'll keep you posted.|W|P|109302464548119453|W|P|Removing My Stitches|W|P|beanfamily@gmail.com6/26/2004 12:54:54 AM|W|P|Christine|W|P|Just when I was starting to feel better, I went and had an accident. Skyler got a new big wheel from Grandma Cathy today. It came in this sort of big box; just big enough for Skyler to put it over her head. She likes to run around with it on her head and try and see if she can find us just by listening to our voices. Well we watched 50 First Dates with mom and dad and then we were supposed to be going to bed. We came upstairs and Skyler decided to play her little game again. Well she bumped in to me and the box caught my lip. It hurt really bad and I started bleeding. Mom and dad took a look and it almost looks like one of the stitches in my lip is missing. But most of the stitches (including all of the stitches on the outside are still intact. Dr. Emery told mom and dad that he didn't like to use dissovable stitches because when they are near the lip they will get wet and dissolve quickly. And when the stitches dissolve too soon it can make the scar more noticeable. But since this stitch that looks like it's missing is inside my mouth, we think it will be ok. But mom and dad tore down the box and threw it out in the trash. It's just never safe around here with all of us. Our little brains are just constantly dreaming up new activities.|W|P|109302449460511045|W|P|Accident|W|P|beanfamily@gmail.com6/24/2004 09:30:01 AM|W|P|Christine|W|P|Once again we had to be at the hospital at six o'clock in the morning. That really sucks because we don't normally get up until around nine. In fact I often sleep until close to ten. None of us are morning people. But we got up on time and made it to the hospital. When we got to the hospital we had to wait in the waiting room for a few minutes. Mom picked some bad seats...right in front of the vending machines. That made me realize how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten since 10:30pm the night before when I was watching a movie with my brothers and my sister. And mom and dad were making me mad because kept telling me no. I tried to open it up as if it was a refridgerator and I tried begging. If you've never seen me beg, mom says it's really pathetic. I clamp my hands togethers and says "Please, please, please Mommy." It just breaks her heart. Usually she gives in, but not today. She was blabbering about no food before surgery. Finally they called my name and we went back to a room. I still don't understand why they want you to be there 1 1/2 hours early. They spent about 15 minutes getting vitals, checking my oxygen level and asking mom and dad a bunch of questions. And then we sat there and watched TV. The nurse brought in a wagon. It was a wooden wagon and looked like the hospital helicopter. The nurse tried to pull me around in it, but I didn't want to talk to anybody other then mom and dad. I didn't even want strangers to look at me. So daddy pulled me around the hospital, then mom pulled the wagon around for a few more rounds and daddy finished up with a couple more times around the floor. It was a lot of fun. About 20 minutes before surgery, the anastegolists came in to tell us how she was going to put me under. It was the same as last time. She said she would put a mask over my face and was I was out they would insert my IV and my breathing tube. About five minutes before my surgery, Dr. Emery came in to explain exactly what he would be doing. He told us he wanted to clean up the little ridge that is on my lip and he wanted to "sand" my scar. That sounds painful. Then I was ready to go to the operating room. The nurse took me down in the wagon. So now I'm having second thoughts about how fun that wagon is. Mom and dad went to wait for me in the waiting room. Aunt Necole was already there waiting for me. They sat in the waiting room for an hour and a half. Mom was starting to get worried because Dr. Emery said the surgery would take about an hour. Finally, the volunteer told mom, dad and Necole that they could go back to the room to meet me. I wasn't out of recovery yet, but Dr. Emery came in to tell them about the surgery. He said it went really well. Besides cleaning up the ridge and sanding the scar, he also removed some extra skin on the bottom of lip; part of the lip that is actually inside my mouth. He told mom and dad they need to put some antibiotic ointment on my lip for the next few days and they can give me Tylenol for pain. Plus, instead of coming back to the hospital and putting me under again to remove the stitches, I have an appointment next week to have them removed in the office. Apparently they are going to hold me down so Dr. Emery can remove the stitches. I'm not looking forward to that at all. Either is mom. While Dr. Emery was talking to mom and dad they wheeled me in to the room and placed me in mom's arms. I was happy to see mom and dad again, but I was still a little upset because I had to go through all of this. Plus they put my IV in my left arm. So the little piece that sticks out so they can attach medicine or fluids or whatever kept poking me in the arm every time I tried to suck my thumb. That was making me so mad. I was crying and yelling. The nurse tried to tell me she couldn't take it out until she knew whether or not I would vomit from the drugs. But that answer wasn't good enough for me. Finally she took pity on me and removed the IV. I was bleeding all over so she put some gauze and a band-aid on. Then dad held me for a while and we watched some cartoons on tv. I kept sticking my tongue out and licking my lip. It felt wierd, but I couldn't figure out what it was. There was definitely something on my lip and I couldn't get it off. Mom kept trying to get me to drink some apple juice. I really wasn't in the mood for beverages, but I got sick of her asking so I took a little sip. I didn't like it at all. I tried to brush it off my tongue, but that taste was still there. I knew I never should of listened to mom. The nurse offered me a popsicle, but I yelled at her. I absolutely, positively didn't want anybody but mom and dad to talk to me or look at me or even think about me. The nurse checked my oxygen again and went over my discharge papers with mom and dad. Finally, after an hour, we got to go home. Dr. Emery said I should stay on clear fluids for a while and shouldn't have anything to eat that may snag on my stitches. So dad stopped at QT and got me some clear Gatorade. When we got home I laid down on the couch and watched Blues Clues. I tried to stay awake, but between the drugs and getting up so early I was exhausted. So I took a pretty long nap. Around 1:30pm, I went upstairs for some macaroni and cheese. I was starving by that point and I woofed it down. Then mom and I sat on the couch and watched Rugrats All Grown Up. It was fun to chill with mom. And I'm feeling pretty good now. By the time dad got home from taking my brothers and sister to a movie, I was smiling, laughing and running around. I am such a trooper.|W|P|109302438185119125|W|P|Second Surgery: Lip Revision|W|P|beanfamily@gmail.com