Jenna's pre-op

Yesterday, Jenna had her pre-op appointment. They (residents and attending) briefly explained the procedure, asked me questions, and answered all of mine. I'm really quite impressed with Jenna's surgeon, Dr. Smith (click on his name to learn more). I was also really impressed with his 3rd year resident, Dr. Christanson (I think). They explained there's a chance they will have to do Jenna's surgery in two parts depending on the elasticity of her skin, muscles, and tissue. They don't want to risk her lip re-opening if there's too much pull on the incision. So, if it has to be done in two parts, they will schedule another operation 6 weeks from her first (next Wednesday). I explained my concerns about anesthesia and recovery. Dr. Smith assured me that he is corresponding with her Endocrine doctor, Dr. Copeland, to be assured all will go smoothly. I would go into detail about the surgery, but it makes me feel weak everytime I think about it. If you really want to know more, you can give me a call and we'll talk about it.

Jenna's Sooner Start nurse, Sandy, joined us for the appointment and asked some questions in order to help her assist Jenna's recovery and progress. Talk about cool ;-) I learned something about Sandy...she has an 8-year-old son who at one time had a serious brain tumor. He's still not in the clear, but it much improved. The local PBS station will be doing a documentary on him in January.

I left the appointment with a little disappointment in knowing that Jenna will most likely be on her feeding tube until she's 3 :-( Poor baby! It will be a bummer to not have a messy, cake face from her 1st birthday, but it's truly a small price to pay when it's so crucial for her health.

My parents are coming in from Colorado on Tuesday and will be staying with us for a week. It will be nice to have help with Joshua. Mom also said she'll be doing the cooking and cleaning so that Nick and I can be up at the hospital with Jenna daily. I've really missed not having my parents nearby. I use to just show-up and hang-out with them whenever I was on their side of town; now there's 12 hours away :-(

Gotta end on a positive note...

I always go absolutely cleaning crazy when I know we will be having company. We haven't had anyone but Nick's parents stay at our house for a few days, so having my parents for a week will really motivate me to get things done and in order. I can hardly wait to re-organize cabinets, do all the laundry, and move things around. Isn't that weird? Let me know if you'd ever like some help getting rid of stuff! Oh, my SIL is good at that too, but she's busy incubating ;-)