80's Memories

This quiz got me thinking about some of my favorite things from the 80's and how most of them have become popular again. Caitlin has My Little Pony, Polly Pocket, a Cabbage Patch Kid, Mr. Potato Head, Colorforms and other things that I used to play with. This is "Laura's Childhood Part 2" and I'm having fun!

You Are 72% A Child of the 80s

Not only did you experience the 80s... you are practically an expert. You should be totally stoked!

Are You a Child of an 80s?

Success!

Cara's surgery went very smoothly. She was back in post-op recovery around 5pm and moved to a recovery room around 8pm (they were booked, so we were on hold). She is returning to her normal self, wanting to eat and drink and playing peek-a-boo with Mommy. If everything continues to go as planned, we should be released tonight or early tomorrow morning! It's amazing how children bounce back from things like this so quickly.

In other news, we were approved yesterday afternoon for a condo (rental). We will be moving on Friday, August 24th and hope to having everything settled by the 29th. Thankfully, the development is just down the road from where we are, allowing us to "move dirty" if needs be. We will have a 1st floor condo which means NO MORE STAIRS!

So, all is well in our world. We are extremely thankful to the Lord for watching over Cara and the dilligence of the medical staff here at Children's Hospital. They have been wonderful. Also, I want to thank everyone, once again, for their thoughts, prayers, text messages, emails, phone calls, instant messages, etc. I don't know how I would've made it through this without you all. We know that your thoughts and prayers made a difference. We felt surrounded by love & support.

My Kind of Pizza

Thanks Kendra for this idea...

It's funny that what you put on your pizza and how you eat it can tell so much about a person! I'm all over that "travel to Hawaii" part.

What Your Pizza Reveals

Your appetite is pretty average. You don't go overboard - but you don't deprive yourself either. You aren't particularly picky about pizza. It's so good... how could you be? You fit in best in the Western part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are dependable, loyal, and conservative with your choices. You are carefree and friendly. You should consider traveling to Hawaii. The stereotype that best fits you is geek. You're the type most likely to order pizza to avoid leaving your computer.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

Fictional Father Figure

Say that three times fast! Okay, I'm not looking to replace my father, but this was kind of funny...

Your Daddy Is Patrick Stewart

What You Call Him: Papito Why You Love Him: He's the Mack Daddy

Who's Your Daddy?

It's funny because my dad's name is Don(ald) and how they got Patrick Stewart from that, I'll never know. But, I've always loved Mr. Stewart from Star Trek days. He has the sexist voice. He's narrated a couple of books and TV specials and I just melt!

Going Under the Knife

Cara had her pre-surgical consultation at Children's Hospital yesterday. We met with the neurosurgeon who is going to be performing the surgery and felt confident that he will do a good job and take care of our daughter. Surgery has tentatively been set for Friday, August 17th in the afternoon and will go as planned as long as the doctor receives the CD-Rom of MRI images in time to review them before the surgery. He wants to make sure that a shunt is the best option for Cara and see exactly where the placement would be.

My mom googled the doctor last night and found out that he has some pretty remarkable credentials including having been a professor at Harvard University. He is just modest and simple, so he doesn't flaunt what he's done or where he's been. He's done thousands of this particular procedure and has been in pratice for over 30 years, operating at two different hospitals.

So...we will be admitted to the hospital on Friday morning for the pre-op stuff (IV antibotics, etc) followed by the surgery 4 hours later. Cara will remain at the hospital overnight and go home the next day as long as everything goes well.

My mom will be coming across again to be by my side as will my brother and very soon-to-be sister in law. Again, I am so blessed to have my family & friends for support and assistance! We love you guys, each and every one of you.

Prayers, prayers and more prayers, please!

Two for One

The ball is rolling on Cara's hydrocephalus. Her pediatrician got the MRI results yesterday and promptly called me explain them in layman's terms. He wanted us to move quickly on getting Cara in to see a pediatric neurosurgeon at Children's Hospital. After running to the pediatrician's office to pick up a copy of the MRI results and the name of a neurosurgeon, I was on the phone attempting to book an appointment. My mom ended up having to act as an intermediary since I was having trouble hearing and understanding the appointment scheduler. At first, it looked like we weren't going to be able to get in for a consultation until September, then it moved up to the end of August. Cara's pediatrician felt that there was some urgency to her case, so he called the pediatric neurosurgery department, pleading Cara's case and got us in this Friday (8/10). She is going to see the neurosurgeon recommended by her pediatrician even though I got another referral from my mom (long story) for another who is supposed to be the best in the state...so we may end up changing doctors if we're not impressed. She is also going to see a plastic surgeon at the same time. I'm not entirely certain why a plastic surgeon is necessary but, I'm guessing that it's due to the scars that will result from the surgery. Two surgeons in one visit...way to simplify things, I suppose. Right now, it is of dire importance that we get a surgical consult done ASAP. I am prepared for the fact that we might be prepping Cara for surgery as early as this weekend or the first part of next week depending on the neuro's take on the MRI results and the degree of urgency he attaches to her case. It could be next month too, no way to know right now. From everything that I've read, it looks like there will be a 2-3 day hospital stay after the surgery, assuming that she has a shunt put in. If they do another procedure, I have no clue as to how long as there wasn't much information available on alternative surgeries. I would really like for her to have a endoscopic third ventriculostomy because it is less evasive and sounds like permanent fix to the problem whereas shunts can malfunction and get infected...so it's a life long thing. Right now, we are playing "wait and see" until 2 o'clock on Friday. Then, we should have a lot of answers to our questions.

Again, please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. We are all a little scared of what is yet to come. I take comfort in the knowledge that my family and friends are there for me. My mom will be making the 5 hour journey across the state to be here for the consultation. We need all the support (and medical know-how) that we can get.

Thanks everyone for your love, friendship, caring and support!

3 Weeks and a Dilemna

For those that don't know, our lease is up at the apartment complex known as Del Dumpe (yes, even the 4 year old calls it that due to my slip of tongue one very frustrating day) at the end of this month. We signed a notice telling them that we will not be returning despite the pleads and "great special offers" or the lure of the new community center. Some of you may remember the issues we were having with maintenance and our neighbors. Frankly, we think we can do better. For the better part of the last month, I have combed through page upon page of listings on Craig's List and have found a few that look promising. We'd really like to get the 3 bedroom house. We've seen the inside and really like it. It's big and open, with more than enough space for our growing family. Not to mention that there's a 2 car garage and a nice sized, fenced-in backyard. However, I just didn't feel a good vibe from the owner. He's supposed to let us know by tonight, so we'll see. This house is also in a great neighborhood with kick-butt schools and REALLY stinking close to the water park. I have also called on a 3 bedroom townhouse that's right by Cherry Creek State Park. Again, it's in a good area with the same kick-butt schools. Hopefully, the property consultant will email me back tomorrow so that we can go down and check it out. If all else fails, we have arranged to move into a condo-style apartment about two miles away from where we are. It's really nice but, again, it's an apartment and we're trying to avoid returning to apartment living at all costs.
What's going to be interesting is finding a new place, getting the money together to move in, pack up our stuff here and load it into a Budget truck along with the things that are in our storage unit (only bare essentials are with us now), move in and get things semi-unpacked all before I have to show my face in Montrose for the start of my brother's wedding activities. Whew, talk about a busy few weeks!
Of course, add all of this to what is going on with Cara and that makes for complete chaos! I must find order in this chaos though...what choice do I have? Well, wish me luck!

Cara's MRI

Cara went in today for her MRI at 9:30am and was back in recovery around 11am. She was given an oral sedative and then two doses of another sedative in shot form. She was so out of it, there's no way she could've moved a muscele. We were in recovery for about 3 hours, waiting for her to be alert enough to sit up, hold up her head and drink. She will still be groggy for the rest of the day, but she did very well.
We went to Montrose Memorial and were spoiled rotten. My mom works there and had, of course, spread the word that we were coming. They have always treated us well though--like family. I'm so glad that we drove out here to have this done rahter than waiting 3+ weeks to go to Children's. An MRI is an MRI and now, her pediatrician should have the results no later than Tuesday.
The next step is to meet with a pediatric neurosurgeon to discuss the results and how to proceed.
Ben & I want to thank you all for your thoughts & prayers and ask you to keep it up as the journey has just begun.

We have the best friends and family members out there & we love you all.