ANNA HOME RECOVERING FROM SUTURE REMOVAL

We traveled to Chattanooga on Sunday night to get ready for Anna's suture removal scheduled for 7:45 a.m. at T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital the following morning. We had to arrive at 6:15 a.m. on Monday so she was very tired.

We got a good laugh with her when the nurse came to give her some "sleepy juice" to help her relax before going back for surgery...she was acting really silly and acting like the room was spinning around.


They had to put her to sleep using gas so that Dr. Sargent was able to remove the sutures without her causing any damage. Dr. Sargent removed the sutures and placed the Dermabond glue over the area that had currently had stitches. She had some drainage and bleeding when she came back to recovery, more than I expected. She had a really difficult time after the suture removal. It seemed to bother her more than the actual surgery, possibly due to the anxiety of having to go back to the hospital and anticipating another procedure. I believe the area around her nose being so tender really caused her some discomfort, too. She did not want to travel back home after the suture removal because she was so tired and asked if we could stay that night at the hotel. We opted not to go home and she slept all afternoon. She wanted to go sit by a waterfall in the pool area when she woke up, so we spent a lot of time walking her around the hotel Monday afternoon to keep her comfortable and take her mind off of the surgery.
We are at home and just trying to keep Samuel and Daniel away from her so that they don't hit her face. We are having to use the special bottle to drink from that we used in previous surgeries for the next two weeks and we are having to watch her carefully so that she doesn't scratch her face. I just had to put her "No-No" arm restraints back on her because she is trying to scratch her nose where it is healing. We will probably have to make her wear them quite a bit for the next week...we are trying not to use them when we can sit by her, but that is difficult to do all day long. I am so nervous about Anna hitting her face by tripping or falling...pray that I would be able to relax so that everyone else will be able to. :)
Daniel turned 1 year old today so the kids are looking forward to celebrating his birthday the next few days. It is so hard to believe that he has grown so fast! Life is truly a vapor!

Keep us in your prayers in the days ahead! The church has blessed us by bringing us food this past week-they have been such an encouragement through this entire journey. Our testimony is that of David's..."I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord." Psalm 122:1 What a blessing to be part of the family of God!

ANNA IS HOME RECOVERING FROM SURGERY

Anna and Samuel at the Ronald McDonald House the night before surgery playing chess...actually, they are playing with the chess pieces
Anna with Daddy, Mommy, and Samuel at the hospital on the morning of the surgery
.........................................................................................................................................
UPDATE FROM SURGERY OCT. 22: Anna is at home recovering from the surgery to lengthen the columnella and to revise the scar tissue above her lip. We are pleased with how well she did-she is such a strong little girl! We were worried that we would not be able to proceed with surgery due to a stomach virus that she had throughout the night on Monday, but after calling the anesthesiologists on Tuesday morning, they informed us that they would probably be able to do the surgery as long as she was keeping fluids down throughout Tuesday up until the surgery on Wednesday morning. She was able to drink fluids, eat popsicles, and keep crackers and a few shortbread cookies down on Tuesday. We traveled to Chattanooga on Tuesday night and stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in order to be there early Wednesday morning for surgery.

Anna was very quiet while we were waiting in the recovery room waiting for the surgery to begin, but did not seem real anxious or upset. This surgery was much harder than the others for us from the standpoint that she was so much more aware of what was going to take place and she understood so much more about being at the hospital and having to see the doctor-we agonized that she had to anticipate so much at such a young age.

Dr. Sargent explained that this surgery was a "stepping stone" in order to be able to do other revisions to the nose probably during the teenage years, so the procedure in itself will not be the finished product. We could tell a huge difference in the appearance of the nose, even though she was very swollen when we saw her in recovery. Her nose does not look as flat at the tip and I think the procedure makes her look a little older.We were amazed at the amount of sutures that were underneath the nose...many more than we imagined, but we are amazed at the handiwork of Dr. Sargent. It is truly like a potter taking a lump of clay and creating something beautiful-our prayers were answered that the Lord would guide the hands of the surgeon...It is truly amazing what he has been able to do over the course of the last two years. We are so grateful for his work and his dedication to cleft patients!

When Anna woke up from the anesthesia, she was a little irritable and just wanted to be held. She did really well when she became a little more awake and alert and wanted some "pink Gatorade" to drink...no other color would do, so Daddy made a special trip to find any pink liquid at the hospital so she would take in fluids. The nurse was very pleased that she was taking fluids so well, and we decided to go ahead and be discharged but opted to stay another night in the Ronald McDonald House so she could rest instead of traveling for two hours after such an exhausting ordeal from the virus and then the surgery. She was really tired from the lack of sleep on Monday night, and then a very restless night on Tuesday due to her nights and days being mixed up. She rested really well at the Ronald McDonald House on Wednesday night following her surgery and was surprisingly asking to eat cookies, as well as dry Frosted Flake cereal that night. She continued to take in some fluids and did really well, not appearing to be in a terrible amount of pain. The fact that she had had such a rough time on Monday night with the virus was a huge concern for us as parents as far as her recovery, but I have been amazed at how resilient she has been today after we came home.

She rested really well on the trip home from Chattanooga, and has wanted to play and has really had lots of energy throughout the day today. She was so excited to see baby brother Daniel, and we couldn't keep him away from her. She wanted her "cuts" (scissors) to cut and glue with when we got home. She loves to cut out tiny pieces of paper and glue them on another piece of construction paper! The funny thing was that the doctor told us that we could remove the "No-No" arm restraints that keep her from bending her elbows as long as we were with her, so she would not scratch or hit her sutures, but she WILL NOT allow us to remove them...she wants to keep them on.

Anna is resting now and we know the biggest challenge we will face the next few days will be to keep her from being too mobile and trying to make her rest, but we rejoice that she has felt so well today and has had the energy and playfulness that describes her so well! Thanks for your continued prayers for our baby girl...we are so blessed to have so many friends and family members lifting us up to the Father!

ANNA'S SURGERY RESCHEDULED-OCT.20

Anna was scheduled for surgery at T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital in Chattanooga tomorrow, Wednesday, October 6. The anesthesiologist wanted us to postpone her surgery for two weeks due to her being sick this past weekend. The surgery has been rescheduled for Wednesday, October 20th. This surgery will be for the lengthening of the columnella (the tip of the nose) and the revision of her scar just above her lip. We are hoping she will have a quick recovery and ask for friends and family members to pray for her. We appreciate everyone lifting her up.

God has been so gracious-He has blessed Dr. Sargent with such an ability. We are amazed at the results of the surgeries that she has undergone. Please pray that God will guide Dr. Sargent's hands and give him the skill and precision needed for this particular procedure.

SOME RECENT PHOTOS OF THE KIDS JUST ENJOYING LIFE!


Anna stamped her face after her trip with Daddy to the dentist at Chattanooga...quite a laugh for us all!


Mommy and Daddy with Samuel after our "King of the Jungle" Children's Musical at our church...Samuel was a lion!


Daniel with Daddy's hat just having a wonderful time...he is so easy going! Almost 1 year old!

Our Many Blessings

The past year was full of many blessings. Samuel is turning into such a little "man"and will be 4 years old on June 10, Anna just celebrated her 2nd birthday on February 25, 2010, and Daniel turned 6 months old on April 28th. Anna had her last surgery on January 12, 2009 and we are anticipating her next one in the next few months. Dr. Sargent let us know that we can schedule it any time now. Her skin has healed nicely and they are ready to lengthen the columnella (the skin that goes from above her lip to the tip of her nose). Dr. Sargent will also revise her scars above her lip from previous surgeries. We are praying about the best time to have her surgery...during the summer or after summer. Please remember us in prayer as we determine the best time for Anna and our family.

I wanted to share some pictures from this past year so you can see how Anna is growing and healing, and how our family has grown as well. These are some of the highlights from previous months in our life.

Anna is Two Years Old!

Daniel at 6 Months Old

Samuel, The Big Brother

FIRST BIRTHDAY PHOTOS OF ANNA CARR

Here are a few of Anna's birthday photos taken this past month at JCPenney.
(courtesy of SmilesbyWires...electronic sharing)

ANNA CELEBRATES HER FIRST BIRTHDAY WITH A TEA PARTY

ANNA'S BABY DEDICATION ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd

LET THE TEA PARTY BEGIN...

THE CARR FAMILY CELEBRATING ANNA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

MOMMY AND ANNA WITH MY TEA POT CAKE

Anna celebrated her first birthday at our church on Sunday, February 22nd. We had a Tea Party to thank our church family for serving us and ministering to our family the first year of her life. We have so much to celebrate for all that God has brought us through! We served Chicken Salad and Pimento Cheese sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches, cubed cheese, grapes, cookies, cocktail weiners, a cream cheese ball and crackers, deli pinwheels, and we had a variety of cakes: My Tea Pot Cake, a Buttercream basket-weave cake, a Sour-Cream Chocolate Chip Poundcake, and a Lemon Bundt Cake. We couldn't have had a more enjoyable party!

We displayed some photos to show how far Anna has come this first year and some of her milestones surgically. She has come through three surgeries this past year and the members of Community Baptist Church have been so gracious to us...they have cooked meals, come to sit with Samuel during Anna's recovery time, cleaned our house, given financially to help with Anna's medical expenses, and lifted us up continually in prayer.

What a blessing to be part of the family of God!

HOME RECOVERING FROM ANNA'S PALATE SURGERY

WAITING TO GO BACK FOR SURGERY ON MONDAY, JANUARY 12

We went to T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital in Chattanooga on Monday, January 12 to have Anna's third surgery to repair her cleft palate. We were planning to only have the palate repaired, but Dr. Sargent felt like he would be able to repair the place above Anna's lip where her sutures had ruptured, so we had him decide what he felt would be best once he got into the operating room. We were very pleased with the appearance of the repair. He was able to release the tension and "puckered skin" that had formed when her lip contracted and healed on its own. He was also able to repair the palate and we are finally home to recover for the next two weeks. We had to stay an extra few days in the hospital because Anna quit drinking fluids after the first two days . She was swallowing Pedialyte well on Monday and Tuesday, but on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning she quit drinking. They increased her IV fluids until she was taking fluids again by Thursday and they released us Friday afternoon.

ANNA FEEDING DADDY WITH HER SOFF-SIPP BOTTLE AT THE HOSPITAL

She has done well overall since we have been home. We were able to give her Children's Tylenol for her pain, and she has not had to take the Tylenol/Codeine since we have been home. She ran a low temperature last night (Saturday, January 17) but Tylenol has kept it down so far. She has done well eating from the tube feeder called a "Soff Sipp" bottle. She will continue to eat through it for the remainder of the two weeks while recovering, as well as wearing the "No-No" arm restraints to avoid placing her hands in her mouth or hitting her newly-stitched lip. She is even able to crawl wearing the arm restraints, so I am having to watch her closely. I am afraid she will fall and hit her face on the carpet, so I am trying to keep her entertained without her being on the move. She was so glad to be home. When we pulled out her toys and she could actually sit and play in the floor, she was overwhelmed with excitement! It was good to see her face light up with her usual smile!

SAMUEL PLAYING WITH A LAB THAT VISITED KIDS IN THE HOSPITAL

One of the blessings we encountered this time was staying at the Ronald McDonald House. This allowed me to go and visit with Samuel for a few hours each day and get a few hours of much needed sleep, too. The facility was so nice and made us feel like we were at home. We met a couple of families that were going through the same surgeries as us, too. Samuel enjoyed playing in the toy room and adjusted much better to Anna having surgery this time since he was able to see both of us more often. We realized how blessed we were going through this surgery, as we encountered two families during our hospital stay that lost children. Please lift these families up in your prayers in the coming weeks. Our hospital room was located directly outside of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and there were so many situations where people were hurting and suffering. We praise God for His goodness in the midst of difficulty and trials, though ours seem so small in comparison to the burden these other families are carrying.

We will go back to Dr. Sargent for a follow-up appointment on Friday, January 30. We will keep you posted on Anna's progress. We appreciate the number of prayers that have been lifted up on our behalf!

Thankful for all of you,

Sheri