Post op plan

I suppose I should write about mom's post op plan. She was told she will be in the hospital for a week. However they also thought she would spend a night in the ICU, which she didn't, so I wouldn't be surprised if she went home a day or two early. She does have a colostomy so education will need to be done on the care of that.
The doc had said it would be 2-3 months recovery but this morning said she looked better and the surgery went better than expected. So recovery could be more like 1 month now.
The plan is to do chemotherapy afterwards. I would think they would want to get her strength and weight up before beginning that again but I have not heard a date to begin yet. She will have a 3 week cycle. An infusion on day 1 with 2 weeks of oral chemo and then 1 week off. This will repeat for 6 months to a year.
Oh and she was already up out of bed, took a couple steps and to the chair this morning and looked really good doing that! Yay for progress! That's all I know for now. Oh and she did ask for no visitors until tomorrow so if you want to know where she is just ask!

No Tumor

Yesterday was mom's surgery day. She had to be there at 6:30 for lab and then she was the second case of the morning. I thought she would have to wait a while but surprisingly she got called just minutes after checking in. We sat with her in the holding room but again minutes later they called her in. All 3 of us kids were there, with LT and my mom's sister. Our old neighbor even came to sit with us while mom was in surgery. This was so very nice!
After they got her Epidural going and site market we were allowed to see her once more.
She was pretty nervous but still in good spirits. I think it was a high anxiety day for everyone!
They took her into the OR and we waited. It was nice to have someone there to distract us. LT did her fair share of distractions but it's though for a little girl who was woke up early! The staff was good at keeping us updated and before we knew it (2 1/2 hours later) we were being called to visit with the surgen. The doc gave a great report! He saw no tumor in the rectum but took all lymph there to be sure. The tissue was sent to pathology to be sure and the doc said we still could get a report of some or no tumor. He also inspected the whole pelvic area and said all looked good. I asked specifically about the live and that was clear too! He said she did really well and that we could see her in about an hour so he said to leave to have lunch. We were so releaved that surgery went quick and so well!
By this time I needed to pump so we went home and found some lunch. My brother ate and went back right away but the rest of us took a little more time. Dan updated us when he went back and said that it would be a while still so not to hurry. We made it back about an hour later and mom was still in the PACU. We waited a little while and after it had been 2 hours since our update from the doc, I went and asked for an update. She called back to the PACU and they were just getting mom ready to move. We were told to go upstairs and wait a couple minutes then check with the nurse.
I went to check in and was so surprised when I was told to walk into mom's room and saw her talking with the nurse! She smiled and looked so good! No visible tubes and resting under a warm blanket. I gave her hugs and kisses and the told the nurse to grab us after she completed her assessment. Just a couple minutes later she told us to come back. All four of us plus LT and our stroller made our way in the room and I think everyone was so happy to see mom looking so good!
Mom was convinced she would be on the breathing tube for days and have a feeding tube as well. I think she was surprised as well!
We visited for a few minutes but realized she needed to rest so we told her we would come back later.
What a relief! I was so happy she was ok. Knowing she was in good hands the three of us kids decided to get some work done at the house. We still are trying to go through and get rid of stuff that has accumulated over 25 years of living in the house. We got a lot accomplished and got another short visit in before mom went to bed!
Thank you so much for the great thoughts and prayers. She was in The Lord's good hands! Now onto recovery!

4 Months Old

Miss LT is 4 months old today! In some ways I feel like February 27th was so long ago but looking at LT I think she has grown so fast! We went in for her check up and of course they confirmed she has continued to grow like a weed! She is now 26 inches, in the 96th percentile; 17 lbs 13 oz, in the 99th percentile; and her head is 17 1/4 inches round, in the 98th percentile! (Meaning, if you line her up with 100 4 month old's she will be taller than 96 of them). At least she is proportional!

Must have been pretty relaxed!

She had 2 more shots but was such a trooper, momma cuddled her in close and she calmed down quickly.I truly believe in the 5 S's from the Happiest Baby on the Block (Dr. Karp). Swaying, sucking, shushing, side and swaddling; so simple yet effective!

Future Jimmie!

Her eyes are still beautifully blue and her hair is blonde with maybe a little strawberry in it! LT loves to sport the mohawk and this week a barrette even stayed in place, her hair is so fine they usually slip right out!

She still loves her momma's milk and is such a great eater! She sleeps up to 15 hours a night and only wakes to eat twice. LT loves her big girl crib so much she has to try out every position in bed. When momma checks on her, she is most often in another position from when she first went to bed. She loves to sleep on her side but if she kicks her legs to hard and ends up on her tummy she awakes with a cry! 

Of course Auntie K shares her zebra blanket during a mid morning nap!

LT continues to discover more about her surroundings. At the clinic today they were taking her temperature with a forhead scanner and as it moved from one side to another and beeped she tried to follow it! She loves to check out everything, on walks she is far to busy looking around to let the rhythm lull her to sleep!

Batting at the musical toys!

She loves her daddy time and their secret language! When daddy walks by she immediately smiles and expresses so much love and excitement! Who knows what they do all day while momma is at work but it must be a good time!

Those used to be long pants! Ha!

LT loves to sit up. If you lay her back she will immediately try and get herself upright. She gets about half way before falling back! LT is wearing 6 month clothes but this week we have gone into 9 month sleepers since the 6 month ones are getting short! I wonder where we will be in another 4 months!

LT will 'hold' the bottle if her hands are placed there!

Music to My Ears

Baby Girl has given us a small peak at her silly side. I have seen her laugh! Thank goodness I had my phone in reach and could grab a video as she continued! We were at Grandmama's house and were fortunate to have a girlfriend visit. We were just hanging out on Grandmama's bed chatting when she was telling us a story. Well she forgot the name of something in her story and LT just though it was funny! Check out the video: http://youtu.be/F-jGUP7zahQ

As for an update on mom:

She is feeling much better now 2 weeks after her first round of chemo and radiation has ended. She spent a couple weeks in bed with horrible fatigue among some other not so pleasant side effects. She had a surgery consult 2 weeks ago and today the NP told her she is healing nicely and does not need another follow up prior to surgery. Mom is feeling so well she had such an eventful week consisting of a day trip to her sister's, a wedding, a walk and even a little shopping! Not to mention finally having the energy to work on her quilting! You know she wasn't feeling well when she couldn't even sew! LT and I are excited to visit her again this weekend, maybe we can get some use out of the great sidewalks and bike path!

Of course I have to share a few pictures!

Mom got a new do!

With Uncle D checking out Great Aunt B's horses

17 weeks

Going for a walk

LT is now a side sleeper in her big girl crib and sleeping through the night! 

(Although that last part is nothing new!)

Playing with Daddy

4 weeks

Mom had a surgery consult today...4 weeks away. I think we all were hoping for the slightest chance that this wouldn't happen. Good news is that the radiation has done it's job and did shrink the tumor. This will make the job of removing tumor easier. Bad news is that there is no way to take only the tumor which means a colostomy is eminent. That was certainly not out first choice but the doctor was pretty positive that he would get it all. After surgery they will do chemo and radiation again. What a journey!
On a lighter note, Miss LT had her first giggling fit this weekend. We had a friend visiting and mom was telling a story. She forgot the name of something and hit her leg 3 times really fast and LT just started giggling! I even captured part of it on video! If I can figure out how to post a video but for now here are a few photos...
** UPDATED I forgot to mention, mom need's some visitors! If you are in the neighborhood, stop by for a short visit. She doesn't have the energy for a long visit so just 5 minutes will do. She had so much fun visiting and laughing with a girlfriend Sunday night, I think it would be great for her if it continues! Oh and remember she's back at the house, if u need the address let me know.

Crazy busy life

I have neglected this blog in the past few weeks, sorry! Life has been busy to say the least. LT and I have been on the road every weekend in the past 2 months! We have been visiting mom and even took a trip to the cities to visit my BFFs and attend a bridal shower! Yay for weddings! This past weekend we stayed in town to go to a baby shower for LT's BFF RM. RM is 6 weeks younger than LT and is smaller than LT was at birth! So fun to hold a small baby!
Mom has 1 week left of radiation as of today! She has taken a leave from work so she can rest. This was a tough decision to come to but she says she finally understands what fatigue is! She also moved back home on mother's day so we have been busy getting the house organized and unpacked.
Mother's day we went to church then had brunch with mom, my grandma, and aunt and uncle and their family. It was so nice to have family around and of course for them to meet LT! She also got to meet her uncle Dan who stayed with us for a few days!
LT is now 14 weeks and is growing like a weed! At 3 months she weighs 15 lbs and is 25 inches! She is sitting up and holding her neck! She still doesn't like tummy time and prefers gorilla time (tummy time on mommy and daddy's chests). She got a jumparoo a couple weeks ago and loves it! She is memorized by the flashing lights and sounds and is figuring out how to jump! She is wearing 6 month clothes now!

Week 1 Update

One week down of mom's 6 week treatment plan. She had her ups and downs this week but certainly ended on a high note. She was surprised by her sorority sisters cleaning up the yard at the house. This was such a huge task, we had no idea how we were going to get it done before listing the house for sale. See the article from The Forum. Thank you AGD!!!

Mom did have to take a sick day from work after her infusion hit her hard. But after two days of rest she was ready to go again. LT and I visited mom for the weekend and got lots of cuddle time in!

More great news, my big bro is flying in tomorrow to spend a week with mom and of course meet lil LT!! We are so very excited!

Lots of people are continuing to ask how they can help and I am having a hard time answering. Some have mentioned wanting to bring supper to mom. Currently she is working 1pm - 9pm at the store and has every other weekend off. I am looking into the option of using a online site called Meal Train. I will post more info on that soon. Food is kind of a funny thing for mom. She cannot tolerate any cold, even salads are not good. She also likes lots of flavor to minimize the metallic taste in her mouth. This site allows preferences to be set up and schedules made so that it is all organized in one place. Again more to come later.

Daddy sent me this pic of LT while I was at work today. She had grown so much and is now 10 weeks! Check out how short her pants are, I guess we will have to call them capris! Sorry it's a little blurry, it's from a cell phone.

Ok, enough for now. Time to get the baby to sleep and of course momma too! You know they say to sleep when the baby sleeps!