Lauren had her checkup at the Valerie Center last week and she's doing great. Her counts are really good, she's put on some weight (she's up to 35 pounds - must be do to the food of the month - white cheddar popcorn and mozzarella sticks). As usual it was great to see and catch up with everyone. The Valerie Center is now in the new Children's center that is finally finished. While we were there Lauren and I took a self guided tour through the new inpatient floor and new PICU. Wow, is it nice. These two units will be open this coming week. Not that I minded the old ped floor but I wish this new center was built when we were spending so much time in the hospital. It's much nicer!
Lauren also had a visit to the eye doctor last week in preparation for her second eye surgery which was done today. Everything went really well although her eyes are much more sore this time around. She was in a really good mood when we got there and had all the nurses smiling. She couldn't wait to get dressed in the "silly pajamas" and "funny hat" and thought I looked quite funny in my hat and big white jumpsuit (needed so I could go into the operating room with her). Her anesthesiologist today was the same one from the last eye surgery and also her very first mri scan at diagnosis. She couldn't believe how good Lauren looked. She said she never would have guessed it was the same little girl. The surgery only took about an hour and true to form Lauren woke up quick & quite cranky. As soon as Bill and I walked into the recovery room we could hear her already yelling at the nurses. She's really mad that she can't rub her eyes and she was yelling " I always rub my eyes when I wake up!"
She's been sleeping on & off since we've been home and doesn't want to open her eyes much. The light bothers them and they're a bit swollen. The doctor told us it will take longer to recover from this surgery than the last one, so we won't be doing much over the weekend. Though tomorrow night Aunt Nean will be coming over to watch the kids while Bill and I head out to a Luau at the Elks club. It's a fundraiser for Timmy's school for their new playground. A lot of our friends will be there so it should be a fun night.
Lauren's HAMA results came in yesterday and she is still HAMA negative. So round 9 of antibodies is scheduled for March 4 - 15. We've completed a full year of antibodies now so if Lauren doesn't HAMA we have one more year to go! We'll also be doing all the 4 month scans during this next round.
That's about it for now - as always, Thanks for checking in on us and for remembering Lauren in your prayers.
