Hemangioma Excision

January 28-29, 2008---We went to Children's Hospital in Little Rock for another hemangioma treatment. Chloe had an office visit on Monday afternoon. Rick and I had noticed that over the past week Chloe's facial atrophy didn't seem as obvious as usual. (She was having a reaction to the steroid used previously to shrink the hemangioma. The steroids had eaten away some of the fat in her face, causing very noticeable indentations and lines in her face--called atrophy.) We had sent Dr. Buckmiller pictures and imagine her surprise when she came in our room and saw Chloe's face. She said there was no medical reason for the atrophy to have spread up her forehead and down her cheek, and there was no medical explanation for it to have healed itself. Dr. Buckmiller has been amazed with Chloe's recovery from the beginning. She has had no other patients who have had such drastic changes in their hemangiomas. She expected to have to do several steroid treatments on Chloe, but only had to do one because the protruding part of the hemangioma had shrank completely. The color in the hemangioma was significantly different after both of her laser treatments. We all know it was a miracle that her face had healed itself----it was God answering everyone's prayers! Dr. Buckmiller was speechless. She and her associates are considering writing up Chloe's case and sending it to a medical journal. Chloe thought she was such a big girl holding/loving her baby in the chair in the exam room.





Her surgery wasn't until 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, which meant a long time between meals. We stuffed her at dinner and she had a late bottle. No food or drink after midnight. She was allowed to have water or apple juice until 10:30 a.m. but, like my two other children, Chloe dislikes both. Needless to say, she was starving (or thought she was) by 9 a.m.--she had already missed her breakfast and morning snack. She was miserable at the hotel. After arriving at the hospital at 11:30 a.m. we tried to keep her mind off the hunger pains by having her play in the waiting room and playroom. She bored with it rather quickly.







However, she was in meltdown mode by noon. Now she had missed her lunch too and was just miserable. The anesthesiologist gave her "goofy juice" at 12:45. This was supposed to make her goofy (obviously, given its name) but we didn't see much difference. She did fall over once and thought playing with tissue was the best game ever. I guess you don't see a lot of reaction from an 11 month old. The medicine was also supposed to make her separation from us less traumatic. She was upset when we left her but I'm sure it wasn't as bad as it would have been without the "juice". The medicine has an amnesia inducing drug in it so she won't remember anything from the time she took it until after we got home. The amnesia aids in reducing the fear of surgery if a child must return for additional treatments.





It took over an hour and a half to do the surgery. Dr. Buckmiller was able to cut out the scar under her skin and rearrange the bulges to fill in the remaining indentations. She also cut away the saggy, scarred skin., which lifted the nose a little. My baby had her first cosmetic procedure! Dr. Buckmiller thought she would have to do a laser treatment on the remaining red areas. This was not necessary because they were minimal after the eye tuck. Chloe was in recovery for almost two hours. We were allowed to be with her for most of that time. She was in a lot of pain and was given two doses of morphine within a 15 minute period. She was also starving and was refusing the apple juice being offered. She drank a little sprite but was very excited to see a bottle of milk. (The milk and sprite didn't stay down for very long---it was a nasty van ride home!! She has never gotten sick from the anesthesia before so I am blaming the "goofy juice".) She is still in a lot of pain and is taking Tylenol w/Codeine every four hours. The pain and discomfort should ease by this afternoon or tomorrow. We must also clean the stitches area with a peroxide/water mixture and put an ointment on them three times a day. She's not going to like that! In order to keep her from touching her stitches, the hospital put "no-no's" on her arms. They prevent her from bending her elbows. They can only be taken off at bath time and when changing her clothes. This means she can't feed herself, hold her bottle, or play with toys. You know she hates them!! It's going to be a very interesting week!







Her eye is very swollen and discolored. She looks as if she was in a backyard brawl and had the crud beat out of her. All of this will heal with time. The few remaining hemangioma red spots could go away on their own over the next year. If not, she will have laser treatments on them. That being said, this could be the last major surgery she will have to go through for her hemangioma. However, we do go back to Little Rock on Tuesday, February 5th to have her external stitches removed. She must be put to sleep to do this so we will once again experience the "goofy juice". I will be prepared for its after effects and pack towels and febreeze in the van!!

Jackson turns 3!

January 23, 2008---Jackson is so excited about his birthday. He has been singing "Happy Birthday" to himself for days. He was even singing it at the top of his lungs through Wal-Mart on Monday. He took powdered doughnuts to share with the other kids in the nursery at the gym this morning. We had dinner at church. Grandmother, Uncle Adam, Aunt Shaina, Ben, A.J., and Uncle Jerry came over after church for cupcakes and ice cream sundaes when we got home. He got two dinosaur shirts from Grandmother and Granddaddy and absolutely loves them. He alternates wearing each of them several times a day. Jackson's real party will be in February. He is such a crazy, hyper little boy, but he's definitely mama's baby boy! I can't believe he's three years old and will start preschool this fall. Where does all the time go?

Birthday Girl

January 22, 2008---My princess turned five years old today. She thinks she is grown now (as if she didn't beforehand) because she has chores and gets and allowance. She took cupcakes and capri suns to preschool on Monday (she doesn't go to preschool on Tuesdays). She wanted me to cook baked chicken, baked potatoes, and salad tonight so I did. Granddaddy, Grandmother, Uncle Adam, Aunt Shaina, Ben, A. J., and Uncle Jerry came for her birthday dinner. Afterwards we had cupcakes and ice cream sundaes. Her actual party will be in February. I can't believe my baby girl will start kindergarten this fall!! Time passes by so quickly!!!

Frostbite Half Marathon

January 19, 2008---Rick and J.R. ran the Frostbite Half Marathon in Starkville. Although the predicted snow and ice never came it was definitely very cold. The runners rode a bus from the Healthplex in Starkville to a drop off point in Pheba, MS. They then ran the 13.1 miles back to the Healthplex. The kids and I watched from inside the van in the parking lot of the Healthplex. The first runner came in at 1 hour 09 minutes. The next one finished about ten minutes later. There was quite a gap in runners for quite a while. Then the majority of runners came in. Rick finished the race in 2:09:09, finishing 147th out of 180 individuals. J.R. placed 148th with a time of 2:09:12. Very impressive!! It would take me two days to run that distance (haha).

Timeline of Insanity

I will start by saying that I am sorry to bore you but December was a crazy month. Actually, it started in November and hasn't stopped yet. This is the reason I have been so stressed out lately and have been biting people's heads off right and left. I have very few pictures from Christmas, which is sad since it was Chloe's first. I am hoping to get copies of photos from family members.







A Timeline of My Insanity

**Keep in mind that in addition to the things listed below, our normal routine consists of Anna Catherine going to preschool on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 8 a.m.- noon. She also has dance class on Mondays 5:00-5:45 p.m.. We are at church every Wednesday night 5 p.m.-7:30 p.m. These things had to continue throughout the "timeline of insanity". The kids and I also go to the gym Monday-Friday 8:30-10:00 a.m. Monday-Friday. However, we only went a few days during the month of December. We've been five days so far in January and hope our schedule will allow us to go five days a week soon. I'm not looking for sympathy; only hoping that venting will ease some of my tension/frustration.


Nov. 14th: Decided to move into my grandparents' house in Shady Grove (a community in Pontotoc). My grandparents' built the house 50 years ago and lived there until my parents moved in in 1993. They decided to downsize and offered the house to us.


Nov. 16th-25th: Vacation in Colorado (see previous blog). Due to this trip, we lost ten days of valuable packing and cleaning time.


Nov. 26th-29th: Week is spent packing, painting, and cleaning both houses before moving.


Nov. 30th-Dec. 02: Move as much as possible but still have 35% of belongings at other house. None of it is packed due to time crunch. We assume that we have until the end of the month to get all of our things out since we paid our rent for December. We will find out that is not the case.


Dec. 03-08: Along with the normal daily routine, I must make at least one trip to the other house to fetch our things. I put a movie on in the van for the kids while I go inside and pack. I pack a box, bring it to the van, check on the kids, and start all over until I have filled the van floor to ceiling with junk. That's what I've decided we have...JUNK!!! I try to unpack but usually the boxes are just thrown wherever we can find a place. I feel that I am living in Fred Sanford's junkyard! I also had a two hour dentist appointment on the 5th and then my face from the upper cheek down to my chin on both sides were numb for four hours. Fun, fun!


09th: Chloe starts throwing up.


10th: Chloe goes to the doctor and is told she has a stomach virus. Rick, Tracy, and Jackson begin to feel ill. Both toilets clog.


11th: Rick and Tracy are now dying from the stomach bug. Chloe and Jackson are still sick. AC essentially watches the younger ones for the day because Mommy and Daddy can't lift their heads off their pillows. This virus is brutal!! Toilets are still clogged and must now drive to Tracy's mom's house to use the restroom. Oh, the fun of a stomach virus with no indoor plumbing!


12th: Jackson and Chloe still sick and toilets still clogged. Rick and Tracy begin to recuperate.


13th: Jackson and Chloe still sick. Rick goes out of town for work. Plumber comes out and tells us that the pipes have rusted and broken off which means that anything going out the drains is actually being dumped under the house. He says not to use any water in the house until he can fix it...in 3 weeks!!! (like we can go without any plumbing in the house for that long).


14th: Rick still out of town and Jackson and Chloe are still sick. Insurance adjuster comes out to let us know that the plumbing will not be covered under homeowner's insurance but the damage caused by the broken pipes is covered. It seems that we now need new floors in three rooms of the house. Anna Catherine had a school Christmas program that evening. We went to dinner after the program and Chloe threw up three times at the restaurant on the table. The other customers loved us!


15th: Jackson and Chloe begin to feel better. Rick comes home. Variety of plumbers and construction crew managers come out to give estimates on repairs. Many of them were eager to rip us off. However, a new plumber comes out and fixes toilets; will be back on Monday to repair the kitchen pipes. Rick and Tracy go Christmas shopping for the first time and must quickly pick out new flooring!!!


16th: Pack as if we are going on vacation because we can't live in the house while the construction crew is here.


17th: Pack van with suitcases and all of our gear for the week because the floors are ripped out beginning at 9: 30 a.m. and the plumber finishes his work. Rick took off work to keep the kids and pack up things at the old house (yes, we still have things at the old house that haven't been moved). He must get AC to and from school as well as dance class. Tracy takes her dad to the hospital to have outpatient surgery at 5:45 a.m., which turns into an all day ordeal. We also had the pleasure of spending the night at the Pontotoc Inn (far from a nice hotel!!).


18th: Rick works and Tracy runs errands. We stay the night at a friend's parent's house in Oxford (his parents only live in Oxford six months out of the year and are currently in Washington). Have the pleasure of having dinner and hanging out with Julie, Molly, Katy, and Riley. (The Martinezes were on their way to Memphis and graciously agreed to visit for the evening.)


19th: Rick works. Tracy takes all three kids to the doctor for flu shots and then Christmas shopping. Construction guy calls to say they are finished and we can come home (thank GOD!!!!). They finished two days early. Our old landlord called this morning to say that he has new tenants moving in this weekend so we need to get our things out today or tomorrow (yes, still have things at old house).


20th: Begin putting things back where they belong and cleaning. The house looks as if a bomb went off in it due to the mess left by the construction crew. They moved things out of the rooms they were working in and had put them randomly throughout the house. It was like moving all over again! Like I needed more to rearrange and clean. We also move all of the remaining items from the old house.


21st: Continue to unpack and clean. All three kids go to a sitter so Mommy and Daddy can go to the church Sunday School party, which was quite fun.


22nd-25th: Trip to Ruston, Louisiana for Christmas. It was a wonderful holiday, visiting with family. The workers at the Hampton Inn are always excited to see us coming. Everyone remembers Jackson (haha). There was lots of food and merriment. The candlelight service at Temple Baptist Church was beautiful as always. It's also nice that our children didn't burn anyone's clothing, hair, the church, etc. Santa visited us in the hotel lobby. The kids were very excited. We arrived home at 9:30 p.m., only to unpack the van, open our presents to each other, and quickly rush the kids off to bed so Santa can come to our house (We have a deal with Santa. He knows we're out of town and can't leave all of the presents in Louisiana so he comes to our house a day late.)


26th: Wake up to find all the goodies Santa brought us. The kids got so many wonderful gifts over Christmas.


27th: Do a million loads of laundry and continue to unpack boxes.


28th: Mimi (Rick's mom) comes to visit until January 2. We all go to Southaven and meet up with Brady, Kevin, Heather, and Whitney for dinner at The Boiling Point before heading over to the Civic Center for the Ole Miss-Southern Miss basketball game. Rebs win and continue their unbeaten streak.


28th-29th: Toilets clog again. Plumber comes out to fix them late Saturday afternoon.


29th-Jan. 2nd: Hang out with Mimi, clean and unpack boxes, and watch lots of football.


Jan. 3rd-present: Still unpacking and trying to organize (only ten more boxes to go--woohoo!!). We still have to paint three rooms. Then we get to tackle the pile of stuff that covers the back porch. We still have to have Christmas with my family this weekend. That's right---I still have lights on my house and a tree in the living room. It was put off due to all of December's craziness (not only our schedule but other family members' schedules were booked for December). Anna Catherine and Jackson's birthdays are Jan. 22-23 as well as Chloe's surgeries on Jan. 28-29 and Feb. 5. Then Chloe's birthday is on Feb 20. Nicole's pageant is sometime in February as well. We hope things will calm down by March!!!

Thanksgiving Ski Trip

November 16-24---We went on a family ski trip to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for Thanksgiving. We had been planning it for almost a year. Rick, the kids, Nicole, and I were driving out and meeting Rick's brother, his girlfriend, Rick's dad, and his wife there. On Friday we packed up the van, picked up Nicole, and hit the road around 2 p.m. for our 23 hour road trip. That's right--we only stopped for food, restroom, and gas. Rick will tell you the trip was easy but Nicole will tell you a very different story. Rick was driving and listening to a book on tape with headphones, so he didn't hear Chloe crying for hours and hours--literally!! She didn't sleep more than one hour at a time the entire drive there. Anna Catherine and Jackson were awesome travelers!! They watched movies, read books, played games, played with toys, and slept the whole time. We stopped in Santa Fe, NM to eat breakfast at Denny's. I had packed our toothbrushes in my purse so we could do a little personal hygiene improvement in the restroom. Two women were in the restroom stalls while Anna Catherine and I were brushing our teeth. Anna Catherine looked at me and said, "Mommy, do we have to sleep in the van again tonight?" I responded, "No." I know those women thought we were homeless people cleaning up in the restroom. I'm sure that's how we looked after being in the van for 18 hours with very little sleep! We arrived in Pagosa Springs around noon on Saturday, checked into our timeshare condo, unpacked, showered, ate, and were couch potatoes the rest of the day. The rest of the Crawfords arrived late Saturday night so we met up Sunday to tour the town.

Pagosa Springs is a nice little town located across the Continental Divide near the Colorado-New Mexico border. It is set on a natural spring so a lot of the town smells of sulfur. We had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant where we met some nice hunters from Cajun Country...South Louisiana. Small world! There was no snow but luckily Wolf Creek was one of the only resorts making their own snow at the time so those who wanted to ski were able to take advantage of the one run they had open. We chose Pagosa Springs/Wolf Creek because they get the most snow in Colorado each year and typically have 5+feet of snow in mid-November. Blame it on global warming I guess. It was perfect for us though, since it was Anna Catherine and Nicole's first time to ski. They were awesome skiers!!! Anna Catherine didn't have poles and skied the last run alone. Quite a feat, I think, for a novice four-year-old. Nicole even mastered talking on her cell phone and texting while skiing. I'm so proud of my girls!!! The week was spent skiing two days, hiking one day, and shopping two days. One day we drove to Durango and walked around their downtown area. On the way there (and back) we passed Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn's house. Nicole had no idea who they were. I quickly got Rick's blackberry and searched for pictures of them on the Internet. I explained that they were Kate Hudson's parents and were once Hollywood stars. I loved Goldie Hawn in "Laugh-In", "Private Benjamin", "Wildcats", and "First Wives Club". Boy, do I feel old!!

We ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at a nice little restaurant in Pagosa Springs called The Dogwood Cafe. It is owned and operated by an Ole Miss graduate originally from Georgia. Small world once again! We met her and exchanged Hotty Toddy's rather than hello's. She and her husband cook delicious homemade Southern and Cajun food. She had Ole Miss and Oxford prints on the walls. It was fabulous! There was five inches of snow on the ground Friday morning when we woke up. Of course, since I was the first one awake, I ran around the condo like a kid waking everyone up to see the snow. Rick took Anna Catherine and Jackson out to play. His dad and Cliff joined them. They made a snowman, snow alligator, and snow tiger (in honor of the LSU-Arkansas game). There was also a snowball fight. We kept up with a disastrous Ole Miss loss to State via the Internet on Rick's blackberry and text messages from Brady. Then we watched the Tigers lose in a disappointing 3-OT upset.

Saturday morning we packed up the van and headed back to Mississippi. It was a long 25 hours home. It took longer due to ice/snow in Colorado and New Mexico and nonstop rain from Oklahoma City to Pontotoc. We had a great time visiting with Papa Gator, Lady, Cliff, and Amanda but were so happy to be home. Nicole and I told Rick we would do it again but would insist on spending the night midway rather than driving directly from point A to point B.