Chloe's Latest Surgery

July 31, 2009---Chloe needed another pulse laser treatment so the whole family piled in the van and we drove to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock for Chloe's 5th hemangioma surgery. This was a very quick treatment so we were able to bring Anna Catherine and Jackson with us. We left our house at 4:30 am so the kids had not had breakfast. Chloe was not allowed to eat or drink milk after midnight but she could have apple juice until 9:00 am. It would have been cruel to get drive-thru breakfast for the older kids. Once we arrived and Chloe was called to pre-op, Rick took the older kids to the cafe while I stayed with Chloe.


Rick and the kids entertained themselves with straws (pictures taken by Rick's phone):

Chloe rarely goes anywhere without her Binky:

She really didn't like the polyester/fleece type scrubs she had to wear but who could blame her? It's 100 degrees and the middle of summer!

She did not like the pulse monitor on her toe:

She did like having full control of the television remote control/speaker:

The nurses gave her lots of stickers for being so cooperative:

Chloe was still a little monkey climbing on her hospital bed:

I told her they would bring her "goofy juice" (a sedative) so she stood at the door with her sippy cup. She was so thirsty! It had been three hours since she had had something to drink.

After the surgery she was very upset. She did not like wearing her no-no's (arm braces to keep her from bending and touching the hemangioma site).

The area has to look worse before it can get better. The entire area turns black from the laser but will fade to purple, then red, then pink, and finally flesh tone. We hope this will be her last pulse laser treatment. She has a follow-up appointment April 5th to see how well she has healed and if further treatment is needed.