THE BIG DAY!!!!!!!!

Hard to believe THIS day finally came. The port is GONE GONE GONE!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!!! We are just flat out BLESSED. Samuel was a little nervous, scared still about knives + cutting + needles and all, but he was SUCH a champ yesterday as we headed down for our LAST cancer-related surgery ever, whoooo PRAISE GOD.

 Cheesin' on the way there

 Rodeo time in the waiting area before checking in to pre-op

 HAHA!

 He got tossed by his bronco

 Racing around in the cool red car

 *LOVE*

 Daddy + Samuel heading to the toy room :)

 Oh yeah, coolest weirdest noise making toy around!

 Very proud of his "find"

 Ah yes, pre-op? who cares, the wrestling happens ALL the time, anywhere... haha

 They really are tussling on the hospital bed

 Get him, Samuel!

 Rrraaaahhh.... *sigh, my boys :)

The procedure went perfectly well! Samuel had the same surgeon who performed his port replacement surgery in May 2010. The doctor removed all the port components as well as removing as much of the preexisting scar tissue as possible to minimize this new scarring. He injected a bunch of extra Novacaine into the incision site to help with post-op pain. Samuel came out from the anesthesia pretty quickly but was of course pretty out of it for a little while still. All in all, he did soooo good, and God carried him through without any hurt, harm or injury...for that + for so much, we are eternally grateful.

 

 "awake"

 The extra numbing agents made him even more swollen looking than usual, but he was feeling pretty good :)

 Yesssss, fluids!

 And the popsicle...oh yes, the popsicles, HAHA

 What a ham :)

 NO MORE PORT under there!!!!!!!! 

Love the orange painted on t-shirt look :)

 Waiting on hospital transport to get on out of here...no more surgeries!

Thank You, LORD

Trinity's Special Day

This week, Feb 1, Trinity had her very own real Children's Hospital adventure :) Because the ultrasound + evaluations she had in December confirmed a hernia present in her groin area, she was scheduled for surgery to repair the muscle wall as well as repair a herniated umbilical cord which she had since birth. We spent weeks building up how cool it was that Trinity was going to have her own special day, complete with her very own set of PJ's, a trip to the toy room, her own bubble gum mask, and OF COURSE the recovery popsicles! In fact, we did such a good job promoting the whole thing, that Trinity was downright GIDDY to get the day started! The 4 of us trekked out early in the morning, under a serious ice storm advisory we should add, all with great expectations of a blessed + safe day of peace + healing.

 Car ride to Children's...Aunt Zara, you'll note the Crammer! Gotta have it for these days :)

 Beep beep...beginning driver coming through :)

 Getting checked in to her pre-op room

 TADA! Special Miss Trin PJ's! 

These have become famous at our house, so it's a BIG DEAL to have a pair of your own :)

 Oxygen level check

 More nurse exams... she's getting comfy with her blankies :)

 Watching TV while we wait

 She's got control of the remote...for now...Daddy's infamous for usurping that one!

 She likes that the volume comes through the remote :)

 Heart + lungs check

 Belly check

 OFF TO THE TOY ROOM!!!!

 Found the perfect prize

 Daddy showed her how to use her cool new ribbon

Can you tell she's excited? haha

 Hangin out in the waiting room

 Post-op popsicles for everyone!

 Trinity was NOT happy to wake up feeling yucky, let alone without Daddy or Mom or Samuel around

 Kind of awake :)

 Everyone doing the "Trinity" face...hehe

 

 Big brother holding her hand as we're leaving the surgical unit...

Awww...such a cool team

And, finally after a long day (Samuel still had 2 hours of therapy after her surgery), at home recovering in bed... PRAISE GOD for a trouble-free procedure, all is well, she is completely healed with no complications ...she may not look it, but she's very grateful to be home with her whole family + being loved on extra special today :)

Competitive Therapy

Every once in a while, Trinity joins Samuel in his races + games for therapy. The competition always makes for a more interesting session!

 Hoop toss game, with racing in between

 Getting directions from Miss Lori

 Hopping to pick up hoops

 Galloping back to toss them

Trinity being Trinity :)

Therapy Fun

Miss Lori focuses on Samuel's larger motor skills, with a very heavy emphasis on his balance + ankle strength.

Games with her include hopping, running, skipping, galloping, balancing + tossing.

This game is all part of an "obstacle course" type game where Samuel "catches" a magnetic fish, then brings the fish through the course, jumping over blocks, hopping from circle to circle on one foot, etc. and places the fish at the end.

 With Miss Amy, we focus on fine motor skills as well as improving overall coordination. This game is another "obstacle course" where puzzle pieces are hidden in the base of that inflatable barrel. Samuel goes through the tunnel, into the barrel from the steps, picks up 4 of the pieces at a time, climbs across the rope ladder, then places the pieces in the puzzle.

 Samuel loooooves the barrel, hahaha

 Climbing across the rope wall

 This game makes Samuel use his arms to control his swinging body while he gathers more puzzle pieces in order to put the puzzle together. Great for his overall balancing ability + strengthening his pinch grip. Not to mention that it drives Miss Amy bonkers when Samuel takes every opportunity to just spin himself around as quickly as possible! He is most undeniably an active little dude.