The morning after ...

We had a fairly good night with the usual hospital interruptions ... Luo slept lots and was quite comfortable. She has gotten really good with the BP cuff and finger thingy ... as soon as the nurse comes in the arm and finger are up.

This morning when all of the med wore off, she was in quite a lot of pain, so they brought in the morphine to calm her down. Right now she is resting comfortably and the hope is she will stay that way through out the day!

We are here ...

In the pre-op area getting ready to go!

Luolin, Kurt and I are in Bangor for the night. We will head to the hospital around 6:30 ... stay tuned.

We arrived at the hospital around 6:45, got checked in and met our first nurse, Linda. We spent time in the pre-op area watching TV, meeting with doctors and getting ready. Luo recognized her doctor when he walked in! She handled everything very well.

Her anesthesiologist came and spoke to her and asked if either mom or dad were going in while she went to sleep. I decided to go. She was very good about everything ... within minutes, she was wired up and ready to sleep. It didn't take long after that for her eyes to close. As I walked out, I saw her surgeon, who gave me a nod and a smile.

Here we sit waiting ...

Luo Turns THREE!

The day after with her new iPod and headphones ... listening to Raffi ...

At home after dinner ... pic taken with her new camera from her sister

Ole !

Her new ride ...

Cycling with Daddy

Today we celebrated Luolin's third birthday ...

We had lunch with Scott and Sissy after shopping for a new birthday outfit. We couldn't decide on what type of cake we wanted, so we made both ... a 4 layer extravaganza ... we had a family dinner at Margarita's complete with a burrito, a sombrero and singing! We then came home to cake and presents ... it was a very good day!

Beginning to Freak Out ...

Less than a week from now we will be in Bangor with Luo. Her surgery will be complete ... stage one anyway.

On the 18th we met with her surgeon ... he gave us the following information.

The surgery will take between 2 and 3 hours. He explained what they will do and how they will do it. Her little foot will be removed, then tissues will be moved to create her weight bearing stump. They will straighten the lone leg bone, putting in a pin for it to heal. She will be stitched up and ready to go. She will have a type of soft cast on her lower leg and will have to be pretty low key. (Ya right) About a month after the initial surgery we will return to the operating room to have the pin removed. Here is where they will measure for her "magic leg" which she will have about 2 weeks after that. Then she will have to get used to it - which he feels won't be a problem. Everything is hinging on how she handles the pain and how quickly she heals.
We did have new xrays done with her standing. There is a definite difference between the length of her big leg from hip to knee and her little leg. The doctor wasn't sure how that would all play out in the future, so we will have to wait and see. Hopefully as she grows, that leg will catch up somehow ...

We will be heading to Bangor on the 28th, spending the night and getting to the hospital early on the 29th. She is his first case in the morning ...

Keep Luo in your thoughts ... stay tuned!