One long week

Sitz Bath

The cancellation of Anara's surgery has been a bit of a bummer. I didn't realize how much of a bummer until Nate went back to work Monday and life was back to normal. I wasn't looking forward to the surgery in the same way that you would look forward to a fun vacation, but it was going to be a change from the daily grind and it would finally make Anara's life a little easier (and our lives).

Anara still has the worst diaper rash I have ever seen. Her urologist stopped her daily antibiotic yesterday. Anara has to be on continuous antibiotics because she has kidney (vesicoureteral) reflux and hydronephrosis (swollen kidneys). Without antibiotics she is at risk for infection. With antibiotics she constantly battles diarrhea and diaper rash. This is the 4th antibiotic we have tried and they all have the same effect. Today is Anara's 9th day of the yeast medication (diflucan) and it is still blistering with new life. If it doesn't look better by tomorrow we will go to Riley and see the wound nurse again.

As for the surgery, we don't have a new date yet. We would really like to get something on the calendar, but I hate to keep asking the urologist - I know he hasn't forgot about us.

Violet quotes:

I said, "Vi, you need to pick up your toys before Daddy gets home." Her long reply, "Daddy will say, 'Violet did you make this mess.' and I will say, 'Yes Daddy' and he will say, 'Did you clean it up' and I will say, 'nope'".

"Dear God, please help Mommy wear a dress like a lady and look like a penguin. Help the penguins to get some snow and make a tunnel."

"Dear God, please help Anara to feel better. Please fix her bladder. Help her shoulder, help her to obey Mommy and take her medicine too."

Monday I was a little frustrated and she had been pretty whiny. I told her, "You better pray that Mommy has patience" but I was just being sarcastic. Immediately she folded her hands, bowed her head and said, "God please help Mommy not to lose her patience and help her have some patience." She went on and on and I can't remember the whole prayer but it made me laugh (and humbled me) that she took me literally.

A friend was visiting one afternoon and Violet looked at her and said, "I am going to pray that God will give you a baby in your belly."

"Is God downstairs?"

Conversation that I overheard between Violet and the mail lady: "Hi mail lady. Do you have some mail? See my jambos? "See these hearts on my jambos? Bye mail lady. Have a nice day. Are you going to go get in your white car?"

I said, "Violet, Uncle Joel might be coming over to see you today." Violet said, "Uncle Joel will say, 'Oh Wylet, you are so pretty.'"

Today she was picking dandelions and bringing them to me. I was sticking them behind my ear and she looked at me and said, "No Mama, only monkeys do that. Take those out of your ear. That's what monkeys do."

Handy Bootey

No Surgery Tomorrow

We saw our doctor this morning and they decided it is not safe to go ahead with surgery tomorrow. We are a little disappointed, but know that it is for the best. We are hopeful that the doctors will find a date soon and that we won't have to wait too long. Dr. K. said maybe it could happen next month, but we are not going to get our hopes up. We will pray again that Anara doesn't get sick or a fungal infection before the next surgery date.

I hate the waiting game - I would rather play Hungry Hungry Hippo

(Simpson's quote)

Anara is sleeping now and we are praying that God is healing her yeasty diaper rash right now. Hopefully when she wakes up her bottom will be nice and clear. I can't believe a small thing like diaper rash could cancel such a major procedure. I know that the doctors are looking out for Anara's best interest and we are thankful to have such great physicians looking after her. We are also thankful that most importantly the Great Physician has our best interests in mind.

Continue to pray with us that things will proceed as planned, but we trust that God has it all under control and are very grateful for His sovereignty. Things are kind of crazy right now, but we know this time is only temporary. Pray for Vi as she has to go through this stressful time without the normalcy she is used to.

We are supposed to be admitted for surgery tomorrow morning between 8-10am. We will see our urologist first and the orthopedic surgeon will make the call on the diaper rash. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday afternoon (I originally thought morning) and they still anticipate it taking 8-12 hours.

I think we will have the blog updated by a friend posting comments throughout the day. If you are holding your breath (you must be a relative) then you can check the comment from the last post to see if there is any new news.

Thanks for praying!

Bad News

Amanda took Anara in to see the surgeon this morning because he was concerned about a bad diaper rash that she's gotten over the past couple days. It's sounding right now like they may have to reschedule the surgery for a later date because it's a yeast infection and there is too great a risk of other infections developing during the surgery. It's very frustrating because we did all we could to keep her healthy leading up to this. At this point we have no idea when it would be rescheduled. We'll take her back in tomorrow morning for them to make the final call, so I guess all we can do is pray that she will be completely healed and free of this rash by then. Thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement. We'll keep you posted.

Really Walking!

I wish I could post a video because Anara is really walking. It is cute and she is so proud of herself. She has been taking several steps between people for a while now, but she never walked without someone to walk to. Now she is getting up on her own and walking all around the house. This morning she was trying to master the transition from the wood floor to the tile floor in the kitchen. She worked and worked until she could finally step over without falling. It is probably good that she started walking pre-surgery - maybe it won't take so long to get back up on her feet after surgery.

We will be admitted to the hospital Wednesday between 8-10am and her surgery will be early Thursday. It is estimated to be an 8-12 hour procedure. I am sure that Nate will post an update sometime Friday.

I am posting from Nate's computer - no news on whether they have been able to salvage our stuff. Oh well.