OR nurse just texted us:
We wanted to give you an update to let you know that Annie did great going to sleep! Her surgery has started and is progressing as expected. She is doing well!
First surgery update
Jun 7th, 2024 by ECM
Just went back to the OR
Jun 7th, 2024 by ECM
We talked to all the doctors and nurses, and the staff got a kick out of how talkative she was. Then she got a little nervous, so we prayed together. They wheeled her back, and we’ll be in the waiting room for the next five hours!
At the hospital
Jun 7th, 2024 by ECM
We’re checked in just waiting for the pre-op team to come get things going!
Last night at family worship time, as we were praying for Annie, she prayed for her surgery and “that I will just have a great time.” She thinks this is a big party!
Annie’s Big Summer Surgery
May 23rd, 2024 by ECM
I’ve decided to revive this old blog as an easy means of sharing updates on Annie this summer! On June 7, the day before her four year adoption anniversary, Annie will be having a selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery at Lurie Children’s Hospital. Here’s an interview with her surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Raskin, about this surgery and other treatments that he oversees. Here’s a story about a child with very similar conditions to Annie’s who had the procedure done. After a 3-5 day hospital stay (where we understand Annie will have to stay on her tummy the whole time until the incision heals!), we’ll transfer down the street to Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, the top pediatric rehab center in the country, where she’ll spend 6-8 weeks of inpatient physical and occupational therapy to re-teach her how to walk. After we’re released, she’ll need to be in intensive outpatient PT back home (3-5 times a week!) for six months, then slow down to 3 times a week for another 6 months. At this point, we’re only doing PT once every other week, so we’re definitely in for a HUGE life change for the coming year!
The goal of all this is to improve her mobility, help her walk with a more normal gait, and ultimately reduce wear and tear on her joints from improper movement patterns she has developed to compensate for the extra tone in her legs and ankles.
I will be staying with Annie in the hospital and rehab center for those two months, and Derek will be holding down the fort with the four big kids all summer! They’re hoping to come in and visit us on Sundays–the only day that we don’t have therapies scheduled.
We are not worried at all about the procedure–they’ve been doing this kind of surgery for a hundred years–or her reaction to anesthesia–this will be her fourth major surgery, and we know she tolerates it okay!
We appreciate the prayers for all of Annie’s medical struggles these past five and a half years.
Please pray for Dr Raskin and the other medical team members who will be involved in this surgery. Pray that Annie responds well to the therapies and that this huge sacrifice will result in a much better quality of life moving forward!
Please pray for Emily and Annie’s two-month stay in Chicago! We are both extroverts who will miss the rest of the family tremendously!
Please pray for Derek to stay sane at home and for Tommy and Elizabeth, who will be shouldering a lot of the household responsibilities that Mom usually handles, as well as for Susie and Janie.
I may do some social media updates, but detailed updates will be posted here.
Halloween 2022
Oct 31st, 2022 by ECM
Little Women!
And this year, Tommy opted not to participate in the group costume. Instead, he and Quinn were Men in Black.
We trick or treated with the Hedts and Schroeders again!
A Visit with the Fishers
Aug 1st, 2022 by ECM
The Fisher girls stopped by Iowa City at the end of July for a few fun days filled with dressing up, tea parties, and dancing!
Happy 13th Birthday, Elizabeth!
May 17th, 2022 by ECM
This beautiful girl had a super low-key birthday last week (as in, her sisters took so long baking her cake that we had it the next day). She really does mostly go by Lizzie most places nowadays, but whatever you call her, she’s a teenager!
Thanks to some of the homeschool girlfriends with whom she’s writing stories in Google docs, she’s also more interested in pop culture, which means I’ve had a crash course this spring in boy bands and pop singers of the last decade, none of whom I could have identified six months ago. We’re still working through which bands/singers I’ll allow (currently, early One Direction is a yes; Harry Styles is a hard no). I still enjoy pre-reading YA for her (The Sinking City by Christine Cohen was a great find!), but I hadn’t expected to hit the previewing music phase quite so soon, and boy, was I out of the loop. My spotify playlist looks pretty different these days than when I was just listening to indie Christian artists and the occasional pop hit from the late 90s (when I was spending time listening to the radio at the ice rink). Wow, I’m going to be a mom of teen girls for another 14 years, so I might as well get used to this new normal!
We had a great check-up with Dr. Gardner today, and she’s right at 5 ft 2 inches. That’s actually 50th percentile for her age, but she seems short since Tommy shot up so tall. She’s hoping to get another inch or two in before she stops growing, but we’ll see. Our feet are the exact same size (7 1/2 wide), and we share shoes a lot.
She’s progressing well in cello and has started volunteering with the preschoolers (Annie’s class) at church. She’s enjoying swim team but doesn’t want to compete. Elizabeth continues to be beloved by all who meet her!
Susie’s 11 year stats and Janie’s 9 year stats
Apr 29th, 2022 by ECM
The middle girls went in for their annual check-ups this week. After so many appointments with Annie (and even Susie with her ear) talking with doctors about things that are wrong, it’s so nice to have an easy check-up with no problems! 20/20 vision and no concerns!
Susie at 11 years:
Height: 53.75 in (15%) (Tommy was 57.5 inches, Elizabeth was 56.75 in)
(I think I stopped sharing their weight after they were 10.)
Janie at 9 years:
Height: 52.5 in (50%) (Tommy was 53.25 in, Elizabeth was 52.75 inches, Susie was 49.5 inches)
Weight: 56 lbs 14 oz (25%) (Tommy was 67 lbs, Elizabeth was 68 lbs, Susie was 50 lbs)
Happy 11th Birthday, Susie!
Apr 19th, 2022 by ECM
Books, brunch at The Encounter Cafe, and confetti birthday cake baked from scratch by Janie. Blue light glasses so she “looks more bookish.” Four and half of her eleven books read by bedtime. Pretty happy birthday for our middle bookworm.!
Susie’s Suzuki Book 1 Violin Recital
Mar 27th, 2022 by ECM
Susie was all set to perform her recital a month ago, when her beloved teacher, Cande, had to have emergency gallbladder surgery and spent 13 days in the hospital! The recital obviously had to be postponed indefinitely. When Cande and I finally sat down to reschedule this week, we realized that between the activities for all our kids (she has five foster adopted girls) and soccer season starting up, the only time we had was this weekend! We hurriedly told Susie’s local friends about the last-minute reschedule and invited our families to join us on Zoom. Susie did a great job, and Cande even gifted her a very special piece of artwork by Dr. Suzuki himself that Cande was given when she traveled to Japan to study with him many years ago.
