Surgery bound ...

We saw Sydney's doctor and we knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth -- "Sydney's needs to have surgery". She is supposed to go in on Friday, which also happens to be her birthday. She was quite upset when we told her -- not sure if it was because of the surgery OR because she wouldn't be able to have a party on her special day. We'll have to postpone any party plans for a future date.

She is supposed to see an anesthesiologist tomorrow, but not for certain.

Please keep Sydney (and us) in your thoughts and prayers!

Love & Laughs,
-A4

We are anxious to see her back surgeon tomorrow morning ...

The picture above is what the top portion (the superior cradle) of the device is supposed to do. You can see that the device is supposed to encircle the rib ... well Sydney's implant has broken through the rib.

We see her back surgeon tomorrow morning and we're anxious to see what his prognosis is going to be. We think she will have to have another surgery to get the device back onto another rib and to also possibly fix the broken rib that she currently has.

Wish us luck. We'll keep everyone posted.

Take care,
-A4

Doing okay ... at least right now

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to write a quick update on Sydney. She's had a pretty good weekend ... still has her bouts of pain, but otherwise doing okay.

We've been letting her just take it really easy and trying to keep it pretty "low key". We are wanting her to get her rest, so she has really slept in on both days.

Thanks for all of the friends that have come by to see her. And even more thanks for the all of the gifts. They have definitely helped take her mind off of the pain for a bit and have helped brighten her day.

I guess that's all for now -- we'll keep everyone posted soon.

Take care,
-A4

Back home from the EMERGENCY ROOM ...

Sydney and Karen are back at home from the emergency room. Sydney had a lot of nausea & vomiting this evening. She was very lethargic, her eyes were swollen and seemed pretty unresponsive. Thank god auntie Carole was there to help at the house & at the hospital.

She had a vasovagal response (nausea, vomiting, could even have seizures, etc.) to the pain from the failed device in her back. She is at home, but she is still not feeling too well. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Pray that Sydney will start to feel better. She has been through SO MUCH already ... as a parent you just wish you could take away ALL of the pain.

In Christ's Love,
-A4

Device failure ...

Just wanted to re-cap the last couple of days for everyone ...

On Saturday morning, Sydney's bar "failed". It broke through the two ribs at the top portion of the device. The bottom part of the device is screwed into two lumber vertebrae. There is a prominent "bump" on the upper right part of Sydney's back. She is obviously in a lot of pain, but also does have her good moments. To top in all off, her back surgeon is out of the country until next week. We did see another doctor at his office, but said that he really couldn't do anything and that we would have to wait until her doctor comes in next week.

Also her asthma has been acting up, so we went to see her pediatrician and got some steroids to help with the coughing & wheezing (which obviously made the pain worse).

Until next time,
-A4