It has been way too long since I have updated the blog and with surgery #6 right around the corner, I thought this would be a great time to catch you up with everything that has been going on in our life! In some ways, it feels like we just left Chicago from surgery but in many other ways, it seems like such a long time ago! We had really hoped to have had this next round started and over with by now but its just not the path we were supposed to be on and thats OK. It really was the best thing for Aiden and that has always been top priority for us. Let me explain why we had such a long break....
Round two brought us some really great results but we knew that since we were starting to embark on the arm, that recovery might not be so easy with a very active two year old. Sure enough, we were right. Dr. Bauer and his team were not surprised at all when his armpit started causing a little bit of trouble. We were able to keep it from being infected but the area had still opened up so it was back to wet to dry dressings to help close up the wound. I absolutely HATE wet to dry dressings but the reality is that they do the trick. The wound closed up much faster than the issues we had with round one because it never got infected so that was great news. I thought for sure we would still be ok to move forward with the next round in February. Well, I was wrong and disappointed. Dr. Bauer said that because the arm was a sensitive area, the skin needed to have more time to heal. He said maybe we could start towards the end of April but he would have to see after a few months. Dr. Bauer had also thrown in that if we wanted to, it would be totally ok to even wait until summer.
After some thinking about it, we decided that it would probably be best to give his skin some time to heal AND with Dr. Bauer on an almost five week vacation in May, we just couldn't chance starting earlier and not having our doctor perform surgery if something went wrong. So, it became finalized that we would wait until the end of summer to start round three so that Aiden could enjoy his summer swimming and not worrying about stitches, keeping him healthy and anything else that had to do with surgery.
In between all this time, we have been really busy and its been a lot of fun. My grandma was with us for a bulk of this time off and that was so wonderful being able to spend that time with her. Aiden really grew fond of her too and I am so glad that he has a great grandparent in his life. We also had lots of other visitors come to see us too! My Aunt Pat flew out with my grandma and stayed for a week. Then my Aunt Paula and my cousins, Sydney and Zach, came out for a week all the way from Vermont! Next up was my Aunt MaryAnne and my cousin Sam from Portland. Then came my Aunt Karen to take my grandma home but my grandma ended up staying here for a few more months which was totally fine by us! While my Aunt Karen was here, we took her to Catalina which was so beautiful. Aiden had a blast looking at the fish on the submarine ride! Then last but not least, my Aunt Sue came for a weekend to take my grandma back home in the beginning of June. It was a sad day. We miss her so much and can't wait for her to come back here!
Our last major thing thing we did on our break was take our annual trip to Michigan to visit family with my mom and Aiden. My cousin had just had her fourth baby so it was even more exciting to be able to meet her while we were there. Eden was so precious and beautiful! We also got to meet Baby Molly, who had been born shortly before Eden! Aiden had such a blast hanging with all the family and he was so excited to see my grandma again!
So now after all that fun, here we are, less than two weeks from surgery #6 on August 15th. It is kinda weird how we have ended up in August for the start of all three rounds now. And this will be the second time that it will land on my birthday! Sigh! The difference this time though is that my parents are coming with us for the most of the trip so we have lots of support with us. We also will be seeing my grandma and Aunt Kate with her daughter Mallory so that will be fun!
I'm not exactly sure what Dr. Bauer's plans are yet but we definitely should expect two expanders somewhere! So ready to get this started and hopefully have a great round ahead of us. Please keep Aiden in your thoughts as we embark on this journey once again. We also still have cookbooks left that we need to sell so if anyone wants one or knows someone that might, please let me know! You can order one directly on the blog or if you live near me, I can get one to you! We are so thankful for all the donations and cookbooks we have sold so far. We couldn't have made this go so smoothly without your help so thank you!
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