November 27, 2011

Where has November gone? Time flies when you're having fun, I guess! Here are some photos from the past few weeks and of course, a medical update.

Charlotte got some fun dress-up clothes from our very kind neighbors, and she can now dress as the princess she is.

All ready for bed with a book, her PJ's, and Fraggle.

Here she is on Thanksgiving morning! Charlotte's G-tube site has been causing her pain for a while now and TV serves as an effective distraction/alternative to pain medication. One of her favorites is Annie, which you may recognize on the TV.

Move over Thanksgiving, 'tis the season! One of the benefits of working in higher ed is a 4-day weekend for Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun including a trip to the MOA with Grandma and Grandpa Russell and decorating our 8-foot Christmas tree. We learned that 8 feet of tree looks pretty manageable outside. Inside, well another couple of inches and we'd have replicated a scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. It fits just perfectly.

Only a couple of ornaments suffered at the hands of Charlotte, but nothing a little super glue couldn't fix. She loves the tree lights!

Charlotte's G-tube starting causing her pain a few months ago and we started by treating irritation on the skin and granulation (skin-like buildup around the tube site) and also by giving her a few rounds of antibiotics to rule out infection. As the pain steadily increased our pediatrician referred us to a surgeon to see what might be causing the pain, and we learned last week that because she has grown since her G-tube was placed in January 2010, the tube is now rubbing against her rib.

This Friday she'll undergo her second G-tube surgery to have the tube site moved away from her rib. While we're not looking forward to another surgery we're hopeful that Charlotte will be pain free for the holidays.