Still in the hospital...but now we know...

After having a major party up here yesterday, today seems pretty quiet.  Yesterday was the telethon for the UNC Children's hospital which is why we have a million pictures of Gabi and all these famous people like country western stars and Santa Claus.  Life was so fun.  We even went to two concerts.  They asked Gabi if she wanted to pull the sheet off of something during their big unveiling ceremony and she said, "No way!  Too shy!"  We never did hear what they unveiled.  Her siblings would have jumped at that chance!  :)
Today Gabi was scheduled for surgery so they could scrape out her wound.  Ugh.  But when the skin doctor came he said he was not going to mess with it, so no surgery.  Mom told the skin doctor of her non-medical trained diagnosis and guess what?  The doctor said that mom was absolutely RIGHT!!!  Wah-hoo mommy!  We are going to continue on these heavy duty IV antibiotics for another 24 hours then we are going to try to move to oral antibiotics...then HOPEFULLY will get out of here on Sunday afternoon.  These meds make her have "red mans syndrome" which means her face and neck get bright red.  So they also have her on Benedryl to counteract that.  We kind of put up with it because those meds have to be the super strong ones.  When we move to orals then there will be no more red mans. 
So here is the story...this is a strep infection.  You and I get it in our throat, but Gabi gets it in her skin.  She may continue to get this, but now that we know what is causing it, this neurotic mother can hopefully get her on meds at the first sign of a sniffle and avoid the hospital.  Not only does she get it on her skin...but she gets it right behind her ear that had surgery earlier this year.  That is another reason to be super careful.  If we aren't careful that strep infection could spread to that ear and then we would lose the ear completely. 
We really thank God for giving us such smart doctors to help us with a plan of attack.  We also thank God for giving Gabi the courage to have her blood drawn WITHOUT being held down today!  There was only a little bit of screaming this time!  Yeah! 
So after I said it was quiet here today, I went down to get some mom lunch, and I left the room for a whole 15 minutes.  During that time Gabi had the UNC football team in here.  I hope this type of behavior doesn't continue!  Gabi said..."It wasn't the WHOLE team, mom.  It was only like 12 of them."  There you have it.  The Lacross team followed...pompoms and popsicles.  Life is good.

Gabi and Beary have been through everything together this year.  He's a good friend.  Her new bear...she named Sky.  She thought that was the best name to go along with the dog she got from here during the hospitalization in August.  The dog had been named Cloud...so now we have Cloud and Sky.

I don't know if you can see this, but she painted a picture (of this little boy) for the little boy in this room because has to be isolated so we feel sorry for him. You can maybe see that he is in the crib, and the picture she painted of him has the same outfit and everything.  :)

In this picture she put the hunter hiding in the tree with a gun so he can shoot the turkey for his Thanksgiving dinner.  Lovely.

We LoVe NurSe TaYLoR! <3

Frowny Face :(

Hi it's me Gabi and I'm in the hospital again.  The ceiling is covered with butterfly paintings on it.  Mom is in bed with me right now.  I got a new teddy bear that is blue with a white nose.  I haven't named him yet.  Please write names down for him as a response.  please please please!  love, Gabi

...and again...

Here we thought we were sooooo far beyond that infection.  Again, Gabi has something going on with the area behind her ear.  I don't understand it.  It's not even the ear itself!  She sees her UNC doc Thursday a.m. and while I am convinced they will put her back in the hospital, I am praying that they don't!!!  I rubbed bacitracin on the area and her skin just peeled off.  Ugh.  :( 
Please pray!!!

A little bump...literally

All right, here's the update.  Before we left St. Cloud we had brought Gabi into the Doctor because there was an area behind her ear that was circular in shape that just didn't look like it wanted to heal. It's just a raised scab about the size of a pencil eraser.  There's redness around that...about the size of a quarter.  She was also complaining of a sore throat so we had them look at that...no fever or anything. 
She tested positive for strep (whoa!  didn't see that coming) and put her on an antibiodic for both the area behind her ear (which yes, it looked infected) and her throat.
Now that we have been in NC for a whole two weeks, she is no longer on antibiodics and while her ear did not seem to get worse, nothing was really getting better either.  I started calling around for a doctor...found one and had an appointment but then found out that they don't take our insurance.  Screw that, is what I said, and started calling around for skin (plastics) doctors to see if we could just go directly there...hoping to skip the primary doc step all together.  I was able to get someone at UNC who told me that they won't make an in-office appointment because she all ready has an infection.  They suggested I go to the ER at UNC in Chapel Hill because there are pediactric plastics guys on call 24/7 and one of them will get called in.  Whudda thunk there would be a pediatric plastics unit? 
Long story short, the ER doc was willing to send her home on a stronger antibiodic, I said I wanted the plastics guy just to be careful because that is what they had told us to ask for.  The plastics guy (woman) came...and was very concerned and wanted her in the hospital on IV's (WHAT?!?!?) so that we don't lose all the work that has been done.  Good thing we asked for her!  She said her supervisor plastics doc would put her out in the a.m. so he could examine it more closely and clean the site.
This a.m. the supervisor doc put her under and cleaned the ear, found another area underneath the ear (that isn't visible to us) that is also not exactly healing right...but they are so happy that she is here and they are keeping her until her infection is completely healed and that ear is better 100%.  How long?  No guarantees.  How long does it take to have a wound heal?  At least through the weekend and then we'll talk.   Oh boy.  OK. 
They have her on antibiodics so strong that it makes her whole body red...and the benedryl doesn't do anything to stop it.  But the antibiodic has helped (definately...the quarter sized redness is now just pink) so they are continuing it while trying to keep her comfortable. 
Someone is watching over Gabi...there are a million plastics guys that we could have ended up with...but we happen to find the one that knows Dr. Brent (her California surgeon) personally...very well.  He was looking forward to talking to him today.  They are consulting with each other and my baby is gonna be fine.  :)  I had no idea this little bump behind her ear was such a big deal...but God was watching over us and brought us right to the right place and the right person.  :)  jane

2 1/2 weeks post op

The SMILE says it all.  Gabi is very happy with how her ear is coming along.  Dr Brent did a fabulous job with getting it in the right place...it's perfectly aligned with her other ear.  The ear itself is still pretty swollen but each day it looks better.  Gabi is so excited...she was jumping around tonight when we put her hair in a ponytail after we washed it. Daddy asked her if she was going to start being comfortable wearing ponytails again and she said YES!  :)  We're so glad.  It's been a long time.  Sorry the picture is a little blurry.  It's hard to take a picture of a bouncing girl! 

Words from Gabi....

Hi.  It's been awhile.  Right now I'm in California.  I had my surgery.  It went well.  Dr. Brent is as nice as ever.  We saw some more of his artwork, and his wife's.  His wife did hers in high school.  It's a huge painting of animals. 
We are staying at the Wild Palms Hotel in Sunnyvale, CA.  I'm talking to mom on Skype right now.  I met a girl named Stephanie at a pig roast party.  She is funny, nice, and she's an actor.  We became BFF's and she used to live in Raleigh and she gave us many good contacts in the Raleigh area.  She said I should be an actor because it would give me self-confidence.  They had a water fight with water guns. 
Your friend,
Gabi

4th of July in Cali

Here is Gabi at her and dad's hotel.  They have cabana coverings over their beds!  :)

This is how Gabi and Dad "rest" and drive Mom crazy!

Gabi and Dad spent time with "Mr. Emmitt" who is family to some friends of ours from Fergus.  Mr. Emmitt drives old fashioned tractors in parades and as a result...Gabi was IN two parades for the holiday!  We are so thankful for Mr. Emmitt and how helpful he has been to our family.

Gabi's New Ear

This is a pic of what Gabi had done this time.  Her ear is now lifted off her head so that it sticks out like the other ear.  He also too a flap of skin in front of her ear and formed a little bit of an earlobe.  Lookin' good Gabi!  :)

In recovery and doing great!

Gabi is out and doing great!  Just had the first popsicle, berry, I think???  She got a new cow puppet before surgery and promptly named him "Spot".  She got "Dot", her dalmation last time.  She is not feeling like voicing herself, but said I could.  Dr. Brent showed me a great picture and we will be able to get more next week when he pulls all stitches and re-wraps her ear.  Thanks to all for well wishes and prayers! Dad (& Gabi)

Gabi is in surgery! Send prayers up!

It's settled! :)

Lucky for us, we have things worked out and we are GOOD TO GO!  The doctor's office gave us the green light and today we purchased air tickets.  Daddy is SO excited to be able to go along this time!  Gabi is officially excited. 

Getting Ready!

We are almost a month away from trip number two and it's time to buy some plane tickets.  I've had a lot of questions lately and I know I've been slow with the updates so here you go. 
Unfortunately, our insurance company is being slow!  Or...more like...they need to submit the claim correctly.  They paid one of the docs, the anesthesiologist, the hospital, but they still need to pay the other doc.  They are on round three of submitting that claim and for some reason they haven't done it correctly yet.  Once the insurance company pays, we pay our portion, and once we do that, we can go to have the next surgery (we're supposed to leave June 29th).  Hopefully they will get their part of this job done soon...before the plane tickets go up to a million dollars a flight.  YIKES!  I really really hope that we don't have to put this off another month.  Gabi has it in her head that her surgery is the beginning of July. 
Patience is a virtue, right? 

One Month Post Op

Gabi says~My ear looks cooooooooooooooooool!!! That's all!

Mom says~This is Gabi about a month post op.  Her new ear is healing really nicely!  The next step is to take the little ear off (in the front of the ear) and form the lobe (at the bottom).  The following step is to lift the ear up off her head so it will look like her other ear.  Dr. Brent is going to do both of those steps in July...during one surgery.  We feel very fortunate because a lot of times that would be two separate trips, but he's doing both in one.  After that is done, there is one more touch up he will probably do, then we can open the ear canal and wah-lah!  Hearing!  The unfortunate thing is that we will need to be in California for another two weeks in July.  We're hoping to figure out a way for both mom and dad to go next time.  Last time was just toooo hard for mom to sit and wait in the waiting room by herself, and dad to sit back in MN without being able to hug his Gabi (or wife.)  Also...this time we won't be able to stay with friends so we've got that to figure out too.  If anyone knows of any smart ideas for two weeks of lodging in the San Fran area, let us know!  We are open to anything except a tent on the beach.  :)

Gabi's Next Round

Well we found out the date.  Her next surgery will be July 1st.  Yikes!  We have to be out there the 29th of June and return on July 9th.  Not sure of all the details yet...but at least we have the dates.  Chloe is thrilled that everyone will be home in time for her birthday mid-July.  I'm trying to post pictures but the cord doesn't work so I'm going to have to get creative.  We are now more than a month post-op and she looks GREAT!  I'll try to get pictures up as soon as possible.  jane (gabi's mom) 

11 days post op

Mom says:  These are pictures from 11 days post op.  This was the first time she was allowed to wash her hair.  Mom and dad are soooo relieved to see that the dirt actually all washed out! 
The ear was first uncovered in Dr. Brent's office last week on Thursday (7 days post op) and if we compare 7 days to 11 days it is absolutely amazing.  Remember that Dr. Brent said it will be like looking at a magic show while we watch it heal.  We now see what he means!  Unfortunately, there are no 7 day pictures to show you, but we will continue to share our "magic show" through the next few weeks. 
You can see her "little ear" in front of her new ear.  That will stay in place until July.  In July they will take off her little ear and raise the new ear off her head.  You can see two dots under her ear where her tubes used to come out.  She looks like she was bit by a vampire!  If we look at her from across the room, you can't even tell that the ear is flat against her head.
I told some of you that she bruised really bad and you can see that it is now healing.  That green is a bruise on the mend.  She obviously takes after Grandma Ginny, who gets bruises like that and never knows where they came from. 
Gabi said she wants her pictures on the blog, "But I have no idea what to write!"  So there you have it.  Gabi ala her mama.  :)  ~jane

HOME!!!

Home at last!  This is a list of ways we were blessed:  safe travels, good doctor, nice place to stay, good friends to stay with, no air pockets on airplane, presents/cards, nice rental car, nice people in Cali, new friends, did not hurt to get tubes out, yummy yummy food, nice nurses, fun nails, fun toes, beautiful new dress, fun art projects, nice people from North Carolina, stitches tickled to get out, family, family, family, family, family,
and
last but not least
FAMILY!
Love, Gabi

Mom says:  Here's the scoop.  On Monday we get to take her bandage off for the second time since her surgery, and this time she gets to keep it off!  Dr Brent said it will be like watching a magic show because when it first comes off it will still look pretty rough as it is black/blue and swollen, but it will get better every day and transform as it goes.  He said she bruised more than anyone he's seen (this coming from the best doctor in the world with TONS of experience!)  The doctor has decided to do her next surgery in July.  The reason he chose the month of July is because he plans to do surgery number two and surgery number three at the same time (all in one surgery rather than two separate surgeries.)  We see that as a GOOD thing!  I can't really tell you about the emotional part of all this...because it's hard to put it into words.  I think the fact that she puked in the bushes on the way into get her stitches out says a lot.  I asked her if she wanted to explain that on here and she said, "No.  Too personal."  So I have a brave eight year old who is also wise and has good boundaries.  Who wudda thunk it?  We also need to thank Messiah Lutheran Church for being supportive to Eric and the kids while Mom and Gabi were out of town.  They ate well!  :)  We'll post pictures of her ear once it is unbandaged...and when Gabi is comfortable showing it off.  Thanks again for all the many many well wishes and prayers!  We ARE blessed!  jane

Fun Day

Today we went to the Jelly Belly jellybean factory.  Auntie Meme said that a president made Jelly Beans popular so we decided that she is really smart.  I bought my class some presents.  I'm going to give a speech on Jelly Belly's when I get back.  If Mrs. Kiergaard says it's ok. 

This is a picture of me at a store in a valley.  It's the same valley that had Jelly Belly in it.  At this store we bought Dad a present. 

This is me getting my pedicure.  The lady who did it for me was really nice.  She did my nails too and I didn't even ask her to do those!  I have purple toes and fingers with white stripes like a tiger. 

This is a picture of me in my 3D glasses.  Mom and I went to see Avitar at the Imax theater today.  Avitar was SOOOOO good. 

Love, Movie Theater Gabi 

No More Tubes!

Gabi had a very stressful day because she worried all day long about the doctor taking out those tubes.  Our appointment wasn't until 3:30 in the afternoon.  When we got to the doctor's office there was a girl screaming and screaming in her doctor appointment.  She did that for the entire 10 minutes we sat there in the waiting room and Gabi looked pretty white.  When we got in there, it took about 1/2 of a second to pull the tubes out and there was no screaming from my brave little Gabi.  :)  The appointment was over in no time.  We think that other girl was being a little drama queen. 
On Thursday we go back and they will take off the bandage and we will get to see her ear post-surgery for the first time!  Tomorrow we hope to go to the Jelly Belly factory to see how they make Jelly Belly jellybeans.  Grandma Donna likes Raspberry and Chocolate and Grandma Ginny likes Strawberry and Lemon.  We plan to buy LOTS of Jelly Belly Beans!  We've been hanging at home a lot so it will be our first "sightseeing" that we will have done. 
Thanks to all of you for your support!  Gabi reads the comments and smiles huge.  She told someone the other day "I have lots and lots of people praying for me!"  There is nothing better than knowing that!  We are very fortunate to have friends to stay with but it's still VERY stressful and I spend a lot of time just looking at Gabi, wondering if she is okay.  She walks around stiffly, looks like she's in pain most of the time, and holds her head to the side which also looks very sore.  In bed at night I'm constantly grabbing her arm so she stops itching at her bandages.  Mom is getting tired.  It really really is a good feeling to know that our family and friends are behind us...and going through this with us.  Today we talked about the fact that she should come back mid-April and it makes me want to cry.  I think I need my own bed.  :) 
Gabi didn't feel like writing today but maybe when we have some Jelly Belly pictures she will feel like telling all about it.  Thanks again for all your prayers and support....jane

Friends From Other Countries

This is me, Camila (from Panama), Camila's sister Daniela, and Amisha (from Canada).  I went out to eat with them and their families.  The food was not really good there.  They're my new friends. 



Love, Gabi

Swollen Face :(

I have a swollen face on the side of my surgery.  It doesn't hurt.  Under my eye is starting to get purple and puffy.  You can't really see it in the picture though.  I can see my cheek when I smile.  It puffs up. 

This is a picture of Kiki, Alaina and I.  We picked the lemons fresh from Alaina and Kiki's back yard.  They didn't like them, but I did.  In this picture Alaina is in the middle, Kiki is left and I'm right.  We are on Lisa's table squishing the lemons into lemonaide.  This is me and my great aunt Chris, which means this is my mom's aunt.  She lives in California.  She is really nice.  She has a huge cactus on the side of her house.  We could see it from her bedroom window.  This is the cactus Great Aunt Chris has at the side of her house.  Isn't it big?  I think it's huge.  It's way taller than mom.  Some of the peices are cracked open.  It's just black inside.  It's kinda boring, but it's cool.

Love, Swolleny Lemony Aunt Chrissy Cactusy Gabi

People I Miss and Love

This is my family.  I don't really miss myself, because I'm in the picture.  Mom's not in the picture but she's with me so I don't really miss her either.  There is someone that looks like mom in the picture and that's Sophie.  Sophie, Logan, Chloe, and Dad are in the picture.  And me.  This is in our kitchen.  I just wanted to say that I love them all. 

Love, Gabi

Flowers and Friends

This is Gabi and her friends that we are staying with Alaina and Keelie.  They've been good helpers.  Gabi got these flowers today from Grandma Ginny and family.  She was sooooo excited because they are PURPLE!  :)  Gabi didn't want to write yet...hopefully tomorrow she'll take over again.  Jane...Gabi's mom

the day after surgery

Today we are out of the hospital and resting at Lisa and Jim's house.  They are our good friends.  Gabi doesn't want to write on here today.  She told me to do it.  She is really sore today.  Thank goodness for t.v.  She and her friend Kiki are watching cartoons.  We put a palm tree ponytail on the top of her head and she looks really cute but she doesn't want any pictures right now.  Gabi said, "Exactly."

Graphic Surgery Pictures

Here is the new ear. The suction tubes can be seen at the bottom. The left tube runs up and you can see the tube come out again in the center of her ear (under the skin). The right tube comes up around the top right of her ear...also under the skin. You can see that her little ear is still on there, and the ear is flat against her head. Subsequent surgeries will take the little ear off, make the ear lobe, and raise the ear off her head. THEN we can open it up and she can HEAR! :)

This is her little ear before surgery, and the rib cartilage that is all carved and ready to go in under the skin. 

Post Op

The tubes on the side are a suction device which keeps the skin tight against the new ear, which helps it all grow together.  We will stay here all night and tomorrow a.m. they will let us go home.  She will go home with those tubes and I have to change them over the weekend.  Then she has a post op on Tuesday at which they will take those tubes off.  She's still very sleepy.  Apparently they operated on "Beary" too when they were in there because Beary has a matching bandage.  Don't they look great?  :)  Gabi's mom...jane

Gabi's in Surgery!

Hi this is Gabi's mom...
I thought you might like to see a picture of Gabi as she is waiting to go into surgery.  She looks a little sleepy in this picture because they gave her some cherry flavored medicine to help her go to sleep for the surgery.  She will be in surgery for 4 hours.  I will be waiting in the waiting room for that whole time. 

The surgery center has a lot of nice people here.  They let her take her special stuffed animals back with her.  She took "Beary" which is the animal Gabi has had since she was a little baby, "Tony" who is Auntie Meme's bear from when she was a little girl, and "Treea" who is her new puppy that Grandma Donna gave her.
The nice thing about that medicine they gave her is that it made her very happy.  :)  Jane

Dr Brent's Office

In this picture I'm sitting on Dr. Brent's lap with some fish behind us.  This is in his waiting room.  Dr. Brent is really nice.  He also has a bunch of stuffed animals in his waiting room.
 

In this picture I am standing in front of a beautiful bush in front of the mall.  This bush kind of looks like palm tree leaves.  We went shopping for collage books because Dr. Brent gave me an idea.  He was talking about collages in his office.  He was doing a collage and I really like art so I'm going to try to make one too! :)  

The Creative Gabi

Airplane

On the airplane I did some of my homework.  Dad and Grandma Donna drove me and mom to the airplane.  Grandma Donna gave me a miniture schnauzer webkins.  I hope to sign it in today.  The flight was fun because there were barely any airpockets, and the airpockets were just little ones.  Then we landed and mom told me I was going to be the navigator.  What she told me to memorize was:  luggage, car, GPS, "In n Out", jim and lisa's house.  The GPS's name is Rhoda.  We named her Rhoda because she directs us to the roads we need to go on.  Right now I'm on the computer with mom.  Today we have a preop appointment with Dr. Brent and his partner.  Right now I'm staring outside at the palm trees. 
Bye!  Gabi

Shocked!

This is what people look like when they first see my ear.  People have done it from Kindergarten up. 



Bye!  Gabi

Leaving Comments

I have heard a lot of feedback on people having trouble leaving a comment for Gabi. I think you need to "preview" the comment before you accept it...and that might work. Let me know if that still doesn't work and I will look into it again. jane

Pictures Before the Surgery

After my surgery these pictures will be different than before. My ear will open and it will look different. After the first surgery my ear will be formed but stuck to my head. It will not stay like that though. In the second surgery they will make my ears stick out the same. I don't know what the third surgery is.

Shopping

I went shopping today. I got lots of new shirts and two outfits for my surgery. I need button on shirts because I will have a bandage on my head and it will be hard to get my shirts off with that on. My doctor's name is Dr. Brent. My mom is typing this for me. I got a purple shirt which is my favorite color and I got a red shirt which is my friend Mari's favorite color. I also got cute jeans and cute leggings. I got new shoes. They are tan with buckles. Chloe got the same shoes except for dark brown. The reason I got the shoes is because it's more like summer in Cali and to look cute. We leave in nine days, which is on the 26th. My surgery is on the 28th. I want the surgery because I want to hear. I don't want the surgery because I want my little ear to stay. Half my body wants a new ear and the other half wants the old ear to stay. I also want a new ear so that I can wear ponytails. I can't wear ponytails now because in kindergarten I wore a ponytail and we all sat down on a carpet for word time and they all stared at me. I wonder what the plane ride to California is going to be like. Last time there were lots and lots of air pockets. Me and Chloe would switch having turns by the window. I cried when I was by the window because I was scared, and chloe wasn't even afraid. I'll write more another day. Goodbye. Peace out. Gabi

Gabi Personalizes Her Blog

If you think this is mom's blog, you are wrong! Tonight Gabi picked out the colors and a new design. She is excited about her blog and having people follow her surgery progress. Everything is just so exciting!

Two weeks to go!

Gabi and I talked tonight about how we will fly to Cali two weeks from today! She said her whole body is excited...except for her ear. She said that her ear says, "I am a rock, and you can't touch me!" Gabi talked about the steps in the surgery (attempting to educate me, I guess) and how her little ear will be special even after her surgery because it will still be an ear that is different than everyone else's ear. She can tell you all about the surgery...she is so wise. :)