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