BIG UPDATE

It's been awhile since I have updated this so I thought I would catch everyone up. Kenzee is doing great overall. Since her surgery she has been so much happier. At her 4 month check up she weighed 15 lbs. She is still developmentally behind but the doctors are positive she will catch up just fine. She has seen the neurologist who says she is doing well we aren't seeing him again until January. The GI doctor is still concerned that the Prevacid isn't getting rid of all the reflux so she has scheduled Kenzee a endoscopy to check her and make sure there is nothing else going on inside. That is scheduled for December 21st. She also wants us to see a cardiologist because at times around Kenzees lips will turn blue. It is very much a sign of reflux but just wants to cover everything and make sure it's nothing else. I think that is all for now.

Oh the car show....WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!!! Thank you to everyone who came out to see and support. We raised enough money to start the Turtle Shell Foundation. We are going to use this foundation to help other people out with paying for their childrens medical bills. Thank you for all your support!!!

Catch up on the week

Wow this week has been crazy. Since the surgery Kenzee lets see. She was released the 14th from the hospital. On Thursday and Friday she slowed down eating all the way to 10 oz a day which is about a third of what she normally eats. But then on Saturday and Sunday Joe and I had the happiest little baby ever. She was in such a good mood. She was smiling and cooing at us it was amazing. Then Monday hit like a tornado. She started screaming bloody murder. We called the pediatrician and they said to call the neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon said there should be no surgical reason why she is acting like this but they would see her Tuesday morning. They also requested that we see our peds office to make sure she didn't have something simple like an ear infection. Unfortuantly there wasn't anything simple. So we saw the neurosurgeon Tuesday morning, she said Kenzee look good surgery wise. So we let it go. By Wednesday she was so bad our peds office sent us to the Emergency room and she was admitted. She wasn't eating much at all. She was so dehydrated on Wednesday that she slept all day. The nurses could barely get an IV in, they had to place it in her scalp. That's a moms worst nightmare. She stayed until Friday when she was smiling and laughing again. They think she was so dehydrated and her reflux was so bad she was just refusing to eat. So now we are just watching her and are going to follow up with the GI and peds doctors this week.

day 2 in the hospital

We just met with the doctors. They are confortable sending Makenzee home today. They took off the bandage and there is some swelling still. The incisions are bigger than we thought they would be but over all she looks good. The only thing that is weird to us is how the "ski slope" in the back of her head is gone but the shape of her head has totally changed. One side of her head sticks out more in the back. But overall she is doing well. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts!!!

Surgery 10/13

Well today started with us having to be at the hospital at 6 am for checking. By 7:45 we had met with the surgeons and anesthesiologist. They took her back and they let me stay with her until she feel asleep. From there Joe and I waited for what seemed to be forever. About an hour and a half or so after the surgery started it was over. We met with the neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon,they said the surgery went well. The surgeon said that he opened up the plates and seperated them leaving a channel in the center of her head like a big long soft spot.

After that she went to recovery for what seemed like FOREVER before we could see her. Joe went back first to check her out and make sure she looked ok for me to go back. So for a couple hours she was in recovery.

Now she is upstairs in the Critical Care Unit. She has had a blood transfusion. She is on medication for the pain. She seems to be doing ok, she is crying a little bit out of pain we think but everyone is taking care of us well.

Thank you for your prayers and good thoughts!!!

Cranial Tech appt.

So we made the decision that we are going to go with Cranial Technlogies to do the band after Kenzee's surgery. We met with them this week to have oyur pre op appointment. They took pictures of her head and drew on them so we could see what the ideal head shape would look like. Alyssa talked about how we would have to come in once a week for them to shave some of the foam in the helmet to accomodate the growth of Kenzee's head.

I also found out that this company doesn't accept Medi-Cal which is the insurance Kenzee has. So we are cash pay with them but they do have a discount for Medi-Cal patients. So instead of being almost $4000 per helmet it will be about $2500. So here we come fundraising!!!!

A friend of mine is making a website so soon you will be able to go there and see pictures, keep updated on the fundraising and follow the blog there.

Surgery

Oh we have a surgery date. Drum roll please.......October 13 at 1030 in the morning. YA!!!!! it should only last no more than an hour the longest part will be getting the anesthesiologist to do his job. But I am so happy we will be surrounded by family!!!! Beckie (joe's sister) Al (joes dad) and Gena his wife are all coming in from out of state. And I know my sister Candis will be with us in spirit.

Keep praying we can feel it. It's the only way I am staying calm.

Scope or Cranial Tech

Ok so we are trying to decide between two companies. Scope (www.scop.net) is covered by our insurance. Cranial Tech is cash pay only. The problem here being that the plastic surgeon prefers Cranial Tech over Scope. He says that Scope kids' heads turn out ok. Cranial Tech kids' heads turn out looking good. So we researched between to two companies and so far we haven't found much of a difference. I have only found one person that knows Scope. They aren't too fond of it either. Alot of people in the field have never heard of Scope even though they have been around a lot longer than Cranial Tech. We are fighting with ourselves as to which way to go because it comes down to cash pay for Cranial Tech is $8,000 for two helmets which is what they are assuming she will need.

Does anyone have $8,000 laying around or information on Scope?