Surgery #.....Who Knows?!

Another surgery is behind us.......and we do believe that this may very well be the last one until her head/face is done growing. Yay!!!

Today's surgery was a delicate yet minor one, especially compared to what she has all been through in the past 4 (!) years. When dealing with the eye area, it's always a bit tricky.

Getting ready for today actually started last night. We stocked her up on food after supper because we knew she would not be allowed to eat after midnight, and her surgery wasn't going to be until 3:30 the next afternoon! So she enjoyed a chocolate pudding, a snickerdoodle square, a cookie and a slice of bread with chocolate, all before she went to bed. I don't think she mind at all....do you?! :o)

 

 

And because she didn't have to wake up early, she got to stay up to watch her (and my!) favourite show on the Food Network: Chopped

Before she went to bed, she listened to a video message from her nevus friend who lives in England, Isabelle. Hi Isabelle!!! Thanks for the well wishes!!

 

Due to the "No food" rule, she was quite thrilled to have Ginger Ale for breakfast! Certainly something I didn't think I would *ever* say: go get a pop can from the fridge for breakfast. But alas, it was said this morning!

 

We dropped Lincoln off at his little preschool and then killed some time at Walmart and Value Village, where a KinderSuprise and a baggie of little toys ended up coming home with us

Before we knew it, it was time to go. So she quickly changed into her favourite shirt, one that reminds her of a very dear little boy who lost his life due to complications of his congenital melanocytic nevus which became cancerous. She met Christian 2 years ago and he and Christian's mom (Hi Tanya!!) are never far from her thoughts and prayers.

Once at the hospital, we found out that we were given the wrong time.....but it was good!! 'cause instead of her surgery happening at 3:30, they were ready for her at 2:30!!

Keziah was quite nervous this time, becoming very quiet and unsure. We could really tell she is getting older and knows exactly what's coming. But again, when it was time to go, off she went on her own. What a girl!!

 

 

Can you tell which file is hers?! Not sure why it's in the "E" block, but there it is - that big fat one.

While waiting, we met up with another nevus family - Hi Karen and Scott!! Their little girl was having a tissue expander placed. It was neat to meet and chat together for a bit. We pray that Alanna's recovery goes smoothly, as well as all her fills.

Around 4:30, Dr. Zuker and Dr. Wong came to let us know that all went well. They excised a tiny bit of nevus (it was a very thin line down the side of her eye), did a Z plasty on her scar on near the corner of her eye, and then also did a very deep "hook" stitch to lift up the droop of the corner of her eye. That deep stitch will hopefully hold in place for a very long time, preventing the corner of her eye from drooping.

After they left, the anesthesiologist came to have a talk with us......she threw him for a loop because she was co-operative and completely fine until the mask (to put her to sleep) came out. She absolutely freaked out. He ended up putting the tube of the sleeping "air" in between his fingers and then cupping her mouth and nose with his hands, which worked and calmed her down. But her freaking out really shook him up and bothered him. He was really concerned that she will now be fearful of coming back to the hospital, that this "event" will leave her with a very negative experience. We did reassure him that her freaking out was something she does - she did for every single fill when dealing with expanders, and yet 2 minutes after the fill, she was happy, and week after week, she was eager to go back to the hospital. This reassured him somewhat, but yeah, it really didn't sit well with him. Wow. What amazing, caring and compassionate professionals Toronto Sick Kids hire!! We knew she hated the mask.....next time I will give them a "head's up"......I just never did as I didn't want to say it in front of her, causing her to get all anxious. But I shall pull them aside next time (and doing an IV instead of the mask will also cause her to absolutely freak out, so that's not an option either)

Anyway, she woke up in recovery and about 1/2 an hour and two freezies later, she was wheeled out to the car to go home, hugging her bear that apparently also needed an eye lift :o)

 

Once home and settled she wanted a piece of jam toast.......

.....only for it to all come back up about 20 minutes later! She hasn't thrown up after a surgery since her very first surgery, so this was a bit of a surprise. We know it can happen, but it hasn't happened in 4 years, with lots of surgeries in between that first one and today's. Those eyes - such a sad look!!

She did give me this soft smile but then promptly threw up. Darling beautiful brave girl we have.

So as you can see by the pictures, not much change is obvious. We can see the "eye lift" and can tell the difference....but it is hard for others to notice right now. It'll swell up a bit but not too bad, with her hoping to go back to school in a few days.

The one thing they did not do was touch her scar on her scalp. It is quite wide again due to her head growing. The placement of this scar and the leftover nevus is there from that "failed" expander a couple of years ago. If that expander had worked, the scar would be in her hairline and there would not be any nevus behind her ear.

We will deal with that years from now when she is done growing....possibly with excisions or even doing hair transplants. For now, we will keep her hair long and do different hairstyles to cover it.

 

We will be back for a follow-up in a few weeks. Then the steri-strips will come off and the swelling will be down, and the work that was done today will be a wee bit more obvious.

We are thankful once again for the talents of Dr. Zuker and Dr. Wong. We are thankful for safe travels. We are thankful to my parents for taking this blue-eyed-full-of-life boy - he's talking on the phone with my dad, "So opa, when Keziah goes to the hospital, I am coming over to your house. We will wrestle first and then you can read me a book." :o)

And we are thankful for all of you, with your many thoughts and prayers!

"See" you in a few weeks once we have the follow-up!

And That's It.....For 6 Months

Well, we woke up this morning, a month after Keziah's last and final surgery, prepared to say "Good-bye" to someone who has been a household name for the last 3 years - so much so that Lincoln thinks anyone, including himself, who sees a doctor must see Dr. Zuker :o)

Keziah was happy to go back to the place that she absolutely loves, despite everything that she has been through there.

We packed up some gifts for him and Ms. Valentina (who unfortunately wasn't there today), and headed off to Sick Kids. Usually it's me taking the pictures, but she took the liberty of snapping some shots of The Big City, using her Leap Pad.

Our drive time was an hour (!) and what we thought would be a very long wait time, was not! In fact, only one book was read and then in walked the man of the hour.

Before we could give him our gifts and express our thanks, Dr. Zuker had a good look at her eye and skin grafts. To hear him say, "Perfect" is such a blessing! He was very impressed with how it all looked. Yes, it needs to settle down yet but for only being a month old, the skin grafts look amazing. It is so nice to see a surgeon pleased with his work....especially when it's your daughter's face we are talking about!

Keziah did have an uncomfortable moment, as a staple had to be removed from her head. I found it a couple days after all her head wraps came off.....it's right there, pretty much center of the picture.

And then it was time......time to say good-bye, or so we thought. But actually, no! He wants to see her in the Fall, just to make sure things continue to go well. He'll also have a team of others with him to do the "hand off", to explain what was all done, the results, the processes etc. etc.

Phew!! That meant I didn't have to pull out my Kleenexes just yet! I have 6 months to go yet before we really cut the ties.

Nevertheless, we still gave him his gifts :o) He was thrilled!! It was hard to come up with what to give him.....but we stuck with things we learned about him over the past 3 years, of things he liked: my baking and his love for his dog (which has since passed away, but thankfully his secretary just got a puppy, so the dog treats and toy will be going to her!). We also learned, from a little bird, of something else he liked and so gifted that as well, much to his delight!

Before we left, we snapped a picture of him with our beautiful girl. What a gift he has been to our family! We praise God for placing him on our path.

Dr. Zuker has done amazing work on our daughter. He started with our daughter just over 3 years ago, with her looking beautiful as ever, beauty that included a very large black freckle:

 3 years later, through all his handiwork and talents, as well as the blessings of God, she still looks as beautiful as ever, beauty with just a little freckle (which she is so thankful to still have!) :

And through it all, by the grace of God, those eyes and that smile never did change!!

I have plenty more to write, but this will be for now. I will update the blog in a month or two, to document the healing of the skin grafts. Until then, once again, we thank you ALL for the support you have shown via prayers and comments. May God bless you like He has blessed us *by* you.

Worse First, Better Later

Between surgery date and bandage removal date, Keziah enjoyed a week under the careful and watchful eye of Dr. Lincoln:

Keziah handled being "under wraps" quite well, but she was very thankful when Tuesday rolled around for her to go back to Dr. Zuker, get put out and have it all taken off.

 

So off we were by 5:45 am. It certainly isn't too often that you get to paint just after 7 in the morning!

By 8:00, the team was ready to go. And so was she. Off she went again, chose the same sleepy smell (orange) as before, and 15ish minutes later, all was done.

Now, this is very important for you to read: for a skin graft to look good, it needs to look terrible first. After seeing the pictures, you may very well think, "Well, doesn't that look worse than the birthmark?!" or "You can't even tell there's a difference so why bother put her through all that?!"

Well, you are right. At first. But when we think of her first skin graft a few years ago, we are confident in how her skin grafts will look in a few years. Let me remind you what her other skin graft looked like from 3 years ago:

 This is what the skin graft looked like 2 months later:

And this is what the first skin graft looks like today, almost 3 years later:

So, please keep this in mind for the following pictures :o)

As I was saying, about 15-20 minutes later, someone was waking up, with all smiles, eager for some freezies!

 

After another 20 minutes to spend in the playroom (with Opa!!) to make sure all the wobbliness had left, we were able to go home:

Let's do some Before and After pictures so we can see the differences this surgery made:

Here she is, before and then after of the skin graft placed around her eye last week:

Before and after of the skin grafts down the side of her eye, shortening the eyebrow:

 

Before and After of the excision done under her eye:

 

And the before and after of the scar revision done on her scalp:

 

The skin grafts came off her ear, and to keep that incision sealed, she goes to bed with a sweatband around her head, so her ear won't fold over as she sleeps and rolls around:

 

So even though the skin grafts all look a bit rough right now, we couldn't be any happier for her! Her eye shape looks great - not too droopy or pulled open. The excision under her eye is amazing!! Plus, Dr. Zuker is pleased.....which makes us pleased as well.

Her next appointment is a follow-up one, for May 7th. And you know what?! That could very well be the last one!!!!!

Now, I ask you: how in the world do you thank a man that has made such a difference in someone's life?! I have 3 weeks to think of something.....

It also gives 3 more weeks for this girl to heal up some more. We pray for continued healing - that nothing gets infected (the ear is starting to get pretty red and swollen with some pus), and that we can soon close the door of this removal journey. We praise our God for blessing this journey thus far!