Road Trip

The in-laws have invaded! Ma & Pa Kettle as the Hubs and I refer to them parked in our driveway on Friday around 2pm with no intent to leave for two weeks. Living in Colorado, they traveled for two days to see their two adorable grand babies and us too of course. After a few days of playing with the kiddos it was time for Haddie and I to make our trip to CHLA. This time we were going to meet with Plastic Surgery. Graciously, Ma Kettle offered to come a long for the ride. Now 300 miles sitting in a car with your mother in law might seem like a nightmare for some. But again I am lucky. We had so much fun. We headed for Burbank where our hotel was but of course had to detour to IKEA! Duh. Poor Ma Kettle was a little overwhelmed by IKEA and all that it is but still had fun. Later we checked into our hotel then traveled downstairs to The Daily Grill where Ma Kettle treated me to the largest chicken pot pie one could ever consume. It was bigger than my head! HMae was such a trooper this trip. She hardly cried at all in the car and actually slept most of the way. Although she did pay me back by not sleeping at all the entire night in the hotel. Not sleeping is actually normal for us lately.
In the morning we traveled down the road a little ways to CHLA. A nurse came into the waiting room gathered us up and took HMae back to a room for some pictures. They propped her up on a Bumbo seat that sat atop a stool and took a few pictures to document her large tongue. After waiting for what always seems like an eternity(20 min or so). Dr. Hammodeh entered and chatted a bit with us about HMae's condition. He was knowledgeable and quick to respond to any questions we had without hesitation. Ultimately we decided to go forward with a surgery that will correct the abnormality that is HMae's tongue. I had decided long ago that we would not walk out of that office without a surgery date and I thought I would have to fight for it. I was wrong. Within about 5 minutes of conversing, Dr. Hammoudeh insisted we do this as soon as possible because waiting wouldn't do us any good. So we got it. June 15 is the day. You better believe we are terrified! But we also know that we have to do it for her. We promised her that we would give her the best, most liveable life we could provide.
Needless to say we had one very successful trip. Ma Kettle offered so much comfort to me. I just wish we could have her closer. And as for Pa Kettle, Koen is obsessed with him. He even makes Pa rock him to sleep at night. I think Pa Kettle is a very happy man!

A little about HMae's pending surgery...
It is formally called a Tongue Reduction surgery. It will be preformed by Dr. Hammodeh and his assistants. The surgery itself will take about two hours. HMae will remain in Pediatirc Intensive Care Unit for about 4 days. After that she will be released into a general recovery room. We are anticipating about a week in the hospital.
Please ask questions if you have them. I will answer them the best I can. I am going to tend to this blog as often as I can to keep everyone updated throughout our journey.

Much Love,
Missy Hughes