Trick-Or-Treat and We are Out!! Look out Michigan, here we come!

Help!!

I am trying to figure out how to use flickr to add a slideshow to the blog. Anyone know how? I would love the help!

We went Trunk or Treating last night at Cornerstone Methodist Church. The girls had a good time, and I think Gunars did, too. He dressed up like a beefed up soccer player - with medal, muscles, and all. The girls were an angel, a devil (probably not a good choice to go to church, oops!), and a lamb. All went well until we went to a crafts section. They had cookie decorating. Kyara tried to eat just the icing, but she ended up throwing it up because there were some sprinkles. We are counting down the days until her surgery!

Scheduled Surgery

Kyara is scheduled to have the gastric pull-up on Monday, November 3. We are planning on driving up to Michigan on Friday, Oct. 31 after the girls do some trick-or-treating (there are priorities!) She will be admitted on Nov. 2 and do all the pre-op work. As long as Kyara is stable, Gunars, Skylar, and my dad will stay for the surgery and head back home on Nov. 4. My mom, Kassey, and I will stay up there for the duration. We have reservations at the U of Michigan Holiday Inn, and we are hoping to get in the Ronald McDonald House as soon as possible. It is first come, first serve kind of deal, so we will see if there is a vacancy when we get there.

After so much talk and discussion about the surgery, I can't believe it is only a week away. I am excited and nervous at the same time! I am ready for my baby to be able to eat again!

Kyara is getting fed through her g-tube.

A little Background

Kyara drank a chemical when she was 2 that scarred her esophagus (the tube that runs from your mouth to your stomach). She was taken care of at CHOA at Scottish Rite and they were amazing! Over the last two years, Kyara has gone in every 1-2 weeks for dilations of her esophagus. We were hoping to be able to open it to a point where she could eat food. However, over the last year it has become obvious that her esphagus was not going to heal. She has been fed through a g-tube (a tube that is attached through her stomach wall and goes straight into her stomach) for the last year and is now having difficulties even swallowing her saliva at night. We researched for many months about the right procedure and doctor to have do the surgery on Kyara. We finally settled on Dr. Arnold Coran in Michigan. He will do a gastric transposition on her. That basically means they will cut out her esophagus completely and pull her stomach up. Dr. Coran is the world's leading pediatric surgeon with this surgery so we feel confident that it will go well. Dr. Coran has a 90-95% success rate of children being able to eat normally after recovery, so we have high hopes!