Eyes, Thighs and Obama...oh, my!

First, I was able to meet and listen to President Obama when he came to Cannon Falls on Monday.   I didn't know what to expect, but what a fantastic experience.  He was about 9 feet away from me the whole time and at the end I was able to shake his hand and share 3 seconds of words.  It may be the only time in my life I get to hear a President speak in person especially in such a small group.

Now on to "eyes".  Sabrina had a follow up eye appointment this week.   She has been monitored since last November for intermittent exotropia..."lazy eye".  Her eyes tend to float to the outsides of her face...her right eye a little more.  Between January and April her eyes had gotten worse.  She started going in monthly and after 3-4 more appointments with no improvement (after patching) the decision has been made to undergo surgery.  Her ophthalmologist will move one of her muscles from the front of the eye to the back...this will help her eye remain straight.  He is positive this will help and that she is a great candidate for this procedure.  Right now it is scheduled for Oct. 19.  Jim and I have school off for 4 days following her procedure so it is great timing for us.

Last is "thighs".  Ashlyn was born with a small black growth on her knee.  We were told it was a hemangioma and at 8 weeks old a biopsy was performed.  It came back completely normal and it was some growth dealing with her arteries and veins.  As she has gotten older, a spot has appeared on her left thigh.  We also assumed this was a hemangioma, except it would come and go for no reason.  This summer it came and never went away.  It seems to grow with her and this year it bubbled up and started turning black.  We were referred to a specialist at Gillette Children's Hospital and he said it was not a hemangioma, but another vascular malformation.  There are a large number of veins under her skin (visible) and he said as she grows, those veins will rise to the surface...possibly covering her whole upper leg by adulthood.  Our best bet was to do a laser procedure which would reduce the amount of veins coming up to the skin.  Ashlyn had her first procedure this week and it went great.  They gave her oral anesthetic to make her sleep during the 2 minute procedure.  They needed her to remain still.  She made all the nurses laugh and handled it like a pro.  For now, we put cream on it to keep it clean and healthy.  We already notice a difference and have been told that one procedure should be enough for now.  If it begins to grow again, then we will have her in again.  This will more than likely follow her for life and the laser is not a cure, but something to help diminish the growth.

 Ashlyn before the procedure...with a blanket made by volunteers.  Each child gets to keep the blanket in their room.  Ashlyn got one when she had her foot surgery at Age 3...she liked this one way more.

 This was her vascular malformation before surgery...not too bad at this time.  The doctor came and marked the purple dots so they knew where to laser.

 Ashlyn's leg after the procedure...a little red and swollen, but that has since gone down.  You can still see it, but more subdued.

Two thumbs up from Ashlyn after her procedure.  She was very cute waking up from her sleepy gas :)  She kept saying "I'm dizzy".

Next for our family is school.  Jim and I both start on Monday and then we have 2 weeks of workshops. Ashlyn will start second grade and Aubrie will begin preschool.  I can't believe we will have two kids in school.  Sabrina and Kadence will go back to daycare full time, which I think they are excited for.