Twenty Fifth Filling

No news to report; just pictures.

Left expander is at 165 ml and the right expander is at 184 ml

                               
                                                              Downward View

Twenty Fourth Filling

We noticed that the hair on the expanders is really starting to thin (and she naturally has very thick hair) so I asked the doctor about it and he said that area will be thinner, however it “should be ok.” I was also concerned if we stretched out too much skin if she would lose it or if the skin would contract back and still be useable. He advised that whatever is stretched out will contract back into place, so that was good news for us – that she would not lose any of the stretched out skin with hair follicles.

Left expander is at 160 ml and right expander is at 179 ml

                                                                  Downward View

Twenty Third Filling

No news to report; just pictures.

                                       Left expander is at 155 ml and right expander is at 174 ml

                                                                       Downward View

Twenty Second Filling

No news to report; just pictures.

                                  Left expander is at 150 ml and right expander is at 169 ml

Twenty First Filling

No news to report; just pictures.

                                  Left expander is at 145 ml and right expander is at 164 ml

                                                             Downward View

Twentieth Filling

No news to report; just pictures.

                           Left expander is at 140 ml and the right expander is at 159 ml

                                                               Downward View

Eighteenth Filling

We had an appointment today with the doctor and he said everything looks alright and we need to keep “pushing on.” We are still doing 5 ml each night. The left expander is at 135ml and the right expander is at 154 ml.

Left expander is at 135ml and the right expander is at 154 ml

                                                                     Downward View

Seventeenth Filling

No news to report; just pictures.

                                     The left expander is at 130 ml and the right is at 149 ml

                                                                     Downward View

Sixteenth Filling

Today her suture lines have stayed pretty red and I’m noticing some small changes in the area, but I don’t think they are anything to be alarmed about; just signs that the skin is under duress. We will keep an eye on the areas and we have another appointment with the doctor on Monday.

                                   Left expander is at 125 ml and the right expander is at 144 ml

                                                                        Downward View

Fifteenth Filling

So, all week we have been putting in 5 ml into each expander. Things have been going well so far. The skin on the suture line (the grafted skin) usually becomes red and irritated, but usually will return to her normal skin tone at some point throughout the day.

                                      Left expander at 122 ml and right expander at 137 ml

                                                                  Downward View

Fourteenth Filling

No news to report; just pictures.

                                 Left expander is at 117 ml and the right expander is at 132 ml

                                                                Downward View

Thirteenth Filling

No news to report; just pictures.

Left expander at 112 ml and right expander at 127 ml

Downward view

Twelfth Filling

We did our second fill of 5ml tonight. Everything looks ok for now. The blue veins on the left side are starting to become more prominent again, but I guess that is expected. The left expander is now at 107ml and the right expander is at 122ml. Again, our goal is to reach 300ml in both.

                              Left expander is now at 107ml and the right expander is at 122ml

                                                                 
                                                                  Downward view

Eleventh Filling

The doctor visit yesterday went well. The doctor said they there was nothing of real concern at this point, meaning she was not in any imminent danger. He said the skin is obviously thinning and under stress due to the situation, but we ultimately need to continue on until we get to the point where the expanders need to come out. Fortunately, we are not there yet and can continue expanding. I suggested filling the expanders daily with only 5ml instead of 15ml three times a week. He agreed and we started that yesterday. So far things are going well. We are praying that putting in such a small amount each day will help alleviate some of the extra stress being placed on the skin.

Left expander at 102 ml and right expander 117 ml

                                                                    Downward view

Tenth Filling

Today, with the doctor’s approval, we decided to put a small volume of saline into both expanders. We felt that with seeing the doctor tomorrow we were safe to do a fill today. We decided to put 7ml in both, so the left expander is now at 97ml and the right is at 112ml.  

                                       Left expander is now at 97ml and the right is at 112ml

Downward View

Another Setback

We encountered another setback. Yesterday I noticed the right side looked really red and when examining it more closely it appears that the skin has ripped slightly in some places. I sent pictures to the doctor, but unfortunately he was not able to see clearly what I was talking about. I think because the areas are so small, it’s hard to capture that in a picture. So, now we are going to see him tomorrow so he can see it in person and advice.  

Ninth Filling

Tonight, May 10, we filled only the right expander (see Setback) with 10 ml. The area felt somewhat tight after I put in 10ml so I decided to leave it at that and not put in the full 15ml. From now on, we will probably be using smaller fill amounts. Currently, the left expander is at 90ml and the right expander is at 105ml.

Left expander is at 90ml and the right expander is at 105ml

Suture line on right side

                                        
                                                                     Downward view

Setback

After the fill on May 8^th, an area on the suture line for the left expander looked blueish (like a bruise underneath the skin). It didn’t appear to cause her any pain but it was a bit alarming to us.  We decided to watch it and see if it went away by morning (we do her fills at bed time). I sent pictures to the doctor the following morning since there was no improvement and he suggested we remove the amount of fluid we put in before the blue “veins” appears. So, last night (May 9) we removed the 15ml we had put in the night before in hopes the blue would disappear, but sadly tonight it remains the same. The good news is it does not look any worse, just not any better. The doctor agreed to wait a few days before we do another fill on that side. And it is possible that we are going to have to proceed at a slower rate at this point. Meaning we most likely won’t be putting in 15ml at each filling, more like 10 or less.

                                                                The blue area circled

Eighth Filling

We had a follow up appointment with Solana’s doctor yesterday and he said the skin looks fine. There is nothing that has him concerned. What we are seeing is just the skin reacting to the change, but nothing that post a current danger to her. With that said, we filled both expanders tonight with 15ml. So, currently the left is at 105ml and the right is at 95ml.

Left expander is at 105ml and the right is at 95ml

Seventh Filling

We have a follow up appointment tomorrow with the doctor so we decided that we would do a fill today (on the right side) so that the doctor could see clearly what is happening to the grafted skin after each fill. To us, it looks like the skin is slowly breaking down. We didn’t do the full fill this time, just 10ml, so the left expander is currently at 90ml and the right expander is at 80ml.

Left expander = 90ml, right expander = 70ml 

 Downward view

 

Grafted skin on right side

Sixth Filling

On May 5, we performed the sixth filling. In the morning I always clean Solana’s head with soap and water (and again at night during her bath) and this morning she had a small white dot on her grafted skin on the right side. It looked exactly like a pimple (pus). I cleaned the area gently and was able to “pop” the pus. I reached out to her doctor and he advised if the skin was not tight we can continue with expanding or we could wait to our next appointment (in 3 days) if we were really concerned. Because I was unable to get a clear close up of the area the doctor couldnt see clearly what I was talking about. Jedi and I decided to fill the left expander as scheduled and leave the right alone until the appointment.

Left expander at 90ml and right expander at 70ml

Fifth Filling

On Wednesday May 5, we did the fifth filling. We put 15 ml into each, so the right expander is now at 70ml and the left is at 75ml. We are still watching the grafted skin closely because it is not as strong as her “regular” skin.

Fourth Filling

On Monday May 3, we did the fourth filling into the Solana’s expanders. We put 15 ml into each, so the right expander is at 55ml and the left is at 60ml.