The left expander is
at 302 cc and the right is at 304 cc
Downward View
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Fifty First Filling
The visit with the surgeon yesterday went well. He said everything
looks good and we can continue expanding up until her surgery date. He said it
was really up to us; basically that he trust our decision on to continue or
not. So, we play it by ear and make a decision daily. Today we decided to
expand only the right expander again and left the left side alone.
Solana is still in good spirits, just like she has been
throughout this whole process. I explained to her that the “balloons” are
coming out soon and she is looking forward to the popsicles and ice cream she
gets to eat after the surgery.
The left expander is
at 297 cc and the right is at 304 cc
Downward View
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Fiftieth Filling
Today we decided to only fill the left expander, for a
couple of reasons. The skin around the expanders is clearly becoming thinner
and has us a little concerned. Solana was standing by a window yesterday and
the sun was shining through and we could see the expanders; they appeared to
glow red. It was rather strange to see.
The great news is that the right expander made it to 300 cc,
which to be honest I was not sure would happen. Praise God. Because the left
expander is still behind “goal” we decided to fill that one this evening to
help close the gap between the two. We have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow, so
I will discuss our concerns about the thinning with the surgeon and see what he
says. It may be that we stop filling and just wait for the surgery date or we
will continue filling.
Left expander is at 292
cc and right expander is at 304 cc
Downward View
Forty Ninth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Left expander is at 287
cc and right expander is at 304 cc
Downward View
Forty Eighth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Left expander is at 282
cc and right expander is at 299 cc
Downward View
Forty Seventh Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Downward View
Left expander is at
277 cc and right expander is at 294 cc
Downward View
Forty Sixth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Left expander is at 272 cc and right expander is at 289 cc
Downward View
Left expander is at 272 cc and right expander is at 289 cc
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Forty Fifth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Left expander is at 267 cc and right expander is at 284 cc
Downward View
Left expander is at 267 cc and right expander is at 284 cc
Downward View
Forty Fourth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Downward View
Left expander is at
262 cc and right expander is at 279 cc
Downward View
Forty Third Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Downward View
Left expander is at
257 cc and right expander is at 274
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Forty Second Filling
No news to report, just pictures.
Left expander is at
252 cc and right expander is at 269 cc
Downward View
Forty First Filling
No news to report, just pictures.
Left expander is at
247 cc and right expander is at 264 cc
Downward View
Surgery Date Scheduled!
Today was her fortieth filling, but we also got her final
surgery date scheduled, where they will remove her expanders and place the
stretched out skin in place of the grafted skin she has right now. The date is
a few weeks passed what we anticipated, but my husband and I have prayed
heavily about the date being scheduled (which took a few days on behalf of the
hospital) and believe that its perhaps a blessing the date is a few weeks away.
Since we do not have the 2.5 skin we need, our plan is to continue to expand at
the rate we have been and she will go in on Tuesday July 10, 2012 to have them
removed. We continue to pray for the Lord’s blessing and guidance in this
situation.
Left expander is at 242 cc and right expander is at 259 cc
Downward View
Thirty Ninth Filling
No news to report, just pictures.
Left expander is at 237 cc and right expander is at 254 cc
Downward View
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Thirty Eight Filling
The doctor was on vacation last week so we did not see him
until today. He said everything looks good so far. We are getting prepared to
put Solana on the surgery schedule to have the expanders removed. (The date has
not been scheduled yet). He said that we currently have two times the amount of
skin needed to cover her bald area BUT it is recommended that they have two and a half times the amount
of skin needed for it to be successful. He said essentially if we did surgery
right now we would cover “most of the area” but not all of it. That was really
disappointing for us to hear, but we understand those are the facts. He suggested
since things are going so well for her that we continue expanding at the
current rate and hope we get to 2.5 the amount of skin needed and schedule her
surgery for a few weeks from now. We agreed. So, that is currently where we are
at. We are going to continue expanding at 5 cc per day and will pray the Lord
will continue to bless Solana during this process. We are acutely aware that
her progressing so well is not to our doing, but only because God is shining
His grace on our family.
Downward View
Left expander is at
230 cc and right expander is at 249 cc
Downward View
Thirty Seventh Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Downward View
Left expander is at
225 cc and right expander is at 244 cc
Thirty Sixth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Downward View
Left expander is at
220 cc and right expander is at 239 cc
Downward View
Thirty Fifth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Downward View
Left expander is at 215 cc and right expander is
at 234 cc
Downward View
Thirty Fourth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Downward View
Left expander is at 210 cc and right expander is at 229 cc
Downward View
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Thirty Third Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Left expander is at 205 cc and right is at 224 cc
Downward View
Thirty Second Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Downward View
Left expander at 200 cc and right expander is at 219 cc
Downward View
Thirty First Filling
The grafted skin line has started to become kind of dry
looking; almost peeling like a light sunburn would, so I asked the doctor if we
could put some lotion on the area to help. He obliged and we have been using
the lotion daily for about a week now. I included a picture below. It is the
same lotion we were given when they put her grafted skin on the first time.
Lotion we use on the dry areas
Left expander is at 195 cc and the right expander is at 214 cc
Downward View
Lotion we use on the dry areas
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Thirtieth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Left expander at 190 cc and the right expander at 209 cc
Downward View
Left expander at 190 cc and the right expander at 209 cc
Downward View
Twenty Ninth Filling
No news to report; just pictures.
Left expander at 185 cc and the right expander at 204 cc
Downward View
Twenty Eighth Filling
We had our weekly doctor’s appointment yesterday. The doctor
said Solana looks like the poster child for tissue expanders (meaning things
look great). Only by God’s grace are things looking so well. My husband and I
are so grateful. Her expanders/skin are tight so we’re officially approaching
the end of this process. If we continue at this pace we should be at our goal
in 3-4 weeks. The doctor said he doesn’t want her skin to be too tight when the
expanders are removed so we are paying attention to that and he suggested we
possibly skip a day each week, for a weekly total of 30 ml. So we skipped yesterday to give her a break and resumed today.
Left expander at 180 cc and the right expander at 199 cc
(She started making silly faces when I take pictures of the expanders)
Downward View
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