Leaving for LA

We're off to Los Angeles today after Molly's 2:40pm appointment.  Can't wait to get the pad from her skin graft site taken off, if they can.  It's pretty encrusted in the scab on her scalp at this point.

More once we get settled in LA.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Took Molly to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today, was a good day.  Pictures are here...

We're off to Palo Alto to see Dr Roberson for her first post op tomorrow at 2:40pm.  Then we're off to LA to spend the night at Rob's house.

Back to normal

Molly is pretty much back to normal.  She has a little bit of pain near the skin graft site but nothing too much.  The site is covered by a pad which is stitched in to her scalp I think.  Can't wait to get that off on Tuesday.

She's had a rough cough at times so I have her on some Delsym right now, she's snoring peacefully next to me right now.

All the pictures from yesterday are up here, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay and San Francisco.

We had a down day today, only went out to get her prescription filled and have lunch at Chipotle.  Her 'ear' drops are new, they're actually eye drops that can also go in the ear.  I'm going to have to ask the doctor before we start using them.  We're going to Monterey Bay Aquarium tomorrow, should be interesting, I will take lots of pictures.

A day in Chinatown

I took Molly up to see the sea lions at Pier 39 this morning, she had been asked to go.  It was drizzling and I was concerned it might get hard, so I bought an umbrella.  It then stopped raining completely.  Ok, so now we have a nice golf umbrella for home.

We then took a trip into Chinatown to browse.  Molly picked out a hat for herself, and for her siblings at home. 

Angry bird hats for all!

We then had a nice lunch in a noodle house.  She absolutely loved noodle dishes when I picked her up in China, so this was no different.

There's a tree lighting at Pier 39 on Sunday, maybe we'll come back for that.

Back to rest

Molly and I are back 'home' to rest now.  Home being Erin's cousin Maureen's family in San Jose.  Molly is sleeping it off an dI'm going to lay down with her.  She had some jello and apple juice at Waverly Surgery Center, I expect her to wake up soon very hungry.

Maybe some eggs or noodles will do her good.

In Surgery

We arrived at exactly 8:00am, the Bay Area traffic was heavy, but not stand still.  We went in around 8:30 and we hung out in the pre-op area while they did paperwork and asked about her recent fever and sniffles.

The nurses let me lie down with Molly on her bed to keep her calm.  We played Angry Birds Rio on my phone, well, I played, and she critiqued.  The anesthesiologist called in from the OR and asked me a few questions about her past experience with surgery.  The anesthesiologist said the slight fever and sniffles were not of any great concern and he advised to proceed.

Molly got her sleepy meds about 9:30, they gave her Versed, twice the dose they gave her the last time she was here.  They were trying to reduce the anxiety of 'the handoff', when I had to leave her in the care of the nurses.  I could tell that they were looking to get started on her so I tried to get Molly to lay down on the bed so they could roll her back.  The anesthesiologist came in and I shifted Molly to her feet and she immediately walked off with him, only to realize that I wasn't directly behind her and came back for me.  So I had to carry her to a point then hand her off to the Dr., still very upset, but I think she resigned to being taken back.  The meds certainly took the edge off any objections she might have raised further.

So I'm in the waiting room, probably another hour or so before I can go back and see her.  I'll write more later once we're back at the house.  I need a drive thru Chinese noodle place for Molly.  I may have to stop on the way home and get something to eat also, I'm starving too.

Twas the night before surgery

Molly is fast asleep next to me.  Her surgery is scheduled for 9:30am tomorrow morning.  Our arrival is to be at 8am and I've set 4 alarms on my iPhone just to make sure.

Molly had an audiogram, a CT scan and a routine cleaning today at Roberson's office.  Her right side atresia repair looks perfect and her audiogram is in line with what our local ENT has tested.

We didn't get to see Roberson before surgery, I find that a little bit odd but probably nothing.

Molly and I should be back to the house around 2-3pm, if not earlier.

Up in the air

Molly and I are on our way to see Dr Roberson in Palo Alto.

The flight took off a bit late and I met a very rude flight attendant. Most of the flight attendants I've flown with have been nice and even if they are super busy and stressed, they're not rude. This woman is. I'll send an email to American Airlines and then I'll forget about her.

Hopefully this isn't an indication of the while trip, just a hiccup.

A little video of Molly singing her favorite song.  She didn't do this before she got her right ear atresia repaired.

One week

We leave for LAX in one week, then it's a drive up to San Jose to stay with relatives.  We're very grateful to Erin's cousin Maureen to let us stay at her house.

Last time we saw Maureen and her family was just after Molly's surgery in June.  She had an instant crush on their son Mike.

Now we're going to be staying at their house.

Finally!

We finally heard from Cheryl at Cal Ear.  Our out of pocket insurance costs are ZERO.  We met our deductible on her first surgery so we're really fortunate to squeeze her other surgery in the same calendar year.

Whew!