All Clear!

Well, actually, all is a bit red and puffy, but as far as problems, we are all clear!

What a fabulous day! I'm so happy that it turned out so well.

Amanda had an appointment with her therapist the night before surgery, which turned out to be good timing. She's been seeing a therapist for awhile now, mostly for aggression issues. Used to be every other week, but now it's every third, soon to be once a month. I think it has helped, altho' it seems very touchy-feely to me, and it seems like Amanda just likes playing with her therapist (and kind of ordering her around) and eating snacks. Anyway, they spent a lot of time Monday night role playing going to the hospital, Mom not being able to go with child into surgery, Mom being there after child wakes up. I do think that helped, and Kris spent a lot longer than the usual 45-50 minutes with her, which was appreciated.

We talked about the surgery on the way to see Kris, and Amanda started tearing up and said, "I think I want to cry." This morning, she woke up and said, "I'm not worried about the surgery at all!" I told her that was great, there was nothing to worry about, God was watching over her and Dr. Troia was going to take good care of her.  She chose to take her pony with her and a blanket, altho' she then decided to leave the blanket in the car. She enjoyed all the friendly nurses who fussed over her and her pony. One nurse asked if she could stop by and snuggle with Amanda's pony (named alternately Ally or Winter), and Amanda, who gets sassy when she is fussed over, said, "No, go and buy your own!" I groan and chide while the nurses laugh and think she's SO cute (well yeah, but....good manners, honey!)

(Note: I called Amanda "Peanut" the other day and she wasn't thrilled, so I said, ok, we'd just call her "Pickle" as a nickname (because she LOVES pickles) and if we're able to bring a sister home, we'll nickname her "Peanut". Amanda thought that was a great idea. Anyway, I'll refer to the little girl in Russia as "Peanut" when I mention her)

Dr. Kolb, who runs the international adoption clinic there at Boys Town, was the first doctor we saw when I brought Amanda home. His name is obviously in her charts, and someone must have told him we were there, so he stopped by. It was great to see him! I also showed him Peanut's picture, since he evaluates info for prospective adoptive parents (bird in the hand and all, with him being right there). Dr. Troia stopped by to give Amanda a stuffed animal and say hi before surgery, so I showed him the picture, too. Dr. Troia mentioned how inline her eyes were with the focal point in each eye showing the light reflection. I told him I hadn't noticed (generally of course I noticed her eyes were in line, but hadn't noticed the focal points), that I just looked at her sweet face. Dr. Kolb said he noticed what a prominent philtrum she has - the groove between the nose and mouth. A flat/nonexistent philtrum can indicate fetal alcohol syndrome. Funny little conversation, each person cluing in on what is germane to him/her.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, Amanda's eye surgery. She was proud of saying that a lot this morning, "I'm going to have eye surgery". I'd tell her she was the best girl in the world, and she'd add, "Who's having eye surgery."

Snuggling with pony, who has on the same bandage Amanda would later, and playing in the playroom next door to our room.

The nurse gave her the drowsy meds and soon she was snoozing next to me in her bed. First picture is "Mom, stop!" I thought she was asleep, but evidently not enough to keep her from noticing when I moved to take a picture. But, back to sleep and I snapped the 2nd picture, which I think is so sweet! The grey thing under the horse's head is the grey & pink kitty from Dr. Troia.

Surgery took less than 1 hour, and Dr. Troia let me know that everything went well. She came in from recovery about 45 minutes later, holding a wet, cool washcloth over her eyes.

Right around noon, we were on our way home. She wanted to watch a movie, so I set her up on the living room floor with her pillow and blanket, where she dozed for awhile. Then she wanted to eat and was up and chipper. My friend Steph took me to drop my car off at the autobody place while her daughter Kim stayed with Amanda, then neighbor Ashely came over to play, and later Amanda want to play at Ashley's. She said her eyes didn't hurt, and didn't want medicine (altho' I gave her some tylenol just to be sure the pain didn't sneak up on her). Yea!

Here's what she looks like tonight. Dr. Troia said her left eye will be red for maybe 6 weeks. No swimming for two weeks, which is sad because our family reunion is coming up - we'll be staying at a hotel with a swimming pool, and she loves to swim. Oh well!

She didn't want to open her eyes any wider because it would hurt. Ok, don't do it! I gave her some tylenol before bed, so she could be more certain of a restful night.

And off to bed with me. Good night all, and thank you for your prayers and concern! She is a lucky girl to be surrounded with so much love.