Christmas parade

Elliot and Ethan rode in the truck on behalf of CAPA today. They had fun. :) we are just over 4 weeks out from his last treatment...still some minor spots.

16 days post op

Still some faint spots and the redness is still there from surgery. Everything looks darker  with the camera flash though. He is hanging onto this cold too, still is the runny nose and a mild cough.

A week and a half post op tx 8

My little guy has a cold. He was so cute shopping with me today. He asked for strawberries the whole time and said "no thanks" when he didn't want something. Here's clearing up well and I can't wait to see the results. :)

1 week post op tx 8

Still red spots but getting lighter. There was no scabbing this time so we are thankful for that.

3 days post op

Spots are just a tad lighter today. He had mommy up at 5:30 thanks to the time change. He's lucky he is so darn cute and lovable haha.

Morning after tx 8

Not much swelling today, thankful for that. He said it doesn't hurt which makes me so happy. The spots are deep purple which is a good thing. He likes looking at pictures of it. :-)

Surgery day

Everything went well today, except for the tears afterwards. He was awake when they brought him out and hysterical until I got down to him. It took him a while to calm down but was quite happy once the IV was out. Alisha went with us this time, so thankful to have her in our lives.

Day before tx #8

Here's Elliot sleeping this afternoon. The red line is a healing scratch..not part of the PWS. We head to the UofM in the morning for his eighth treatment. We have been talking to him about it so he knows he is going to get his "spots". He hasn't acted upset at all. I'll update more this time since there's finally an app for it, haha.

Laser Treatment #7

Today Elliot had his 7th laser treatment at about 11am this morning. Everything went well.  He was a little nervous about the hospital setting this time, which I knew would eventually start happening. One nice thing is that he can communicate pretty clearly now. When we left the hospital I asked him if his face felt okay and he said "yes." I continued to ask him through the day and at about 5:30pm (after his medication wore off) he told me the spot right about his lip was hurting. I gave him another dose of Motrin and all has been well. We love this little guy so much!

Here are a couple pics from the day.

Will try to update daily with pictures. I really hope it heals faster than last time!

Laser Treatment #6

On Friday Elliot went to the U of M for his 6th laser treatment. Because we are doing this so frequently we are in and out in no time, which is nice. This will be his last treatment until September since we've decided to take a break for the summer.

Dr. Orringer did the laser spots much closer together this time which I love. However, he's still swollen today and it's Sunday. =( He takes it all in stride, never misses a beat. He's seriously one of the most easy going kids ever.

On to the pics. :) I'm posting a before, after and then today (2nd day post op). 

In the waiting room, holding onto his fish.

Getting in the car after the procedure.

Today, 2 days post op. He was laughing hysterically. Lol.

It's hard to see the swelling from these pictures, but easy to see how he is still the lovable happy baby as always. =-)

All cleared from tx #5

It took a while For the yellowing after treatment to fade this time but it's gone now. Here he is eating at Olive Garden on spring break. :)

5 days post op

Here he is today, 5 days past treatment. Spots are lightening. We are taking a family trip to Disney in 3 weeks--can't wait!

3 days post op

I haven't been good about updating this time. Oops! Here is Elliot the following Monday. His treatment went well, doctors were still amazed at his progress and said probably only a few treatments left. He's such a big boy. Love this baby so much.

Day after tx #5

Laser treatment number five tomorrow

10 days post op

Here's Elliot 10 days post op. Looking great, some faint spots left.

8 days post op

Here is today's pic. :)

6 days post op

This is 6 days after treatment. This is Elliot saying Cheese, pretty cheesy. Lmao!

4 days post op

I'm shocked at how the spots are mostly red now, hardly any purple. My three beautiful kids :)

3 days post op

I am noticing some of the spots turning into more of a reddish color than purple already. No more swelling and happy as always.

Sunday-2 days post op

He is such a ham. The spots are darker now, probably as dark as they'll get. I'm amazed at how little amount of swelling Elliot had this time, especially given the fact that we had his eye lid done. I love this kid. :):)

Pulsed Dye Laser Treatment #4

On Friday (Jan. 6, 2012) Elliot went back to the University of Michigan to have his 4th laser treatment. Typically our appointment time is scheduled in the afternoon but this time they had us checking in at 7. Given that we have an hour and a half drive we decided to drive up to Ann Arbor on Thursday night and stay in a hotel. We were in a rush to get things packed, big kids delivered to their aunts, and hit the road to make it there at a decent time. I do wish they would call before Thursday afternoon to tell us the time we need to check in. *Sigh*

Since Elliot's last treatment the U of M has completely changed the Mott's Children's hospital center. I do like it a lot more now. The rooms, waiting areas and operating room are in one location which makes it so much more user friendly.

A little before 8 an anesthesiologist came into the room to talk to us. He told us he really wanted to avoid the "amnesia cocktail" since his procedure is so short. After discussing the fact that I wasn't handing my baby over to them because he'd loose his mind, they told me I could take him back to the OR and stay with him until he was asleep. I had to wear a "bunny suit" as they call it (see photo below, haha). At about 8:20 they took us down to the OR and had me lay him down on the bed. They held him down while they put the mask on and he began to cry. I'm a pretty strong person emotionally but this is where I about lost it. They warned me that he could thrash around (which he didn't do) and his eyes would roll back in his head. Which they did. It was awful to witness that and I hate to ever have to do it again, but I will never hand my baby over to a stranger and have him cry and feel abandoned.

Elliot and mama in our OR clothes

The entire procedure only took about 10 minutes. He was back in my arms within 20 minutes of entering the OR. As soon as he laid eyes on me he said "mom" and reached out. We nursed for the next half an hour while they did the discharge papers. The doctor came in and spoke with us and told us how amazing he is doing with the treatments. With as much lightening as he has had after just the 3 he said he is way above schedule as to how much it's breaking up. I love positive news! He said once they get a few more done they'll switch to a larger laser in order to blend the road map looking areas.

We were back on the road heading for home by 9:30 am. This was a big bonus of going in early. Generally we leave home around 10 am and don't get back until about 5-6pm. Elliot slept most of the way home, and so did Rob. LoL. As soon as his feet hit the floor he was running around, eating and playing like normal. He doesn't even seem to notice that his face is swollen or that he just got in a fight with Buzz Light Year (and Buzz won). :)

Playing in the waiting room

 

 

 

Getting in the car to leave the U of M

Snuggles in the ring sling while brushing his teeth

This is today (the day after the tx) Happy as can be. :):)

Thanks for following along on our journey. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I won't be offended and I'd rather people have facts. :)