Out Damn Spot!

We left sunny Arizona on Tuesday and tried to take the sunshine with us to Chicago...unfortunately, I picked up quite a nice cold having spent a few nights in a hospital and a couple nights up with Zac, who grew very uncomfortable as the week progressed.  He did not seem to sleep well and would wake up crying and then not want to go back to sleep.  I even skipped his last fill because he seemed to just be at his limit.

530cc of saline AND a new tooth!

What a wonderful trip!  I have to give props to Southwest Airlines who seemed to anticipate my every need even before I did...starting with....I had two bags, a pack n play and a car seat...my Gramma had 1 suitcase so naturally I thought I'd have to lie..."oh yes, two of those suitcases are my Gramma's and the pack n play, suitcase and car seat are mine..."   BUT to my surprise, after my Gramma told them the truth...that she only had one bag...they checked my FOUR ITEMS with NO PROBLEM!  Then, after praying I would sit by some nice, understanding people on the plane (and boy did God answer that one!  Thank you so much for sending me those wonderful people who helped me out SO MUCH!) and hoping Zac would be calm enough for 5 minutes for me to finish a coke - SW served my soft drink...with a lid!  These people are awesome!!

Okay so, on Wednesday, we paid a visit to Dr. Bauer's office to get our pre-op check-up.  While we were sitting in the waiting room, someone said...did you say tissue expander?  Dr. Bauer put his first tissue expander in my son 15 years ago....to fix his webbed fingers."  Holy cow!!  Really??  Another fabulous use for tissue expanders and yet another fantastical thing that Dr. Bauer does to help children!!
This morning, we got to the hospital at 6 a.m....well, really close to 6 a.m....I guess I didn't realize that you need to put an extra 15 minutes in your schedule to scrape the ice off of your windshield here in the Springtime!  We got to Highland Park Hospital and were greeted by some of the same nurses that we saw in January.  What a wonderful group of people they all were.  Dr. Dobryman, the anesthesiologist paid us a visit followed by Dr. Bauer.  This surgery was so different than the first one.  I was...well, I was EXCITED!  I had no hesitation whatsoever when I handed Zac over to them.  I knew he was in the very best hands and that those hands were guided by the grace of God.

I'm too sexy for my nevus...

We waited for about two hours before Zac came out of surgery and Dr. Bauer came out and sat with me while he explained to me that he was able to excise a great deal of nevus from the back, as well as the small satellite on Zac's left arm.  While I was talking to Dr. Bauer, I couldn't help but think about what a wonderful person he was.  Kind, compassionate, sincere how he personally has changed the lives of thousands of children.  He thinks that it may be possible that Zac may only need two full rounds to be able to remove the rest of his trunk nevus!  I thank God for Dr. Bauer and for helping me find my way to him.  And... I am looking forward to changing Zac's dressings tomorrow to see his progress!

Recuperating