Home and Recovered
Cassidy is doing great and ready to go back to school.  She is going to return on the 19th.  This was an extremely fast and much easier recovery.  The swelling has gone down significantly and we are very happy with the progress.

Treatment #3 done and Cassidy is Recovering
Mood:  lucky
Cassidy did very well with this treatment.  There was very little stress prior to the treatment and she did pretty well in recovery.  The hospital is always wanting to accomodate us for the night because of her nausea, but she always wants to leave.  She had a rough night with nausea, but all in all this was the easiest recovery so far.  We had great news from her doctor.  He thinks she may be ready for surgery after one more treatment.  We will be making an appointment prior to her next treatment (in about 7 weeks), with the surgeon to get his take on this.  This however will not be the end of sclerotherapy, but will only be on an as needed basis.  Please pray that she has progressed enough for surgery!  We will be leaving tomorrow to come back home, if all is well.

Treatment #3 Quickly Approaching
Mood:  not sure
We depart for Boston in 1 week and I am feeling very overwhelmed.  Mixed emotions, stressed, worried, thankful, etc.....  Cassidy has preops on Tuesday the 6th at 7am and treatment on Wednesday the 7th, time is still to be detirmined.  We have been in close contact with her doctor who is absolutely wonderful and most helpful.  Craig will be traveling with us this time, since his vacation time has renewed-we are able to afford him to travel with us.  My mother and her twin sister have offered to come up to our place and care for Kennedy.  This is such a tremendous help and we are so thankful!

Treatment In January
Mood:  bright
Dr. Alomari has returned to the country and we have scheduled another treatment for Cassidy on January 6th.  We could have done a treatment in late December, but we did not want to ruin her holidays.  She is still doing wonderful.  We however do not know how many more treatments she will face.  We will probably have a better idea after this treatment.  Please pray that airfares will come back down.  Driving is not an option, the drive would be too long for Cassidy to handle after the treatment (not to mention the weather too unpredictable in January).  Craig and I will both be traveling with her this time.

Kindergarten
Mood:  happy
Cassidy's mouth has shrunk considerably.  She completed her first week of kindergarten with flying colors.  She has not mentioned anyone teasing her and she is excited each day to go to school.  We are so thankful that she had another fairly easy treatment with a smooth recovery.  Once again thank you for your prayers and notes!  I will post a recent picture ASAP.

Doing Great
Mood:  bright
Cassidy is doing great and once again it is hard to tie her down.  She was supposed to start her first day of kindergarten today, but it will have to wait.  Hopefully on Monday.  Her lip is healing nicely and is going down.  She is finally eating from a spoon-yipee!  Once again it is the waiting game to see the results.  There will probably be more sclerotherapy treatments in the future, but we will probably take a little break and let Cassidy adjust to school.  I am starting to look into laser treatment possibilities.  She will need laser to treat the superficial areas on her cheeks, these are too close to the surface to treat with sclero. 

Post Treatment and Doing Good
Mood:  blue

Sorry, I have been unable to access the site to leave updates.  Cassidy's treatment went well.  She again had problems after the anesethsia.  However, she was able to leave recovery and go back to the hotel after 4 hours.  She spent the day sleeping and heaving, but is doing great today.  It is hard to tie that girl down.  She is not complaining about anything , other than wanting to eat more than soft foods.  It has been a tremendous help and a joy to Cassidy, having my mom with us!

  Thank you everyone for your prayers.  We will be returning home Monday morning.

Post Treatment and Doing Good
Mood:  caffeinated

Sorry, I have been unable to access the site to leave updates.  Cassidy's treatment went well.  She again had problems after the anesethsia.  However, she was able to leave recovery and go back to the hotel after 4 hours.  She spent the day sleeping and heaving, but is doing great today.  It is hard to tie that girl down.  She is not complaining about anything , other than wanting to eat more than soft foods.  It has been a tremendous help and a joy to Cassidy, having my mom with us!

  Thank you everyone for your prayers.  We will be returning home Monday morning.

Cassidy Is Worried......
Mood:  hug me

I know everyone is wondering how Cassidy is feeling about having another treatment.  When I talk to her about going again, she gets her best pouty face (puckering out the lower lip-which won't work so well soon) and says she doesn't want to have "that medicine" again.  She is referring to the anesethsia.  She doesn't like how it makes her feel.  She is not concerned about pain or anything major, just the anesethsia & drooling.  Her pouty face quickly turned into a smile when I told her grandma will be coming with us this time.  She is sad her daddy is not coming, but very excited to have a girls trip. 

Next Trip Is Approaching Fast
Mood:  happy

Well, Cassidy's next treatment is approaching fast.  Craig will not be traveling with us this time.  He will be working hard to make some money to pay for the trip.  Thankfully my mom is going to be coming and this will be a great joy to Cassidy.  My mother is so helpful and great caring for people.  It will definately be wonderful to have her along! 

Cassidy is doing great and we can see a difference on the right side of her lip.  This actually used to be the larger side and is now the smaller side.  She is worried about having bad dreams from the anesethsia and the drooling afterwards.  If these are her worst fears then I think we are doing good.  She is supposed to start kindergarten the 21st, but I will be holding her out until her swelling has gone down. 

They are going to have a room for her in case Dr. Alomari decides to admit her.  I think this is because she took a little longer to recover from the anesethsia last time.  So it is possible they will admit her temporarily after this treatment.  I think this will be played out as it comes. 

Please continue to keep Cassidy in your prayers as she faces her second treatment on August 15th.  I hope it goes as smoothly as the first!!

Something that Craig & I are so thankful for is the great insurance we have.  We are so fortunate that Craig's insurance is nationwide and covers 100% of her treatments so far (hopefully we will not max out).  Her 1 treatment in June cost over $25,000 and who knows how many we will have to do, not to mention the surgery.  God is good!