COOKIE's unavoidable surgery today.....

Dear Friends & Family,
The picture is COOKIE in her brand new, genuine, fresh from Italy, PINK LEATHER jacket that her friend Carol brought back for her! She is tinkled PINK! She loved the jacket so much that she didn't want to take it off! Pretty stylin' laying in a hospital bed with a dozen lines of meds running and a beautiful pink leather, and not just any leather but ITALIAN leather, jacket on! That's MY girl!

I'm sorry to say that the headaches didn't go away. They told Shelee and Matt this morning (Thursday) that they had decided to go ahead and do surgery on COOKIE's sinuses. The reason for the surgery is to make sure there isn't any bone damage and there is no fungus. They intend to drain her sinues and take cultures. So, Aunt Shannon to the rescue. She took over Parker Patrol again today so I could get showered and go back up to the hospital to be with Shelee and Matt.

Very difficult morning. COOKIE was very frightened. (Actually ALL of us were.)Everything is SO critical at this stage because she has absolutely no immune system so every single bump in the road seems like a HUGE mountain. Thankfully, the staff is wonderful and the once we got down to surgery, the anesthesiologist turned out to be one of those wonderful doctors that's doing exactly what he should be doing for a career. He made everyone feel at ease and put a smile on all of our faces. COOKIE was EXTREMELY brave, as always. They allowed Shelee to suit up and go in with her until she was asleep. Matt and I waited outside. When Shelee came out she said COOK was doing well and was out like a light. We went back up to the room to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait. Our nurse called surgery every 10 minutes to make sure we knew exactly when COOKIE went in the recovery room. She was in surgery for 1 1/2 hours!

The doctor actually called our nurse's special cell phone and spoke directly to Shelee. He told her that all went extremely well and they didn't find any of the bad things that potentially could have been there. That's good news. The other good news is that there is no packing in her beautiful little nose. They actually went into her sinuses, got some cultures, and checked all around to make sure she is fungus free. VERY IMPORTANT!!!

Shelee and Matt went down to the recovery room and I waited in COOKIE's room. About 45 minutes later, they brought her up and we made her cozy in her bed. She had a gauze taped under her nose and everyone made jokes about her having a mustache. She actually looks like Mario from the Mario Brothers video games! :)

So much going on in that little room of COOKIE's. We have the Attending Physician and her Resident, we have the Infectious Disease Physician and his Resident, we have our nurse, we have the Child Life Specialist, and we have the Care Partner. Everyone has a function and everyone wants COOKIE's attention. It's a zoo, literally.

Once the crowd clears, we can get her settled and ready to face the evenings events. She has to drink at least a cup full of liquid in order to eat, which she hasn't done yet today and it's 4:30pm. She must take a CUP full of pills, do her mouthcare, change the gauze under her nose, get her GCSF injection, get her bath and change her dressing on her broviac. In between, she needs to eat her dinner. When she's in the bath we change her bed.

Finally, everything is done and I'm ready to leave. My darling girl has had a trying and tiring day and COOKIE has too! Yup, my Shelee is one of a kind. She is so on top of everything and the entire room is completely organized for every single possible need that may arise. Her emotions and heart have been through the ringer, once again and, once again, Matt is there to balance everything out with his middle of the road attitude and can do spirit. I fill in the gaps and get in the way but that's my job. Auntie Shannon is home trying to keep Parker happy and on an even keel. She's suffering with an inflamation of her gum and is taking antibiotics but nonetheless, she absolutely fills the remainder of the gaps.

KUDOS Family! A job well done and we can all go to sleep tonight and forge on to face the new challenges of tomorrow with a renewed spirit!

Thank you, one and all, for your support and love. Please understand that it's sometimes difficult to share everything and to keep the smile going on but don't let that scare you away from continuing to check on COOKIE. Thank you for doing everything you're doing to help this family raise their spirits AND raise donations! We're looking forward to the FUNdraiser/Yard Sale coming up on Saturday, June 3rd!

All my love,
Cookie, The Grandma