Happy 8th Birthday Mira!

Mira turned 8 yesterday!! Hard to believe it, she is growing so nicely!  My very biased opinion is that she has grown into such a wise, beautiful girl! We are so lucky to be a family!!

Surgery day...

Today we are at Children's Hospital of Colorado. Mira is having the rod removed from her femur, the plate from her knee & a new plate placed in her lower left leg.

I know we haven't updated in a while, life is busy! But things are good! It's hard to believe that this coming week is our gotcha celebration! 2 years! Somehow it seems like she's been with us FOREVER, we can hardly remember her nog being here... Yet at the same time, it feels like yesterday that I flew to China with one goal in my mind... Getting my daughter.

We have been so blessed by this addition to our family, it has been basically seem less. We can truly see Gods hand at work and it's an amazing place to be-right in the middle of it!!

Untethering.....

Mira under went spinal cord untethering surgery yesterday. 

It. Went. GREAT!!!

PTL!!!!

This is the scariest surgical experience we've had to face. Leading up to it even Mira was nervous. And I have to say NOTHING breaks her spirit! Adding to the stress if it, they ran behind schedule over 2 hrs! The waiting to get things moving is hard enough.. Add a couple of hours to it and I thought we would all die!

The procedure itself took about 2 hrs, Dr O'Neill came out and told us all had gone well. She was resting comfortably and he did say the fibrous material that was tethering the cord was much thicker than expected. He also said the spinal cord was being stretched by this fiber & when he snipped it the cord actually retracted back! This surgery was offered to us optionally and were so grateful for God's provision in this situation! May all the Glory go to Him!

Mira had a pretty decent night, of course her sleep was I interrupted frequently by the nurses checking in on her often. The hard part has been laying flat... The plan is this afternoon to get her upright and possibly walking by evening!! 

I will keep you posted as we make progress!

Hugs

Vanessa

Update...

I'm going to do my best to keep this post positive. I just don't know where to begin...

This week Mira began to have some trouble with her rt eye, appearing to be droopy again. We consulted with her surgeon & sure enough it appears to have loosened from her plastic surgery she had in Aug or Sept. as frustrated as I wanted to be I have to remember to be thankful for doctors who are wise & thankful for the advancement of today's medicine. Last year in October when Mira's ortho surgery began the hospital was supposed to do a MRI of Mira's spine to rule out Spina Bifida Occulta. To make a long story short, they forgot to schedule before the ortho work & then she had so much metal it couldn't be done. Finally last week we had the MRI done on her entire spine to rule out as I said before but also to measure her scoliosis. The results were referred to a neuro surgeon who wanted to see us. So today was the day...

I have to say my nerves were getting the best of me. I know about ALOT of medical stuff, I'm comfortable with many thing but NOT A SPINAL CORD! We met with Dr O'neill (who is younger than me-seriously he's a spine surgeon?!?!) he did a wonderful job of explaining that Mira does in fact have Spina bifida occulta in a mild form. What was noted on the MRI is that her spinal cord is attached when it should be free flowing... This is called Tethered Cord Syndrome. This very well could be the cause of her leg deformities and why she now has scoliosis. Greg & I with the help of Dr O'Neill decided it is best for Mira to have surgery to untether the cord. He is confident in this procedure & says he's performed many. Mira is scheduled for this surgery in just a week and a half. December 3.

I have to say God is good.. He provided me with a peace that only He can provide. He placed is in the right hands and gave us the confidence to know we've made the right choice! Please know our family seems to be weak in the medical area, the enemy of tends to attack me right in my weak spot! We covet any prayers you may think to say for us. As always I will update over her surgery days!

Hugs,

Vanrssa

Happy Halloween

Mira had a ball! 

She was dressed as a princess (of course)!

In our neighborhood we had an awesome get together! There was a caravan of cars & trailers carrying 20+
children & parents. We went to houses & then gathered at a neighbors barn for drinks & caramel apples. 

This was very good for our family!

Saying Goodbye....

Is never easy. 

Yesterday our family said goodbye to a faithful friend. Mira suffers loss at a completely different level than the rest of us. I'm guessing that is because loss is all too familiar to her. 

Loyal

Gentle

Loving

Jake~ RIP buddy

Oct 1999-Oct 30, 2013

Big brown eyes!

Just a quick post to show you just how great her surgery turned out! We are amazed beyond belief at the difference it has made. She us so expressive in her eyes, we've all been adjusting to the new & improved Mira!!

See for yourself!