Frozen Tundra

Okay, I am officially sick of winter. We have had enough snow and now I hear that we are going to get more on Monday, UGH! I really need a vacation somewhere warm!!

Other then me hating this weather, things are going really good here. Trinity is staying healthy, crossing fingers, and her eye looks amazing. She still has a little redness, but it has healed very nicely. She don't need to see Dr. P for 3 months.

There is not much new to report. She has a lot of appointments in March and has a hearing test this month. We are still waiting to get her TLSO fitted, kinda frustrating, but I guess if anything over the past two years, I have learned to be patient (with doctors). Hopefully we can get that done this week so she can start wearing it again.

I can't believe it has almost been two years since God blessed us with an amazing little girl. I never knew there would be so many ups and downs, but everyone of them has been a HUGE blessing.

Strabismus Repair

Trinity had her eye surgery yesterday. Dr. P decided to just do the left eye. She felt that it was the muscle that was the tightest and since Trinity will probably need this surgery in the future because of her spina bifida, she wanted to hold off on the right eye. Trinity did great and all the doctors commented on how strong she is. Her eye is a little red in the corner and swollen, but overall she is doing great and I am very impressed on how well she is doing. She sure is a fighter!!

Thank you for praying for her yesterday, we can always feel your support and prayers. I am very thankful that my parents got to come up yesterday, it is always nice to have family here.
Miranda

Change in Schedule

Trinity did not have her eye surgery today, it is now scheduled for next Thursday, January 28th @ 11:00am. This will be an out-patient procedure. Until then we are having to dilate her right eye every morning until surgery. After checking her eyes last week they noticed that she is preferring her right eye over her left eye. So until she has they surgery they want her to be using her left eye more. She really don't like this, but since she won't keep a patch on her eye it is the only way.

Lots going on in our lives right now. Trinity had an Orthopedic appointment on Monday. He checked her hips, did an x-ray of her spine, and then checked her spine. Hips: We talked about her hips popping when we are changing her or playing with her legs. He does not feel like it is coming out of the socket, but can feel a little popping. He is not overly concerned with the hips and actually feels that most kids are better off not doing anything (surgery) because it ends up causing more damage then good. He is going to keep an eye on them, but will leave them alone for now. Spine: The x-ray shows that the scoliosis has increased significantly since the last x-ray. They can't really judge though off of the x-rays because of the inconsistency of how they are doing the x-rays. For instance the last time she had an x-ray it showed her curve at 36 degrees, but this time it was at 84 degrees, a HUGE difference. I am not real sure why they don't position her the same way everytime they do an x-ray, but I am not the doctor either. He checked to see how flexible the spine is when positioning her in a more upright position. He feels that it is somewhat soft, but not soft enough to get it completely straight. He wants to revamp her current TLSO (brace) and see how that works. He would also like to try something in her cart that would keep her in a more upright positon, but because that is not our property it is the schools, we are unable to do that. He wants her in the brace as much as she will tolerate, in hopes that she will keep it on all the time including bedtime. He will then recheck her in 6-8 weeks and see how the brace is working. At that time he is going to do a new x-ray with her laying down and see how straight they can get her spine with positioning her. He feels that we are probably looking at some form of surgery (growing rods) in the next 6-18mths. Honestly that is not what we were expecting. We really thought that with the untethering and the hopes that the brace works she would not need a surgery for a couple years. That is not the case. With all of this being said, we also have the problem with Dr. Walker has never done a surgery like this on a child as small as Trinity. Trinity is a very rare case and they don't see children this small needing the surgery at such an early age. He has done it on a 2 1/2 year old and that is the only one in the toddler years. The problem with Trinity is her weight and height. Trinity is very small for her age and they are concerned about doing a surgery on her while she is so small. This brings a lot of concern to Shannon and I. We did not know that he was so inexperienced with this surgery in young children. There is a lot to think about after this appointment. Trinity still needs to be refitted for her brace and we are really hoping that the brace is going to do the trick for awhile and that we can get her a few years down the road before looking at surgery. God is the GREAT PHYSICIAN!!

We could really use your prayers. We really want the brace to solve the problem for now, but if it don't we want to make sure we are putting our daughter into the right hands (what doctor).

Trinity is doing really good otherwise. She still continues to get some form of a cold about every 2-3 weeks. We are ready for this cold season to be over with so she can sleep at night (and mom too)! Too bad we still have about 2 1/2 more months of this stuff :(

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Haiti and all the people that have lost their homes and their family. So much tragedy and loss. It really makes you think about how much we have and how little we really could live without. PRAY

Here is to a New Year!!

Things are good in the Arthur household. We had a fantastic Christmas spent in Iowa with family and friends. Both the girls got way to many toys, but they are loving their play time together! We were not all that crazy to come home to 16 inches of snow and below 0 temps, but I guess that is what we get when we live in Minnesota.

Trinity is doing pretty good. She got her stitches out before we left for Iowa and her incision looks great! Trinity has a busy month in January with many doctor appointments and yet another surgery. Here is the rundown: Jan. 11th-Eye Doctor, Jan. 18th-Dr. Walker(Orthopedic Surgeon), Jan. 21st-Eye Surgery, and Jan 27th-Eye Doctor checkup. This is what is on the schedule so far, she also has a checkup with the Neurosurgeon sometime this month (when I called to schedule that they told me it would be June, I asked them if they were crazy, they are going to talk to Dr. Partington and get her fit in).

I can't really tell you that I notice any difference in Trinity since the surgery. I am not real sure what we are suppose to see, but hopefully when we meet with Dr. Walker things will start to look up for Trinity. She is playing very well and loving all her new toys. The therapists are very happy with where Trinity is and the development that she has made in the year that they have seen her. We continue to have them come to our house twice a week and Trinity actually looks forward to seeing them!

Aubree started back at preschool and was very excited to see all her friends and teachers. Shannon is busy at work and I am busy being the two best things in the world, a wife and mom! My friend Amanda recently quit her job and is staying home full-time with her daughter Paige, we are looking forward to getting together with them and having some fun play dates.

We hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!! (Hopefully your resolutions are lasting longer then mine did!)
Love~The Arthur's

Update/Pictures

Things are going pretty well for Trinity. She was suppose to have a checkup today, but she has a fever and a cold, are you surprised? (we sure aren't) Hopefully it is just a cold and nothing more, but we will see how tonight goes and if she is not better tomorrow we will take her in to see the doctor.

Trinity has amazed us with her recovery from surgery! She's doing GREAT and getting around just fine in her cart. She stopped taking pain relievers after Monday. I haven't got to see her back in almost a week because it still has the bandage on it, but there is no sign of leakage, which is great!

I wanted to post some pictures of Trinity from the hospital stay. One of the pictures is of Trinity in her bed and you can see the tree that she got from the family that donates them to the children in the hospital. We put it in her room and she loves looking at it at night when it is lite up!

Trinity Home

Trinity got to come home Sunday night. This was very exciting for all of us including Trinity. She loves it when she can sleep in her own bed and be in the comfort of her own home. I would have to say I was also pretty excited to sleep in my own bed! Trinity is doing pretty good, just a little pain here and there, but for the most part she's doing remarkably well.

So much love and support was shown to our family while we were in the hospital. We are very grateful to have such wonderful family and friends. Thank you so much for your prayers during the surgery and Trinity's recovery.

Day #4

Trinity has had a pretty good day today. At 5:00pm Trinity got to slowly sit up for the first time in 72 hrs. She started out in bed at different levels and then made her way to mommy's lap. It felt like holding her for the first time, really exciting. So far she's showing no signs of any leakage and doing great. She is taking a break right now in bed, but still a pretty happy girl. Last night Shannon and I got to see the incision and it looks great. Dr. Partington did a fantastic job and we are amazed at how clean and good it looks. We are crossing our fingers, but hopefully tomorrow she will get to go home! As long as there is no leakage and things are going good for her we should get to go home.

One final note: GO VIKINGS!!!!!!