The Moore the Merrier: SO thankful...part 2

We're home. The last few days have seemed like an eternity. My heart goes out to families that spend long periods of time in hospitals trying to help their child get better...we met some of those families over the past week.

Wednesday evening Lucy, Tyler and I said goodbye to William and the rest of our family and headed to STL. It was late and while we had every intention of having SO MUCH FUN Lucy's last night of walking for the next six weeks...the only fun we had was at the McDonald's Playland in Lebanon. (Tyler and I had to make a coffee stop...Lucy a bathroom break/play break) We checked into the Drury Inn at Union Station a little after 8:00 and crashed as soon as we got into the room.

Headed to St. Louis to fix my leg!

Thursday, Happy St. Patrick's Day, started very early for 3/4 of the Moore Family. We arrived at Cardinal Glennon at 5:45AM and were waiting in the pre-op room by 7:00. They gave Lucy some "goofy juice" (as they called it) to help her calm down and be more comfortable and willing to leave us when the time came. In fact, they told us that she probably wouldn't remember us leaving at all...I was praying they'd give her mom a dose so I wouldn't remember either. Lucy was in surgery by 7:45. Dr. David Greenburg and Dr. Christopher Mudd (two of the best men on the planet in my opinion) told us that the surgery itself should not take more than 45 minutes...an hour at the very most. Naturally...Tyler and I were sick when they wheeled her away. We were doing a very good job of playing calm as we waited to hear that our two year old (almost three) pride and joy did great. Unfortunately, a little after 8:00 we received a call from the surgeon. He was concerned that the cyst, originally thought to be a unicameral bone cyst or UBC, was not "acting" like it should. He asked for permission to open her leg up and get a biopsy of the tumor. We agreed and I disconnected the call feeling like I had been punched in the stomach.

And so we waited. All of the other parents that we had arrived at same day surgery with were all getting very positive reports from their doctors and being whisked away to go comfort their children in recovery. Tyler and I waited.

Around 9:45 Dr. Greenburg paid us a visit in the waiting room. He said he still had Lucy opened up and we had a decision to make. The pathologist was unable to determine whether or not the tumor was what Dr. G had suspected it was, an aneurysmal bone cyst or an ABC. He said he felt confident in that diganosis but could not say for sure until he had the full pathology report and that may take up to a week. HOWEVER he did give us the option to go ahead and proceed in treating the lesion as such and performing the surgery that would be required for this type of problem. Tyler and I quickly agreed that we would prefer she have no more surgery and so with her already being 'opened up' we would like him to proceed. I have a feeling that Lucy's wonderful doctor is a bit more conserative in his decisions. After expressing our wishes I could see this look on his face and I flat out asked him for his PERSONAL opinion on how to proceed. He very politely told us that he felt we were jumping the gun. He prefered to wait, get the report and proceed as needed (which he was very clear would require more surgery). I don't know why I trust this man that I've only met 4 times in my life but I do. I trust him with one of the two most important things in my life. We agreed and he left to go sew up our daughter. We were very anxious to see/hold/comfort her.

AT 11:30 (thats a 4 hour surgery folks...when originally we thought we'd be waiting 45 min) we received yet another visit from Dr. G. He was smiling and upbeat...my heart was feeling some relief. He said he had changed the plan yet again. When he returned from talking with us he did some investigating with his tools to see how much more he would have to open her leg to start scraping the tumor out. He determined that the incision would not have to be much bigger and the more he studied it the more he felt like this WAS an ABC he as dealing with. He went ahead and finished out the surgery just as if he would knowing 100% that's what he as working with. He scraped out the tumor, packed the area with an artificial bone-like paste and was thrilled that he did not have to plate or pin the leg.

It was after 12:30 before they allowed ONE parent into the recovery room with Lulu. Tyler so graciously let me go...I had never been so relieved to touch my daughter and hear her call my name. There were hurting children all around her but she laid so quietly, talking in a whisper, calmly asking for a drink. She was a very big girl. I'm sure my heart has never hurt as much as it did in that moment.

They admitted Lucy to the 4th floor of Cardinal Glennon which I have since learned is home to mostly cancer patients. There were baby wheelchairs and wagons everywhere...parents with dark circles under their eyes with the most helpless looks on their faces as they pulled their children down the halls for "fun." We had four of the most amazing nurses. Hollyn, Melissa, Kate and Bobby...I think Lucy's favorite was Bobby but in the others defense he was the nurse that we had when Lucy was discharged and she was the most awake and with it she had been her whole stay. What a great staff that hospital employees.

Lucy was very sick from her anesthesia. I knew she would be...she is a bit like her mom in some ways. She was a trooper the WHOLE TIME. Aside from having her leg cut open, being in an immobilizer and vomiting every time she sat up she seemed pretty content...but slept a lot. They had her on morphine and Tylenol with codeine to control her pain. She pretty much slept non-stop until Friday morning.

At 10:30 on Friday morning Lucy had a visit from both of her doctors and their nurse Marsha...we love her too and she loves Lucy. Dr. Greenburg had some printouts of Lucy's x-rays that were taken during and after her surgery. He showed us the film that made him decide it was not a UBC and pointed out areas that confirmed in his mind the diagnosis of an ABC. Next he showed us the after picture of Lucy's leg. It looks wonderful...all filled up and bright white...it definitely looks stronger already! He said she will have to be non-weight-bearing for six weeks to give it ample time to heal and harden. Then he said that eventually her own bone will creep in and take on that foreign substance and convert it into her own real bone. After meeting with Dr. G, Dr. M and Marsha mid-morning Friday we were given the blessing to leave as soon as her wheelchair was delivered. Tyler had a few run-ins with the company that was providing the wheelchair and so we decided not to wait on the wheelchair in St. Louis but to rather come home and have it delivered from the Effingham branch.

It feels so good to be home. We are still waiting for official pathology reports and should have them in a week. We go back for a post-op check in two weeks. We are so lucky to have the family, friends and support that we do. We are so blessed to have the means to help our child get better...I am all to familiar with families that do not. My family kept Will while we were away...Margaret kept him at night and stayed in our home so he could be in his own bed. Lucy has received cards/gifts/candy and well wishes from so many people it's a wonderfully overwhelming feeling of love.

One last story and then I will sign off and update later...after our initial contact with the doctor about it not being a UBC I called my mom of course. There are times in a girl's life when you just need your mom. She was very calm, she apologized for not being there with me and then very firmly told me to "suck it up" and "be strong for your baby, you're the mom now Helen!" She always knows exactly what I need to hear and she should be proud of me because I did. I marched right back into that waiting room and began flipping the pages of a magazine and sipping my fifth coffee of the day. When I tried to call her back about thirty minutes later she and my dad were on their way to St. Louis to be with us. I am thankful for my mom and dad. I don't know what I'd do without them...they have supported me my whole life in all of my ups and downs. It was nice to have them there to be supportive for Tyler and I so WE could be strong for Lucy.