//www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8IX6PqhGGs

On Monday May 6th we got a call in the afternoon from Scottish Rite letting us know that they had a cancellation for Friday morning and we jumped at the chance to have Amelie’s right hand worked on. I told Amelie about the upcoming surgery and the first thing she said was, “Dat’s cool.” I asked her how it made her feel that they were going to try and make her some new fingers. She said, “Dat makes me happy.” I told her she would have to wear a cast again and she said, “Dat’s okay mama. Maybe I can get a toy!”

Our friend Sarah came over early in the morning to pick up Nadia to keep her for the day and that was a big relief. Our pastor Darwin came up to the hospital to pray for Amelie right before they started to prep her for surgery which was also very sweet. We had the same day surgery nurse and were in the same spot for the prior 2 surgeries so everything was very familiar and we were ready to roll. Amelie just wanted to confirm “no pin” and “new fingers” and she was ready to go.

They gave her another Raggedy Ann doll to add to her collection. When they gave her the “goofy juice” to help her relax they also put the side bar up and she said, “Now I SAFE!”

This was after the surgeon and anesthesiologist had come by the confirm everything and she was starting to act really silly and saying all kinds of funny stuff from the “goofy juice” which she told us tastes disgusting.

This was shortly before they rolled her back and we headed to the Crayon Cafe to have breakfast.

Amelie loves elephants and while we were waiting we found this cute guy in the gift shop. We also talked to the surgeon and she showed us a few photos of Amelie’s hand before they put the cast on. I teared up a little seeing those 3 new fingers.

Once out of recovery she was awake just long enough to snuggle up to this guy and go back to sleep.

At this point she was doing a lot better and coming out of the haze. A little while later her pain meds and antibiotics were ready in the pharmacy and we packed up to head home. She fell asleep so we headed straight over to Sarah’s house to pick up Nadia. I had sent a little surprise package with her with 4 new costumes I had picked up on clearance so her and Sarah’s girls could play dress up. Amelie wanted to see them when we got home and asked so sweetly if she could be a ladybug. It’s a good thing it was so stretchy and went over the cast.

She was woozy from the meds and Nadia read her books until nap time. The rest of the evening was fine and she didn’t seem too uncomfortable. She took the cast in stride, but the pressure bandage on her skin graft site really bothered her and she kept picking at it over and over.

*On a side note, all the hand surgeons at Scottish Rite are amazing and they travel the world training people and doctors come to Texas to be trained by them. When you schedule a surgery you don’t know who you are going to get, but you can be sure they will be good. When they put my parent hospital band on and I saw Dr. Ezaki on there I started to cry a little because she is like a ROCK STAR in hand surgery circles. The only other time we have ever even seen her was when she did the release of Amelie’s left hand in April 2011. It was thrilled and after she showed us the photos she took I danced a jig in the middle of our waiting area.

Here is how it looked from birth. All 4 fingers on her left hand fused together sort of like a mitten. Little crevices for food to get stuck in and so on. From the day we met her we were amazed at the great use she had of it.

Here she is playing with stickers a few days ago.

Look at the detail work here – the pinkie on her right hand is astoundingly strong.

“See! See! See!”

I took this last month. She has the pieces of a nesting sock monkey on her fingers. (thanks Tricia!) I think this is one of the best shots of her left hand and how far she can separate her fingers now. Her hands get stronger every day and she continues to amaze us. In truth when we are going about our daily life I hardly ever think of her hands. It takes seeing her drop something due to her fingers being short/not strong enough OR some stranger staring/commenting about her to make me think about it.

Once again we were impressed by the staff and volunteers of Scottish Rite and their love for the kiddos. They are also very efficient!

Amelie in the waiting area.

I think this is so cute.

Waiting for the nurse to come take the cast off.

Here is the video. It’s just under 6 minutes and I really made this for Amelie when she grows up. I want her to be able to see the reaction she had when it was being removed and when she first saw her hand. I hope no one gets jeebed out.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-ARjBqdRBo

Here I am being jeebed out at her picking the scabs off. Amelie DOES NOT like her hands to be dirty.

Sweet girl!

We couldn’t be happier or more impressed with what they accomplished at Texas Scottish Rite. They do have the best hand surgeons in the world! I was overwhelmed by emotion and gratefulness to God seeing those little fingers flex and move independently.

She has been in quite a bit of pain whenever she accidentally bangs it or puts pressure on it. The first night she would pick something up or climb on the couch then whimper, show me her hand and want a kiss. It was clearly catching her off guard that the stuff she wanted to do was causing her pain. She got used to the cast banging around and she has been carrying her arm a bit like it still has the cast, but that will fade more and more. She has no official occupational or physical therapy – she only needs to play.

We will take her in for a check up in about six weeks. Here is what we understand might happen in the future (but we don’t know any of this for sure, or when it would happen): another surgery on her left pinky finger to free it up from the base. A bone graft on the left middle finger. A touch up to the left hand fingers when she is older – plastic surgery type to make them look smoother. Also surgery on her right hand to separate the three partial fingers.

Thanks for all the many prayers and encouragement we received through all of this.

I want to start by saying that Texas Scottish Rite for Children is an amazing place with an amazing staff. They immediately put me at ease, and the love they have for the kids is so obvious. We got to the Day Surgery Unit at about 7am and met Melanie, the nurse for that area. Amelie was the first surgery of the day so it was only us for a little while. The anesthesiologist talked to us and then finished reading Amelie’s file. The nurse Melanie was so sweet! She got Amelie weighed and told us that we could turn on the TV if we wanted, but Amelie just wanted to check everything out in this new place.

Throughout our waiting Melanie had books and toys for Amelie.

A band for me and a band for Amelie; she messed with these for a long time.

I got her diaper changed and into the gown and one of the hand unit Fellows came to talk to us. He told us what the goals were and what he thought they might try to do. Then a little while later Dr. Ezaki came to talk to us and she told us what her goals were and how long she thought it would take. Her goals were much more complex than what the other person said and I was feeling GREAT after talking to her. She has a wonderful way about her and we had heard over and over about how wonderful she is in the field.

Then, after about the 12th person asked us if Amelie had any known allergies and “when was the last time she ate or drank,” it was time for them to give Amelie the meds to make her relax and not be so worried when they took her away. She was really woozy by the time the anesthesiologist, Dr. Wall, came to get her. At this point I was ready for them to start the surgery and get the ball rolling; the waiting was getting to me.

“Dude!”

Once they took her off to surgery Melanie suggested that we go down to the cafeteria and get some breakfast. Scottish Rite has this awesome cafeteria with all these different food stations and it’s tasty! We had a peaceful breakfast and answered text messages and emails while we continued to wait. We were asked by a volunteer if we were here to take photos (since Mike had his camera bag) and we told him our daughter was having hand surgery. He asked who was doing the surgery and Mike said, “Dr. Ezaki.” The guy got this happy look on his face and said, “She is in good hands. She’s the best in the world.” As we got off the elevator he said, “Day surgery?” Mike said yes and he laughed and said, “Figures.” (like it’s Dr. Ezaki, of course it’s just day surgery). We had a good laugh about that and Mike started making jokes about how “we have the best hand surgeon in the world – 17 people have told us so”. So he was making Facebook status updates and comments and saying we need to sell shirts. We were just enjoying ourselves as we waited to hear from the surgeon. Our friend Randy read the Facebook status and quickly registered this site: WeHaveTheBestHandSurgeonInTheWorld.com. We laughed so hard that I cried – thanks Randy (you earned your stay at our house this weekend).

Then Dr. Ezaki came out to talk to us and show us the photos of Amelie’s hand before they put the cast on. She told us she was able to separate the fingers, save the end of her middle finger, which she originally said she wanted to save but there was a chance that it might have to be removed. That was great news! She also said, however, that there is a gap in it without any bone, so they might have to do a bone graft at a later time. She also talked about some curvature in her pinky from it having been attached to the other finger so long, and therefore they would have to do some other things because of that, but it was really over our heads, so we’ll just have to wait and see what comes next. In all it couldn’t have been more encouraging, and seeing those pictures of that previously jumbled mess of fingers all separated was amazing!

A short time later Melanie told us that Amelie was awake and not screaming so they decided to bring her to us. She whimpered a little when she saw us, but they got her mostly unhooked and in my lap. She seemed confused about what was on her arm, but otherwise just looking around a little fussy.

Melanie gave Amelie some pain meds and sent me down to the pharmacy to grab our prescription to take home. We waited around another 30 minutes or so and were reminded another 15 times not to let her go near water or get the cast wet, or even play outside or get too warm at night (so that she wouldn’t sweat). We were basically told we had no excuse since she wasn’t in daycare – it was our job to keep that cast clean and dry for 3 weeks. I told the surgeon I would turn on my OCD switch.  We left for home about noon and got Amelie inside the house and settled.  She was pretty irritable and very annoyed by the cast. Every time she tried to use her left hand and the cast came up she would start to cry in frustration. We gave her the next dose of pain medicine and put her down for a nap. Once she woke up it was the same happy Amelie we have grown used to; sweet girl who is just rolling with whatever comes along. She was following Nadia around and playing like a happy kid. At one point I was on the floor with her and she stood up and did a somersault while holding her cast out so it wouldn’t touch the ground. Then she sat up and laughed.

They told us to give her apple juice so she wouldn’t get constipated and not to give her too much food in case she threw up, so Mike headed to the store. She liked it, but kept making this crazy sour face. She finished the cup and asked for more. Mike had to get the camera out to snap some photos of that face.

I took a video of her while Mike and Nadia were at the store.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVIlp_zi6rs

The surgery couldn’t have gone better and we can’t wait to see her hand in three weeks!

Hello all. First an update about the surgery. Amelie did great and is a real trooper. I will do a more detailed post, but they were able to accomplish their goals today and we are really excited to see how it will look in three weeks when they remove her cast. After a 3 hour nap today she was up and about playing and laughing with Nadia. The cast is a bit frustrating for her, but I think she will be ignoring it soon.

Here are some photos and a video that Mike took yesterday to show how well she was using her hands before the surgery.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhNO9tTOkkY

In China we were amazed from day 1 how well Amelie could use her hands. It’s pretty amazing all the detail type things she can do and for us it was great to see her hands in person since all we had were fairly grainy digital photos.

• The second day we had her some rice fell on her seat and she used her right hand to pick up the individual pieces and put them on the table.
• She can eat all kinds of finger foods with either hand.
• When she sneezes or cries she likes to get a tissue and she wipes each eye and then her mouth.
• She likes her hands to be clean and will gesture for a wipe or napkin if she sees another person with one.
• She can get a death grip on toys with either hand.
• She can stack blocks.
• She likes to put things in a bag and then take them out – over and over.