News

YAY!! YAY!! YAY!! I finally got to have my brothers back home to see me!! I sure have missed them!! They’re going to be able to start coming back regularly now since I’m over my surgery!! We’re all sooooooooo excited about it!!

Today they went to the “Ride for Hannah” and watched as 241 (+/-) motorcycles registered, donated their money and rode for about an hour and a half in support of Hannah Currence. I don’t know how much money they raised, but I’m SURE it was a LOT! Those guys are great!

More later!

The doctors let us bring Maggi home yesterday! She’s doing well, although a good bit sore (of course). It’s really hard moving her around. We try not to move her around too much just to avoid any unnecessary jostling of her back, but sometimes it’s inevitable.

She’s been playing and giggling, so we know she’s getting better. It’s the times that she whines and cries that we know she hurts, and it hurts us, too.

Keep her (and us) in your prayers daily. We’re still struggling, but it’s a good struggle knowing that the surgery is over. Donna said just yesterday that it feels like a BIG weight has been lifted from our shoulders. It’s true, too. There’s not nearly as much anxiety… not nearly as much worry… It’s finally over. Now the healing begins and we can continue moving forward.

Thanks again for all the prayers! We love you all!

Good morning!

Well, Maggi did really well last night… she slept, finally, after being given valium. She started drinking some Pedialyte last night, too! This morning, the doctor said that we need to try to get her to eat solids and get the catheter out to see if she’ll wet a diaper or two. Well, she’s already had a couple of saltine crackers… and the cath is out… now we’ve got to keep an eye on her to make sure she’ll eat some more and start wetting those diapers! We’ve also got to work with her pain management.

Thanks, again, for your continued prayers! We love you all!

Maggi’s still resting well. All is good… The reason for the update is actually to correct some information from earlier…

We had stated that her 70+ degree curve was reduced by half… What they ended up telling us was that her 85 degree curve was reduced to 50 degrees. That’s still a huge improvement!

Love to all!

It’s almost 9pm and Maggi has only been asleep for about 20-30 minutes. She’s been taking morphine, toredol, and ibuprofen all day long. It’s been helping the pain, we assume, but not the anxiety. Finally, we (along with the nurses) decided that it would be a good idea to give her the valium that the doctor prescribed (”just in case”). She took it like a trooper (of course) and now she’s resting well.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. You can send emails if you like, too. =)

We love you all! Stay tuned for more updates.

It’s FINALLY here… NO rescheduling… NO cancelling… It’s time to get this thing done!

Here’s the timeline as we know it right now:

05:35am - Arrived at Scottish Rite and checked-in for surgery

06:15am - Assigned to a pre-op room; nurses began taking vitals

07:30am - Nurses gave Maggi albuterol breathing treatment (to help open her lungs) and “goofy juice” (to begin sedation)

07:45am - Surgeon came in to talk with us. He said the surgery would most likely last around 4 - 4.5 hours

08:00am - Nurses took Maggi to operating room

08:55am - Nurse called from O.R. to say that they had gotten Maggi under sedation and got IVs started with no problems. They have been started on the actual surgery for about five minutes at this point.

10:10am - Nurse called from O.R. - They are closing Maggi up and will be taking her to recovery within an hour! (Was that quick, or what?!?) Everything went well.

10:40am - Dr. Devito (head surgeon) came in. He explained that they put in the VEPTR II in a “hybrid”, meaning instead of attaching the rod “rib-to-rib” as is usually done, they went “rib-to-spine”. He said it wouldn’t have helped much to do it the other way because of the curve in Maggi’s back. He didn’t have to cut all the way down Maggi’s spine, just an incision at the top and one at the bottom. She lost not even a teaspoon of blood!!! He thinks she won’t be on the ventilator long because she’s doing so well. They originally thought she may be on it for 24-48 hours. May not even have to go to ICU. The rod was inserted and tweaked so that the 70+ degree curve was cut in HALF! She went from over 70 degrees to under 40! AMAZING!!! (*** REVISION *** Pre-op curve was 85 degrees; post-op curve is 50 degrees)

11:20am - Dr Devito came in again. Maggi’s breathing well ON HER OWN! No ventilator! She’s SITTING UP! He said the nurses will administer pain medication as she needs it. He said she’s a little uncomfortable, but that is a good thing as it will help her to breathe better.

11:30am - Nurse called from recovery room. Maggi doing well. Crying a little, and may need some more pain meds. They will be taking us to a REGULAR ROOM (NO ICU). They will be calling us every 30-45 minutes to update (should be bringing her to us in about an hour, hopefully).

PRAISE GOD!

Stay tuned… more updates as we get them!

Hi everyone!! I just wanted to let you all know that my surgery has been recheduled for Monday, July 21 at 8:00 am. The doctor (Dr. Devito) originally told us on Wednesday that he had to testify in court out of state on Monday and would not be back in town until Tuesday. He said he had two spines to do on Wednesday (July 23) but that he would get that straight so he could get to me on Wednesday. Daddy asked him “What happens if we have to push it back 2 or 3 months?” Dr. Devito quickly replied, “I’m NOT going to let that happen! We’ve gone so far and have got so much momentum going that I don’t want to lose that momentum. I want to get this done as expediently as possible.” Dr. Devito told us that he had a NEW rod to use for me called the VEPTR II. He was part of the team of doctors to develop this new rod. In fact, I will only be the THIRD person in the United States to have this rod. The surgery is so important that Dr. Devito brought in the whole VEPTR II team to help with and observe my surgery!

So that’s the news. Dr. Devito somehow miraculously got his schedule (and the team’s schedule) rearranged so that the surgery can be done Monday. My rash has subsided some, so I’m almost ready!

Thanks again for all your prayers! Keep them coming!! Lots of love to you!

Maggi developed a rash over night that spread from her face to her body and the surgeon did not want to risk sedating Maggi while her immune system was already compromised. A team examined Maggi and confirmed the rash was viral. Sugery will be on Wednesday of next week, we are waiting for confirmation of surgery time. This was very heart breaking for us. A lot of preparation is involved for everyone, however, we are thankful that her surgeon put Maggi’s life before anything else. Much Love to all of you, we will keep you posted.

Well, it’s finally time. The day that we’ve all been looking forward to and dreading all at the same time. Mommy and Daddy are both calm, yet anxious. Me? I’m the same as always… giggly, happy Maggi. I have had a little bit of a fever and threw up yesterday, but today I’m doing well. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better.

I just wanted to let you all know that I love you very much. I appreciate all of your support and prayers. They really help!! Mommy and Daddy couldn’t make it without your help, and they thank you as well. I just can’t wait until my surgery is over and I can get back home and start life with my “new back”!!

For those of you who don’t know, here’s the details:
Tomorrow morning we’ll be getting to the hospital at 6:55am. They’ll actually start surgery at about 8:55am. I’m not really sure how long Dr. DeVito will be working on my back. He’ll be removing one of my ribs and inserting a Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rib (VEPTR). You can find out more about that at VEPTR.com. He’ll also be attaching another rod in line with my spine. I’ll be in the hospital for probably about 3-4 days before I can come home.

Mommy and Daddy will be taking lots of pictures and updating the website as much as is possible. They would like to ask everyone to refrain (as hard as it may be) from calling to check in. Instead, please check the website for updates.

We love you! I can’t wait till it’s over so I can see my brothers again! I miss them so much! Mommy and Daddy miss them too! They really make me laugh when they’re here. I know that once my surgery is over, they’ll be a big help to Mommy and Daddy when they’re here (just like they always are).

Lots of love!!!

PS- I got my hair cut! How do you like it?

Beautiful pictures were taken by our dear friend, Rainy Chastine, of Images by Rainy in Fayetteville. She has been able to capture all of the amazing changes in Maggi since she was four months of age. Visit Rainy’s website to see her creative works. We love her so much, Thank you Rainy! www.imagesbyrainy.com