update on Annika

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone, I thought I would share my little worry-wart story with

you all and then give you a little update on how things are going.

Last week I noticed that her left incision(the one that was infected

right after surgery) was looking a little different then the right

side. And then this week I started to notice this bump or raised

area on her incision site and going sideways to the back of her

head. Well, I checked the difference between the two sides and

noticed nothing on the right side. It was flat as could be and

looked the same as before. Well, this started to concern me and then

when she started to get irritable I was just a little nervous. So

being the overanxious parent I called down to the ENT office and was

told that since I wasn't sure whether there was infection or not then

to take her locally and that way I didn't have to drive the 1 1/2

hours for an appointment. Well, took her into her local doctor and

she said no infection it is scar tissue and it can grow and change as

she grows. Well, since the hard " growth " (or so I thought) didn't

follow the incision site I thought this was a weird explaination.

Yes, I understood this wasn't infection or soft feeling but scar

tissue?? I don't know. Well, I called the ENT clinic back the next

day and he said to bring her in because he really needed to look at

it before he could tell me anything. So I put everything on hold

today and took her down to the clinic. The whole way thinking all

the bad things that could be wrong. Well, once he was in the room

and had me show him what I was feeling he explained things. It was

her implant now starting to show through her skin. The floor could

have just swallowed me up. But on the good side of things, he did

take the time to explain what to watch for and what would be normal.

No one had talked about this with me so I didn't know. He did

apologize for having me come down but he told me that until he could

put his hand through the phone he will err on the side of caution and

have me bring her down. Him apologize??? I was the one who wouldn't

let this drop and kept on checking on this. Of course by the time we

went down there her right side has now started to have a few hard

bumps beneath the skin.

Well there is other good news he did check her tubes and they are

clear and he is having her come back in 4 months to check on the

tubes again. He just had another scare with the other bilateral

child and a blocked tube. I am guessing that he is really going to

be watching this now.

Anyway on to how she is doing. She just really continues to get more

and more vocabulary and understanding. It is just totally

unbelievable to me. I love it.

The other day we went to the local Pamida and she was walking into

the store with her walker. She always moves a little slow so there

is usually someone who is waiting for us to move along(they are

always very nice). This lady who was behind us whispered to me " She

is sooo cute. " (well, you don't have to tell me that). But Annika

stopped and turned around to smile. She heard her!!!! She had said

it quiet so she wouldn't stop her progression through the doors and

she had no clue how special this was for me. She heard a whisper!!!!

She now has about 8 words in her vocabulare which does include Mama.

So Dad is working overtime with her. She was fascinated today with

the flushing toliet and she even heard a baby cry in a room at the

clinic when we were still in the waiting room. I had to remind her

to listen at this point but she did hear it.

When we went in to see her local physician she looked up when the

doctor walked in the room and greeted her. This was the first time

she has ever done this for her. She was so glad to see this.

I think this has been a long enough email so I am going to sign off

for now.

mom of 4

Marcus 13

12

Jon 10

Annika 2

bilateral implant 3/1/04

hook up 3/25/04

[Guest guest]

Congratualtions!!! I have a big teddy bear of a husband as well and there's

nothing like seeing a tiny little girl wrap a big ole bear around her little

finger. I swear I was married to 200 lbs of jello when she smiled at him.

You news made me smile from ear to ear.

Jill

[Guest guest]

Congratualtions!!! I have a big teddy bear of a husband as well and there's

nothing like seeing a tiny little girl wrap a big ole bear around her little

finger. I swear I was married to 200 lbs of jello when she smiled at him.

You news made me smile from ear to ear.

Jill