Bad News. Regarding Anna.

I feel as if I've been sneaking around these past 19 months hoping to stay out of the way of Bad News. I thought that maybe I could fly under the radar for awhile. But Rich and I are all to aware of how Bad News finds you. When you least expect it, Bad News jumps right up in your face and screams, "I DIDN'T FORGET ABOUT YOU."

Anna had an appointment with her urologist this morning. I thought my post tonight would include a quick and easy update. Instead, I have to report that Anna will be having surgery later this week.

The concern surrounding these appointments is usually her kidneys. We've been able to avoid any infections or kidney damage so far. Her doctor started to exam her, which is really just pushing and tapping on her bladder and kidney area. He turned to us and said, "I have some bad news." All I could think was how can he tell that there is a kidney problem?

Anna has a hernia. He pointed out the lump that represents her ovaries protruding to a part of her body they shouldn't. They are now trying to schedule surgery for later this week. This all needs to be coordinated with her neurosurgeon because the shunt could be involved. Her urologist told us that it is not uncommon for him to find part of the shunt down in the hernia area. Don't forget that she has extra tubing coiled up inside of her.

This surgery is usually outpatient/day surgery but because of her shunt, they are going to need to keep her overnight and run antibiotics through an IV to ensure that her shunt remains infection-free.

I hate this.

When I was 28 weeks pregnant with the girls, we met with Anna's neurosurgeon for the first time. He was going to perform the surgeries on her spine and shunt. The purpose of the meeting was for us to ask questions. In the waiting room, there was a young girl, about 8 or 9 years old, waiting for her mother to finish a private conversation with the doctor. She was crying. She was alone. A guy in his twenties, who had a shunt, started a conversation with her. He was there with his dad. He told her how his head had hurt really bad and he couldn't see very well so he had a shunt put in and now he was much better. She told him that she had had surgery too.

Her mother came out and the little girl kept crying and asking her mother if she was going to have to have surgery again because she didn't want to have surgery again.

I was crying. I tried not to. I kept thinking that someday I would have a little girl who would have to have surgery. As a parent, this is a horrible feeling.

Anna received some extra treats this afternoon. She finished off almost half a donut after lunch and then had some ice cream after dinner. She has a sweet tooth just like her mommy. I made sure I gave her some Tylenol in plenty of time for it to take effect before bedtime. I think she's been having trouble sleeping because of it. We thought it was teething.

On a happy note, Anna spent plenty of time laughing and playing with her sisters this afternoon. Grammy and I even managed to take some holiday pictures. I bribed the girls with a piece of donut. Shhh, don't tell anyone.