Not so Sweet

A few hours after Meah's surgery, the two of us were setting together getting ready to go to sleep. She was laying in her bed and I was setting in the lovely plastic or vinyl covered recliner next to her bed holding her hand. She looked over at me and said, "Thank you mommy for taking such good care of me." I thought oh well isn't that sweet. Well, since that night, I have changed her bandages twice daily and she has said the same set of words to me two more times and I realized that's not sweet, that's sad! She is so thankful, because she KNOWS, really KNOWS what it is like to be alone with no one to take care of her. It made me so sad and honestly rather mad that my 9 year old had to live for almost 8 years without her mommy to take care of her.

I think all of my children are incredible. We receive many comments on how kind and respectful they are. Meah doesn't always know the appropriate time to say "Thank You's", but she always knows when she is really thankful, like for food and for her care. I'm thankful that my other children never had to know what it is like to be alone and my heart breaks knowing that one of my children had to know!

Amazing!

I believe today the surgeon called Meah, "Amazing!" We all ready knew this, but it was nice to hear. Yesterday, after surgery she did not have to go to the PICU! She got to go to a regular room. She was really quiet at first, but within two hours was all ready asking to eat. The liquid and soft food diet hasn't seemed to bother her as long as there is food! She has not asked for any pain medication since surgery. She has received some through the IV, but had not taken any orally until today before we did the first turn on the distraction device, which she said did not hurt. The RN that worked last night told me that other kids have literally screamed for 12 hours after this procedure. The CNA said, if she didn't know Meah got the device and saw it attatched to her little face, she wouldn't have believed it. She slept through the night without any problems.

Today, Meah also got to show another little boy the device whose preparing for the surgery and was a little anxious! Way to go, Meah! We're so proud of you!!

Instead of staying two to three nights, she stayed one. We are staying in KC for one more night close to the hospital and will return home tomorrow.

We will make weekly trips to KC for them to check the device until the next surgery in 8 to 10 weeks. We will only have to turn the screw to stretch the bone for 2 to 3 weeks and then let it heal.

Thanks for all your prayers!!

Tomorrow at 12:30, Meah is scheduled for surgery. We've known she was going to have this surgery for a long time, but after speaking to the doctors and nurses on Friday, I felt a bit unprepared. Not because I hadn't asked all the pertinent questions before, but for some reason all the answers seemed to change on Friday.

Meah is having a distraction device placed externally on her jaw to stretch the bone for her next surgery, which will be the major reconstruction surgery. Anyway, they had told me previously that she would be staying for one night and now she may be there for three nights! She won't be able to eat anything but soft foods until the distraction device is removed in 8 to 12 weeks. If you know Meah, this will be the hardest part, because she loves, loves, really loves to eat. I know she will do great, she is a strong little girl and a lot of people will be praying and thinking of her.

In other family news, Mark received great news at the oncologist last week. The chemo is working and the esophogeal tumor is shrinking. The lesions on his liver are unchanged and his liver enzyme count is much closer to normal! There had also been spots by his neck, which are gone!

We are very thankful for all the prayers coming our way! Keep them coming, we have a ways to go!!

The Copeland's take on Disney!

Here are some pictures from Disney! We had such a great time and wish we were back there, since it is a whopping 3 degrees here! On our last day at Disney, my nephew and his new wife came with us. They just got married and went to Orlando for their honeymoon. We didn't get to go to the wedding, so we invited them to go with us for one day to Disney. The kids were so excited and they had so much fun!












>

We are still in Florida and although it is not hot, at least there are no below zero temperatures like at home. We have been at Disney since Saturday afternoon. The kids are having a great time. We have been to Magic Kingdom one day and Epcot one day. Tomorrow we are going back to Magic Kingdom and then we leave on Thursday for the frigid midwest!

Sorry, I have no Disney pictures for the blog because Mark forgot to bring the cord for the camera. When we were at the beach he had to go to Wal-Mart and make a CD of pictures. Hopefully there will be pictures of Disney after the weekend!

A Christmas Suprise!

<


For Christmas, we gave the kids a trip to the beach and Disney. We'd been planning it since April and they knew nothing about it. This is a picture of us at the beach the first night we arrived. Of course, nothing can be that easy, so about 6 hours after this photo was taken, I was on my way to the ER with Julien, who had the croup and bronchitis and could literally not stop coughing. Even though, it started out with the ER trip, we have had a great time relaxing, meeting new friends, and playing in the sun.




While we were at the beach, we were able to hang out with the Press Family who lives in south Florida. They were so much fun and Meah got to see their daughter Gillian, an old friend from her orphanage in Urumqi, China. All the kids had a great time playing together and at the end of the night, the two girls hugged and hugged goodbye and started crying. It was so sweet. Meah cried the whole way back to the hotel. We have to make sure to get these girls together again!



As for Mark, he is doing well relaxing in the warm Florida sun. Everyone can use a little break from snow and 20 degree weather! Tomorrow, we leave for Disney and we can hardly wait!

Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy 2010!