Yay Shriners!!!

We had a successful trip up and back. The girls were really well behaved on the 9-10 hour drive. And the Shriners who drove us did well in understanding that between a 4 year old, 18 mth old, and 5 mth pregnant women we would need to stop kinda often. We stopped about every 90 minutes and walked for a second, or ate, or something. I will say the portable DVD player was again worth its weight in gold! We got up to Cincinnati around 6pm, spent the night in a hotel, and went to the outpatient clinic the next afternoon.

We haven't been there in 2 years, and this was just a check up. The grafts themselves don't grow, so the skin around them is supposed to provide the extra room and give. This was a checkup to make sure that everything still "fit" properly. And so far so good. Depending on a number of things (how quickly she grows, how diligent we are doing the massages, her own skin elasticity, etc) she may never need a release (where they open the graft and help it stretch), or she may need 1-3 or one every 6 months. We just don't know and will have to continue to play it by ear. However, they gave us a good bill of health, and a return time of another 2 years. Good for her!!!

She is so funny... Because of where her grafts are located, we stripped her to her panties and then let her wear a little toilet paper gown (you know the kind). The nurse practitioner came in and said,
"Hi, my name is Laura and I am the nurse practitioner."
Kari promptly replied, "Hi Laura. Are you the doctor?"
L: "Good question. I am not exactly the doctor, but I am here to check on you."
K: "On my leg and chest and hand?"
L: "Yes."
K: "I pulled some hot oil when I was a baby. That is where my owies are." (I told her this on the way up to the dr. That is the first time she has ever asked about her skin grafts or where they came from)

We chatted some more, checked everything out, and then we were dismissed for pictures. They take pictures every time we go up so they can keep track of how things are progressing, etc. They also use them sometimes to show new patients so they might know what to expect. Kari, being the total picture cheeseball that she is, got down from the table and walked out into the hall. She acted like a queen with her gown flowing behind her. Her dignity was not impaired at all by the fact she was wearing nothing but panties and toilet paper. During the pictures, she hammed it up... I don't expect she realized they weren't really taking pictures of her face, mostly of her grafts. Oh well, doesn't matter to her now, does it?!? Then, we went back, got dressed, and went and got back in the van to go home. It was a successful trip and the girls did excellently. Today, I hope to recover from waking up at 5:45 on Tuesday and going to bed somewhere around 2am last night. And then, I am just looking forward to the holidays!!!