Halo Cruiser

Hello,

I thought I would put the link to Haley's video on here to make it easier for people to find. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btAMyJHymCs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btAMyJHymCs This was filmed 2 days after surgery...what an amazing recovery!

Home sweet home!

Haley slept in her own bed last night...and so did we. I felt like Dorothy as I put my head on the pillow. "There's no place like home, there's no place like home." Haley is actually crawling today and doing quite well with her newly acquired apparatus. We have some amazing friends and family and we would not be where we are without your encouragement. Thank you and we hope to see everyone soon.

Step in the right direction

Haley had her drain removed from her incision site at 6:00 this morning. The dressing on her hip where the bone was harvested from looks good. These are positive things that still point to us leaving today. I will update again soon.

Going home Tuesday

The docs just came in and confirmed we are going home tomorrow!!! Ummm...is there anything else to say? That says it all, thank God. We will let everyone know what time when we find out.

Still a ham

Haley is truly showing how well she is recovering. Amy, Dr. Baumgartner's PA, came in this morning to remove the dressing from her surgery site. Haley was mocking every word Amy said in a sarcastic voice and then laughing. She just can't help being funny. Everytime we scoot a chair she says, "who tooted?...daddy...mommy...was that you?" It's funny how the focus of our concern is also our comic relief. I was working on sign language with her yesterday and she said, "Daddy, when is Ms. Kelly coming?" I think she is ready to get back to her regular schedule. When Tiffany brought the purse she made, there was a toy cell phone in it. Haley picked it up and said, "hello...hi Dionne, I'm good how are you?...OK, love you too bye." So her imagination, attitude, and humor have all returned. I will post again when we hear more from the doctors.

Tiffany's visit

Grandma and Pawpaw brought Tiffany down to visit and we had a pretty tough time getting her back in the car to go home. It is hard for a 7-year old to comprehend why she cannot stay with mom, dad and sister. My mom found out she is a natural at sewing. She had assistance on making a purse for herself, then made one on her own for Haley. Tiffany was so excited to come to the hospital and surprise her sister with a gift she had made. It was great to have the family together, but Tiffany was a wreck when she left here. Grandma called to let me know they made it home and she was OK, but it still breaks my heart to see her upset. Please pray that time goes quickly and school keeps her days busy. Grandparents spoiling her is a given...LOL. We haven't heard any speculation from the doctors. (Weekends are not their strongsuit) We are guessing that if the course continues, we will be home before the end of the week. I will leave you with this: Burger, fries and drink for 2....$13.00, Parking per day...$15.00....No car fires...PRICELESS!

Wheeling

Haley decided it was time to get in her wheelchair and cruise the hallways. We are still in awe at the speedy recovery. She pushed herself into the play room where a bunch of kids were playing. As she scooted up to the craft table, she saw a young boy with a soft collar on. She said, "what happened to you?" He just stared back and said nothing. I can imagine by his expression he was thinking...no, what happened to YOU? Haley is incredibly tough and I believe she truly understands that her halo is there to help her get better. Thank you again for all of the prayers and encouragement.

Moving time!!!

Howdy,

It is 6:00PM Saturday and we are moving out of ICU to a regular room on the 10th floor. We are in room 1014 and thankful for the quick recovery thus far. Haley is eating and drinking like nothing ever happened. Demanding her specific shows on T.V. seems to be something Haley has not lost her touch on. We are so excited to see the progress and hope that this will prove to be "overpacking" based on our expectations. If we were getting on a plane with what we brought, there would be a $1,000 surcharge for luggage. I bet God is chuckling at our lack of faith and excess of clothes. I choose to say it was the Boy Scout motto...be prepared! Please share a blog response as it is a great time for us in the evening to read them all. Thank you so much for all of the support and prayers and I will post when we get another update on her status.

About to rest

Well, what an amazing day! If anyone has ever had a completely necessary day that you completely dreaded...this was ours. Haley was so happy as she was led back to the O.R. and we were left standing with the one last doubt if we were doing the right thing. At that point, there was no turning back. All of the research, discussion, and prayer for the last month is played back in our minds in seconds. The mood in the waiting room ebbed and flowed from tears to silence to laughter. We are so thankful for everyone who shared in this experience with us. The phone calls were too numerous to count and much needed reassurance. Those who came down to the hospital showed up at perfect times. The wait at first seemed as though it would never end, but suddenly we found ourselves being called back to see Haley in recovery. Michelle was walking swiftly and I found myself lagging behind. I began to question myself...would I be overwhelmed by what I saw? Would I be strong enough to show Haley everything would be alright? We entered recovery and turned the corner only to prove Michelle right...all I saw was Haley's beautiful face. What a great woman I have in my life! Haley said, "I want juice." As we were pouring juice for her, she grunted a couple of times. I thought perhaps she was in pain and asked what was the matter. She said, "I stuck daddy, I stuck." I didn't realize that she was trying to lift her head and the halo had her completely immobilized. She has been a bit groggy most of the evening and we won't know the extent of her feelings for the halo until at least tomorrow. It is after midnight and I am totally spent. I wil be posting tomorrow with any further updates.

Thank you to everyone,

Love The Cassidy's

Surgery is done

The surgeons are done and everything has gone as they expected. We are still waiting to go back and see her. Dr. Marco said they are putting the last few stitches in to close. They needed to use a bone building protein due to the small amount of bone they had to work with at the base of her skull. We are very anxious for her to wake up. Please continue to pray that she tolerates the removal of the breathing tube. Michelle and I have already reserved a room at the Ronald McDonald House on the 7th floor. I will fully update when we settle in upstairs.

Haley was just wheeled back

Hello everyone,

Haley was finally taken back to the O.R. at about 10:45am and surgery will begin in about an hour. She was in good spirits and smiling all the way...typical Haley! Not much to report, but much to be praying for and I will post as soon as I receive an update.