Journeys With Joshua: Back in Business?

We've been on hiatus for a couple of weeks -- at least on the expander that became bruised. The bruise is still there, but a tad lighter. Dr. B had us skip a couple of fills, but last night gave us the green light to go ahead and get started again. But proceed with caution, he warned. And we did proceed. And it was with caution!

Mom and dad did a light fill on that expander last night. 60 cc went in easily, and we stopped there even though the expander was still a bit soft. The bruise is the result of too much pressure on the skin, so we can't "fill up" anymore. Nonetheless, 60 is a good number. The right expander is up to 505 now!

The reason we question whether we are back in business is because the bruise looks a little darker this morning. It is so hard to tell, but if that's the case, last night may have been the last fill on that side. We'll email photos over to Dr. B next week and see what he thinks. Two photos of the bruise follow this post - one from a couple of days ago and one from this morning - so you can see for yourselves.

The left expander is it's own story. It has been inching along since we started, and the last couple of weeks have been no exception. We continued to fill that side even though we were skipping the right expander. Both weeks, it took a measly 35 cc. We last filled it on Sunday, and it now stands at 385 cc. The good news is that Dr. B said we can try to push an extra fill or two in that side as long as we are careful and watch for stresses on the skin. So we're going to try to fill the left expander every 5 days, instead of every 7. That will give us one extra fill and hopefully get it up to about 500 cc.

We have three weeks to go in this first true round of expansion. That means we have already made it through 9 weeks! We are very excited and anxious for this upcoming surgery, and to get through these last few weeks before the big day. We pray that I don't get sick and that we can successfully complete 3-4 more fills on each side. We aren't going to make our original goals, but at this point, we can still get pretty darn close. Time will tell.

Here are the latest photos of me and my bubbles...