2011

Today marks one year to the day since my medical journey took off... pun intended!  2011 brought me 5 surgeries (unexpected and incomplete since 2010 promised only 4 and I am yet to be done), 5 trips to Chicago (including one emergency trip), 23 injections (1 with my first "round", 16 in the second, and 6 so far in the current), hundreds of stitches, 1 bacterial infection, and more than half of my nevus removed.  It also brought my family countless new "family" members.  So, overall, 2011 wasn't so bad.

Now, we are just days from entering 2012.  We hope and pray this is a year that brings a lot of joy and accomplishment in this journey, not just for me, but for many of my friends as well.  Sully, for one, is entering his LAST round, for sure (***knock on wood).  Aiden and Brayden may very well join this club too.  (And by they way, Brooklyn became nevus-free in 2011!)  My buddy Zac is a little more of a mystery, but we pray that 2012 brings him excellent results, at a minimum.  As for me, we'll find out in March.  If I do need another round, theoretically, it would run from August to October, so there is a realistic chance that I will be nevus-free in 2012 as well.  We are anxious to find out!

Until then, we are taking it slow and steady.  My second fill of this round was done yesterday, and it went perfectly, with the exception of my emotional meltdown.  Keeping me calm during the injections seems to be the challenge for mom and dad to face as we enter the new year.  But as far as the fill went, I did not feel any of the injections, and dad got 50 cc in the leg, 60 cc in the left back, and 70 cc in the right back.  We are really off to a good start with 240 in each back expander, and 130 in the leg for the current totals. 

                                                   

                                                   

Oh, and the scratching that was going on in the last post has pretty much subsided.  It was mostly just

the presence of stitches bothering me, as well as some mild eczema.  Seems like mom has it under control now.

Please continue to pray for all of us to have successful, infection-free rounds of expansion, and that we all become nevus-free in 2012.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!