Thursday, February 28, 2013

Thank You

First and foremost, Amanda and I would like to thank Dr. Paley and his team... Emma not so much right now but someday soon I'm sure. Second comes Grammie for taking care of Teagan and Madison these past few days but more importantly the days/months to come. Next needs to be family and I need to say that I wish I could go on and name each individually but 1. that would be impossible and 2. if I happened to miss someone I'd cry. After that are our friends, friends of family, friends of friends-
Thank you so much for everything you have done, are doing and allowing us to lean on you in the future. Lastly (now you know there really is no particular order), to my wife who holds the family together each and every day with her love, compassion and devotion as a mother and wife. You are all amazing and know that words could never express our gratitude through this and all you've done for our family.
With Our Deepest Love,
Team Emma

Room 3523

Emma had a nice ride from recovery to her room- thank you morphin! Mom even got a smile out of her (more of a grin but we'll take it).

Emma update

No pneumonia which was a blessing. She's in and out and does say it hurts everytime she wakes up which is heart wrenching but only to be expected.

Funny Story- nurse asked us if Amanda if she thought Emma would want a Popsicle (a favorite) and Emmy shacks her head yes in a dead sleep!

Funny Story 2- Em asked if she could take it off and Mom says "no Em you need to keep it on" and Emmy interrupts her and says "the blanket?"- she had a blanket over her leg that she wanted off... silly mom!

There's a wait for a room right now which looks like its going to be an hour or so. Will update again when we get settled.

AWAKE

but sleeping. Emmy woke up and gave mom and dad a huge hug and went back to sleep. They did a chest x-ray as her breathing is raspy. Watching her closely until all signs are normal and pneumonia is ruled out, then will be moving her to a room.

Grace- Emma's soon to be other best friend!

We just met Grace, her Super Brace and her Mom (Amanda). Grace is 7 weeks into lengthening and stopped by to say hi on her way to PT. I'll share some video of her later so you can see what she's accomplished- she's the little ballerina at the end of the inside edition video...so cute! Her mom was full of helpful information and will probably be sorry she stopped by and offered to be a resource because we are going to take her up on it!

Done!

So the wife needs a coffee and sends me to the cafe and when I return she tells me Dr. Paley just came out and sat down with me. Go figure! He said everything went great and you'll be able to see her in 45 minutes or so. I ask Amanda if she asked him about this and that and she said yes. I asked what the answer was and she said I don't know as I didn't hear anything after he said it went well and we could see her in 45 minutes! Gotta love her!

Underway

Emma is in the OR. She did great this morning... Mom and Dad not so good but hanging strong for our little angel. She is due to be put of surgery around noon. We just got an update from Emma's fun nurse and our direct contact to the OR, Candice, that all is going well. Candice blew bubbles with Emma this morning after she took her sleepy cocktail. We are hanging strong.





Pre-Op

If Mom was as strong as Emma, we only would have had a few tears today... instead I'm looking for Noah to build me an Ark. Overall, it was great day with no real surprises. Em playing with Fancy Nancy- thanks Jennifer Scott (she's Emma's patient advocate and I'm pretty sure going to be her new best friend. (Sorry this got hung up in the out box- not great service within the hospital walls)

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Team Emma

Team Emma got together for one last huddle before Mom & Dad sneak the QB down to her Pre-Op appt tomorrow. Thank you Auntie Meg for the T-shirts (the girls love them) and everyone for all the love, support and prayers. I leave you tonight with the opening of a "Prayer for the Game of Life".

DEAR GOD, help me be a good sport in the game of life. I don't ask for an easy place in the lineup. Put me anywhere you need me. I only ask that I can give you 100% of everything I have. If all the hard drives seem to come my way, I thank you for the compliment. Help me to remember that you never send a player more trouble then he can handle with your help…



Emma's Lil Sis- Update 6

The lastest and greatest- Emma's little sister, Teagan, had a fever of 105 yesterday and was vomiting. So we spent 6 hours at the local ER to find out she has a touch of pneumonia. We could have cut this time in half if Teagan would have just went pee. The issue... she's being potty trained and wouldn't go in her pull up. So good sign on that front, as we will be done with diapers when we return home! Em and Maddie spent some quality time with Gram. Biggest challenge now will be keeping Emma healthy til Thursday.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Paley Inside Edition



I wanted to share a segment of an Inside Edition episode that was aired on 2/22/13. The surgeon in the video, Dr. Paley, is Emma's doctor and will be the one performing her surgery. Great little piece to help visualize what Emma will undergo. FYI- her condition is similar to Aynslie's in the video (1 in 50,000). 

Saturday, February 23, 2013

South of the Border- Update 4



If nothing else, I can rule out short men with mustaches for my girls- they weren't big fans of Pedro- sorry buddy looks like Dino won out. My wife on the hand won't be going to Margarita's alone anymore.  Regardless, we worked on stretching the legs, buying some trinkets and having an ice cream for lunch- Em's favorite! Back on the road, where it stops nobody knows...

Still On The Road- Update 3


Well, well... After stopping at Trina's (sister-in-law) for a smooch and to drop off the pooch (Murphy) and 12 hours of driving I've turned into Dr. Seuss- maybe not with the storytelling but I'm pretty sure I look like him right now, probably acting a little like him and know that I definitely feel like him. Anyway, we had a great first LEG! Everyone slept pretty well... and it rained from NY til right now at the Wafflehouse in Raleigh-Durham NC. Emma loved her waffle- 2 bites- and we are back on the road. Next stop... South of the Border! Talk to you then...

Friday, February 22, 2013

House Address- Update 1 & 2

Hi All- I'm Eric...Emma's Dad.  First and foremost I need to thank my favorite sister in-law for creating this wonderful blog for Emma.  Not sure how or why I was chosen to give the updates but whoever's on this is probably in for a treat as I'm far from an english major and lost "filter" (as my wife calls it) many years ago.  I'm new to the blog world so forgive me in advance for breaking all the social media rules but I'll do my best to keep this up to date with the latest happenings.  Feel free to post questions, thoughts or wishes and I will provide the answers or details to the best of my ability. 

So to get you up to speed, last night we packed up my Aunt Linda’s (Meme) new RV with all the toys, clothes and the kitchen sink and she rolled out this morning with my Uncle Leon.  They are currently in PA.  The OBrien Clan will be leaving at 7pm tonight (driving) to my mom’s in Rockledge, FL.  We are due to arrive early Sunday morning.  Emma’s pre-op appt has been moved to Wednesday @ 10am and her surgery is scheduled for Thursday 2/28/12.  We will move into our house on March 1st.

Our new address as of March 1st:
Eric & Amanda OBrien
8071 Murano Circle
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418
Eric:  603-674-0299
Amanda:  401-578-8732

Hospital- February 28th – March 3:
St. Mary’s Medical Center
901 45th St  
West Palm Beach, FL 33407
(561) 844-6300

That's all for now...

On The Road- Update 2


Well it seems as though 7pm was a little agressive. The space ship, grocery  getter, mom mobile, shaggin wagon or for the PC folks-mini van was packed to  the gills and departed at 8:30. Our journey has begun...


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

The Beginning of My Journey


My name is Emma Shanley O’Brien and welcome to my blog!  I just turned 3 years old in December and I love gymnastics.  The balance beam is my favorite.  I also love zip lines, arts, crafts and just making a mess in general.  My family and I have so much fun together and I love playing with my big sister Madison and my little sister Teagan. I’m different than most kids because I have Fibular Hemimelia, which causes one leg to be shorter than the other. Anyway, my family and I have been going to Florida to see Dr. Paley, the best and most experienced limb lengthening surgeon in the world. Dr. Paley said that he is going to do surgery to make my leg longer when I turn 3, which is, well, now! They have to put a funny thing called a fixator on my leg.  The doctor said I will have it  on my leg for about 5 or 6 months and I can take medicine so it won’t hurt as much.  I will also have lots of physical therapy so I can make my leg long and strong again. The doctor said I can swim and play with the fixator on my leg within a couple weeks of my surgery so I can still have fun. I know I can do it, I am really brave. You can follow my progress on this blog and see for yourself! I am going to keep doing all the things I love to do!!