Eiche fam

After picking Jessica and Namine up from the clinic visit at the hospital, we stopped by my office, which happens to be just down the road. I don’t remember if we’ve ever taken Namine into my work to play show-and-tell before, but if we have, it was a long time ago. So either way, it was nice to take her around a little and say hi to people. Of course, I had to get back to work, and Namine was tired and hungry, so it was a fairly short visit. But none of my cube-mates had ever met Namine – they’d just seen pictures. Lots of pictures, true, but they never do justice to real life.

One of my co-workers (hi Scott) commented on how happy Namine is. I keep saying she’s a happy little girl, and I know Jessica and I sometimes take it for granted, but if you think about how much she’s gone through, it really is a little surprising how cheerful she is nearly all the time.

As for the clinic visit itself, I really don’t have much more to add to the quick little post I made this morning. Namine’s palate, according to Dr. Denny (her plastic surgeon, you’ll remember), is healing nicely. There was a pockmark, or dimple, or some small indentation, for lack of a better word, that we were afraid was possibly damage – or God forbid, a hole – in her palate, about halfway back in her mouth. Not to worry, we were told. The stitches sometimes leave such indentations in the palate, and they aren’t a sign of weakness or damage. It’s just how the body heals around stitches from time to time. Phew.

So Namine can ditch the arm restraints on Thursday (yay!) and then we’ll be totally clear of surgery number 8. I think it’s number 8. (Can you imagine? 8 surgeries in less than 2 years, can you freakin’ imagine? Sorry. It just blows my mind when I think about it.) And barring the need for another jaw distraction (unlikely, but still possible, in case her jaw doesn’t grow well enough on its own), we are totally and completely done with Dr. Denny. Not that he’s a bad guy – on the contrary, he’s a great guy, an excellent doctor with a good bedside manner – we’re just happy to see the need for a surgeon pass into darkness.

Next stop: decannulation? Words cannot express my excitement.