Month: February 2009

Saturday, 28 Feb 2009

When Mum is away, Papa lets his girls be a bit more adventurous.  Mum is having a well deserved over-night break with Auntie Sally at the J.W. Marriott Ihilani at Ko Olina.

As an extra special treat, Mum and Sally will be enjoying the Ihilani Spa – a proper “Spa Saturday” for all of Mum’s hard work!  While Mum and Sally are away, Papa is trying to keep things “shipshape and Bristol fashion.”

Thus far, the greatest challenge is trying to convince Lucy not to remove her loose front tooth til Mum comes home later today.

Thursday, 26 Feb 2009

God has blessed us greatly!  It is great to have our family together again.  The unique personality of each of our girls always brings us many smiles and much joy.

Watching how they interact with each other is better than any TV show – especially since a new and interesting facet of Olivia’s personality now seems to appear with each sunrise.

Like each of her older sisters, she is a “happy riser” who greets each day with great enthusiasm and big smiles.

Mum, Ella, and “Nurse Sally” arrived safely in Honolulu. Photos to follow.  You can see the details of their flight, United 43 from Denver to Honolulu, by clicking on the image to the left.

Mum and Ella departed Cincinnati today for Oahu.  However, a mechanical problem on the aircraft prevented the landing gear from retracting to the “stowed” position inside the fuselage.  When 90 minutes of in-flight troubleshooting (over Cincinnati) failed to resolve the problem, the pilot landed safely back at Cincinnati.

Mum, Ella, and their traveling companion, “Nurse Sally” will reattempt to “fly the mission” tomorrow.  For those interested in following the progress of their flight – click on the following links.  They will be flying on UAL 5315 from CVG to DEN and UAL 43 from DEN to HNL.

Any and all friends and Ohana are welcome to join us at 16:00 for their arrival.

Ella’s brief visit to surgery today yielded a wee bit of good news.  For the first time, in a very long time, Ella’s airway appears to be healing properly – normal mucosa growth and no “over-scaring”.

This improvement means the doctors will not be replacing the stent they removed from Ella’s airway on the 11 February.  While we are still a long way from saying good-bye to Ella’s trach tube, these developments are most welcome progress.

The image to the left is Ella caring for one of her favorite recovery-room nurses, Sandra.  Sandra has survived multiple recovery-room encounters with Ella and is used to Ella’s occasionally gruff bedside manner.

The long week-end of waiting for the next hospital visit is almost over.

Mum and Ella are keeping busy by taking many trips to the park – and a few shopping excursions.

The big excitement during today’s park trip was the appearance of a flurry of snowflakes – seriously exciting stuff for our little island-born menehune.

Back on Oahu, Lucy and Olivia are keeping Papa on his toes.

Click on the image to the left to see images from January 2009.

Sometimes it is hard to understand why everyone gets so concerned when I go to the hospital. After all, I am almost five years old.

I am a big girl and I can take good care of myself.  Just look at me.  I have my scarf and boots and warm clothes – Bear Grylls could learn a thing or two from me.

I am the epitome of the modern young-woman in the big city.

Nevertheless, thank you for your concern and many prayers.

And please don’t forget to leave me a message on the “Comments” page.

Ella came through today’s surgical procedure to remove the “stent” from her airway with flying colors.

Mum was prepared for every contingency and did a great job at every turn.  In fact, Lisa’s attention to detail was so keen that she quickly realized the doctor’s had mistakenly replaced Ella’s 36mm trach tube with an over-sized one that was 44mm in length.

Cool and calm under serious pressure, Mum, prevented further injury to Ella’s airway by replacing the over-sized trach with a 36mm trach tube which she had in her emergency medical kit.

Shortly thereafter, Ella’s doctor admitted their mistake and praised all aspects of Lisa’s actions.

Well done Mum.  Way to Fly the Mission!

Ella has discovered how to walk on the tips of her toes.

While this may seem a small feat to some, for those of us who remember what a “flopsy bunny” she was 4 years ago – It is truly amazing.

We are so grateful to Ella’s first Physical Therapist, Lilly, and to all the others who have helped along the way.

Mahalo from the top of our head to the tips of Ella’s toes!

After Sunday brunch at the J.W. Marriott Ihilani at Ko Olina, Ella and Auntie Wendy found this lovely fish pond full of Koi just off the lobby.

Ella is wearing the new top that Auntie Wendy bought for her in the hotel gift shop.  Thanks for the “blingy” top and the great brunch!