Out of the Mouths of Babes

Some recent ones...

We were riding in the car when I heard...
C: "Mom, peel back the roof!"
I had to stop and think a minute about that one. Turns out C was asking me to open the sunroof.

For those parents who have children that do not sleep through the night, I can relate, and I completely empathize with you. C is 5 and still does not sleep through; usually between 1-2am he wakes up and comes looking for us. Last night was no different, and as he stumbled into the bathroom at 2:40am to take care of business he asked me:
"Does seaweed have iodine in it?"

Seriously, who ponders that, and in the middle of the night no less? I had to respond that I didn't know and I'd find out for him...in the morning. Turns out that indeed, seaweed does have iodine in it! Who knew?

Post-Surgery Update on Mark

First, thank you for all of your prayers, well wishes, and offers of help. We are blessed to have such a caring network of friends surrounding us. It's 4:30 Thursday afternoon and I sit here in the recovery area with Mark, listening to all of the monitors ping...ping...ping...

Today's surgery was considered a success; what an answered prayer that is on a long journey to date. They were unable to use the HALO method as planned (burning off the bad cells), as you need a relatively smooth area to apply to. In his case, and with the amount of damage in place, it made more sense to freeze off the cells (cryo). We knew from pre-op that they would not make a decision until they actually saw the current state of Mark's esophagus. The good news is that they believe they got the majority of the Barrett's column.

Right now, Mark is VERY groggy and sore as he recovers from the procedure and the anesthesia. Specifically, he has a very sore throat from the procedure. He's ready to go home and sleep this off. He's also looking forward to having some food since it's been almost 24 hours.

So, we should be discharged soon and should be on the road. Our big watch item right now is for chest pain and any signs of perforation. We get to repeat this process in about 2 months; thank you again for your thoughts and prayers.