FINAL POST - Discharged, finally, October 2022

We attended a GOSH outpatient appointment a week before her 11th Birthday in October and they agreed Kate could be discharged- see extract of the letter below.  Today I advised Ophthalmology Department at St Helier as they'd sent and appointment for Kate in December so they will also discharge her now.

If anyone is still reading or finds this in the future and wants to ask any questions please do not hesitate to contact me, 

Wendy

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CRANIOPLASTY USING BONE GRAFT

17/04/2013

 

It was a pleasure to meet Kate in clinic today with her mother. Kate had a Fronto-orbital remodelling procedure at aged 15 months, we last saw her in clinic 2 years ago. Since then she has been doing very well and getting involved in many sports including acrobatics.

 

She has no issues with her head shape and the scar has continued to not cause any issues. She did ask about making the scar smaller in the future, however we discussed that the scar is already quite narrow and wouldn't be a candidate for a revision as it may make it worse.

 

She is growing and developing well, not suffering with any headaches and her eye checks have all been normal.

 

I am very happy to discharge Kate from clinic today, however if she or her family have any questions or concerns in the future, then please do get in touch.

 

Checkup at GOSH Feb 2018

We saw Justine O'Hara (Consultant Plastic & Craniofacial Surgeon) again on Thurs 8 Feb 2018, who we saw on our last visit to GOSH.

Kate is in Year 1 at school and aged 6.  She lost her two front teeth before Christmas and has two others missing at the bottom at the moment as well!  

She was excited to be being picked up early from school to go to the appointment at 'Hospital in London'.  She doesn't seem to remember the last visit at all and it was like it was all new to her.  Whereas for me, the thought of it and the journey, though we went a slightly different route as we don't need a pram now, so can use the tube, was familiar and odd emotionally.  Especially so, as we neared the hospital.  A feeling of uncomfortable familiarity is how I'd describe it, though once inside the friendliness of it and seeing it all the same, the waiting rooms, play areas etc put me at ease and the horrible feeling subsided. 

Our appointment was in exactly the same room as last time, and the day she was diagnosed... and I found out she didn't have a 'nothing' wrong, but that she had a serious condition that needed major surgery.

As expected as the waiting room was full, we had a bit of a wait.  I thank my lucky stars.  It put things in perspective when you see others in there with much worse conditions, syndromes where craniosynostosis is a small part of their problems, and babies probably waiting for surgery or those with the stitches across their heads and I noticed an older girl (probably 8-10) who had quite noticeable asymmetry.  

A long hour and a half wait, but Kate didn't seem to mind. We played at a play table with various toys, lego, read some books, coloured and enjoyed some 121 time together.  

As expected also, the check-up was generally a chat, to check she has no problems, which she doesn't.  In fact, Kate is remarkably bright and healthy, and doing well at school.   We discussed slight asymmetry that is unnoticeable to most, including family.   I mentioned her scar, which is widening as her head grows and she said it could be camouflaged later if really necessary.  I doubt it will be.

They said she might only have one more appointment, for age 8 and then be discharged but I thought it was to age 12, and when she checked she said they'd revised discharge age again and it IS back to 12 so we probably will have 2 more visits to GOSH.

We were the last to leave the Cranio department, and the hospital seemed deserted.  Kate used to love these cars, so I let her have a quick spin in the now empty space before heading for some tea and home.  I left to get her from school at 2.30pm and we got home at something like 8pm.  All in all a 5 1/2 hour round trip!  

A copy letter came from the consultant, that goes to her Doctor locally and to Jane Leitch (Consultant we are under at Sutton/St Helier Eye Hospital) shortly after, that I've put with ALL the other paperwork/letters.

If you are on any similar journey, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, comments  or concerns WendyHutchings@gmail.com 

Reply from Genetics

Response to my email -

Thank you for getting in touch. Since meeting you at the craniofacial appointment, we have testing underway on Kate's DNA sample looking for the commonly known craniosynostosis genes. It can take a couple of months for all of these tests to come through. 

 

In the meantime, I will arrange for Kate to be referred to Dr LW, who is the genetics consultant that specialises in craniofacial patients. Once all the results are back we will write to you if we don't already have an appointment scheduled to see you. We will also arrange for your blood tests (if necessary) at that time.

 

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any further queries or concerns.

2 year Post Op appointment at GOSH

Those of you paying attention will have noticed I didn't post in August. That's because the 2 year post-op appointment was cancelled, and after much re-arranging, we ended up going on 29th October 2015.   We took big sister as it was half-term and Daddy also took the day off too.  We went to the British Museum to look at some of the Roman artifacts and meet up with Grandad who works there, & then headed to Great Ormond Street Hospital, via Coram Fields (play area) just the back of the hospital.

We were approached whilst waiting by the Clinical Genetics team for the first time. The lady explained that participation in the genetic study of craniosynososis should have been discussed around the time of surgery and if we were acceptable to it, she could have had bloods taken then, but somehow it didn't happen. So we discussed with her the options and participating.

We are keen to assist in the research to identify genetic causes and also perhaps give Kate reassurance if/when she wants to have kids of whether/how likely it might be for her to pass the condition on, so we agreed for her to give blood which was arranged there & then, and around our original appointment. They put on cream to numb the pain from the insertion which takes 30-40mins to work.  She was a star and made the most fuss about removing the plasters, and didn't feel them take blood even though I was holding her & we had an additional nurse distracting her with a book just in case!  

I think they might come to us depending on the results they get from her anyway, but just to be sure I am going to email the genetics lady as there are other factors from the parents that can affect the genetics, in case they want blood from us too.

At the 2 year post-op appointment we saw a lady this time who wasn't involved in Kate's pre-op or surgery.  She was happy with Kate's look and recovery though agreed that there is a slight skew in her face, that I still am aware of.  She advised that that there would be potential for reconstructive rhinoplasty (that's a nose job to most people!) to align her,  possibly around teenage years if she feels it necessary.   That was the first time that was mentioned.   It would not be classed as cosmetic due to her craniosynostosis, so considered as due to the craniosynostsis, a medical condition & covered on the NHS.

I asked if she had had the operation sooner, i.e. when she was younger, and therefore there had been less time for the asymmetry growth to continue, that this could have prevented this skew.   She said that they prefer to do coronal craniosynostosis cases between 15-18 months because if done earlier they tend not to work, and that cases where the surgery had been performed earlier in other countries, that they were having to re-do the surgery.  How awful!

She said they'll probably see Kate next when she is 6 - so 2 years time.

We were also asked to go to Clinical Photography for post-op photos and agreed for photos being made available for teaching of healthcare professionals & medical records.  Kate was an absolute star, doing exactly as instructed for the angles of photos they wanted to get.

Kate turned four a couple of weeks before the appointment and is as bright and cheery as ever.   She now understands that she had a big operation on her head in the hospital in London, though no actual recollection of it, of course.

Luckily, most of her memory of experiences at hospital have been good and we always keep up-beat about going there, so she almost looks forward to it!   On returning home I found we had received her next eye appointment date for February locally.  I expect we will see the consultant as well then, as have the normal eye-testing.

Kate started a new nursery in September and has settled in well.  This pic is a recent one I like of her after filling the party bags and wrapping pass the parcel for her 4th Birthday party.

Next update will be after Feb 2016 eye appointment.

2 years post-op

Today is 2 years post Kate's operation for unilateral, coronal craniosynostotis at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.   She had the op when she was 18 months old, after being diagnosed at about 13 months.  The incorrectly fused bone was 'undone' and her skull and eye socket remodelled.

Really, we've gone through the journey and a month or so after the operation felt we were out the other end of the main ordeal of it all. I feel that we now know Kate is, well, seems to us and medically to be completely ok and all the post-op appointments have instilled this belief for me.

But, it's not something that you can completely forget about.  For those of you who are going or are on the journey, then yes, after the initial recovery period, you can (kind of) forget about it.  If your op goes/has gone well and post op appointments and follow ups show no signs of problems.
The continuing appointments after are because they're just being cautious, in my opinion.

Obviously, eye-testing a baby or 18 month old isn't easy, and I can tell you it still isn't at three and a half!  The last appointment was a few weeks back and we weren't sure if she really couldn't see with one eye or was 'playing games' with us.  She was messing about a bit.  Our next appointment is in September and she'll be almost 4 by then, so hopefully she'll play game.  Until now, all the eye appointments haven't showed any issues and the consultant was pretty sure if there was going to be a problem, it would have been detected by now.

Day to day, after the op, as things got back to normal I've stopped 'thinking' about it and the times I do think about it obviously have become less and less.  As our eye hospital appointments have got further apart it becomes less of a 'thing' in my mind too.  But, the scar is a constant reminder.  Sometimes when I tie her hair up I really notice it.  Sometimes when I don't tie her hair up and the wind blows it a certain way, it parts at the scar, revealing it.

Post-op - scar 2014 (looks the same now really)

I'm not sure how much other people notice it, but I do. I also notice the slight skew in her face and difference in eye-sockets still, especially in some photos and in the mirror, but 'us humans' don't have symmetrical faces I really don't think other people do.

Photo pre-op when she was about 13 months

Recent photo from 2015

I remember how we warned people about the scar, that she would have a bit of hair missing right over her head and possibly be able to see the scab/scar and stitches after the operation. But actually that was so thin post-op that most people didn't notice it at all, as it was hidden by her hair and especially as the swelling and bruised eyes were so bad- THAT is what everyone noticed and couldn't help commenting on!

Post-op scar & stitches 2013

Post-op swelling & bruising 2013

Anyway, the point of the up-date is to just let you know what a gorgeous, happy girl Kate is and that everything is good and she is a wonderful, cheery and bright three year old.  If you're going through this and want to know anything, then please feel free to contact me to ask any kinds of questions.

Kate's 2 year post-op appointment at Great Ormond Street isn't actually until August 2015, so I'll post again then.

This is us today... we had a lovely day at singing class and met with friends for lunch and a play-date before collecting her big sister from school.  I checked with her before bed and she remembers nothing of the operation or the swollen eyes or anything at all.

Eye appt + Consultant

Yesterday we went to Sutton Eye Hospital for a check- up. Kate is now 2 1/2 and it's over a year since her operation (frontal orbital remodelling) at GOSH for simple unilateral left coronal craniosynostosis. 

Again, Kate wouldn't let the opthalmologist patch her eye but they (we had a student/ trainee in as well) were successful with glasses that have blacked-out one side, then another pair with the other.  

After the prism test, the lady mentioned to the trainee a slight exphoria (tendency of one eye to deviate outward) but that it recovered it very quickly.  

Kate seemed to be slightly faster to see the long-distant pictures quicker with HER left eye than the other and they said the consultant would look into that after she'd had the drops.  The rest of the tests I've assumed we're within a normal range & not commented on. 

I wasn't sure how she'd be with having drops at this age & couldn't remember the last time they did that, must have been 6 mths ago or longer. Anyway, she wasn't too bad & the consultant said she couldn't see any reason for the slight difference between eyes. Her focus appears to be the same in both eyes. 

I asked about the likelihood of future problems with Cranio cases, and she said that any eye problems would normally have presented themselves by now. I pushed for more and she just said that on a scale of 1 to 10 Kate's a 1 on her level of concern. 

They'll still keep checking though. Next appt is in 4 months, Sept 2014, and they'll do the other eye either with patching or glasses first next time. I think to see if she just 'appeared' to see the pictures faster with the second eye because she knew what they were and had seen then before. 

So, all this is all good from my point of view. Still no sign of any eye problems. 

Here's a recent photo of the girls, now 6 and 2 1/2. 

Any questions from you, especially if you're following because you're on a similar journey, please do just get in touch.  Wendy 

Letter above dated 29th May 2014

A year on...

It's a year ago since Kate's operation & it's only the date that is a reminder. 

You wouldn't know, although today Kate asked for a pony tail & I can easily see her scar when her hair is up at the moment.  I can see the slight assymetry in her face but she's a darling & most people say they don't or can't see it. 

We had a lovely day out today as it was a warm day & Daddy and sister are off work/school for Easter.  

Our next eye hospital appoiment (we go every 3 months) is with the Consultant in May. 

Letter from eye hospital to GOSH

Just received this week a copy of a letter from the consultant at the eye hospital to Dr Britto, the consultant & one of Kate's surgeons at Great Ormond Street. 

We have appointments for Feb and May with the eye hospital through already. 

Eye Appointment, 2 year check & general update

Recap

Kate was born 13 Oct 2011 and after quite a few appointments with various people she was diagnosed in Nov 2012 at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), London with left unicoronal craniosynostosis - premature fusion of the coronal suture of a skull bone - and had the required fronto orbital remodelling surgery to correct this condition at GOSH on 17th April 2013.  She was 18 months old.  The surgery was basically taking the skull apart right across the top of her head (ear to ear) and undoing the fused bone and reshaping her forehead and eye socket/s.  The surgery was about 4 hours and we were in GOSH for 5 long days for recovery.


I wanted to share these pictures, especially for those parents/carers following this blog who are/will be/have gone through something similar.  Though we were amazed at the tiny incision and distinct lack of hair removal across her skull after the surgery, this has widened as she has grown and is becoming actually more apparent, though her hair is also growing and thickening.

Also, I wanted parents to be aware, that she still had large bits of scab still attached until November and a couple of smaller bits have only just come off - 7/8 months post-surgery!

Eye Appointment

In December 2013 Kate had appointment at the local eye Hospital in Sutton for the eye check with optometrist and with the Consultant, the one who originally referred us to GOSH way back in 2012.

This time, as her speech has developed a lot (she was 2 in October) she was able to do even more tests - naming pictures & pointing out holograms etc with the Optometrist.  She totally refused to do any kind of patching, to test her individual eyes though.  

I showed the letter from the surgeon from GOSH who had said that although it had been reported by me that a squint had been ruled out, that this really should be confirmed as most cases of unicoronal craniosynostosis have some excycloroation of the globe (rotation of eye/socket).  The optometrist talked to me about this and said that Kate's very slight and not at all worrying (in fact her own is worse and not corrected at al) tendency is for one of her eyes to drift outwards.  Most people don't have dead straight eyes, like most people don't have 20:20 vision, and that it is nothing to worry about.

Most pleasing was that she played ball with the consultant who, this time, was able to check all the parts at the back of the eye with her lights and weird head-gear!  She was unable to see anything last time and had a good look and confirmed that she was completely happy with what she had seen and that check-ups will continue because of her growth at 3 months for general tests and 6 months for both her and the ophthalmologists.   Again, I showed her the letter from GOSH about the squint issue and she reassured me that this seems to not be the case, that Kate doesn't have a squint and repeated what the other lady had said.  

We have appointments already through for February and May 2014 at the Eye Hospital (Sutton, Surrey).



Normal 2 year check

I also got a letter to have Kate's normal 2 year check in December.   When we walked in Kate immediately took to playing and interacting with the toys laid out and, I got the impression, immediately ticked all the boxes for the lady we saw as to her abilities!   I took all the consultant letters off the Red Book and realised that that meant the lady would be blissfully unaware of her surgery and condition.   There is NOTHING in her red baby record book about her craniosynostosis!   So I had to explain all of that to her.   She was amazed at the scar and surgery and had not heard of it before.

A New Year - 2014

Last night, whilst brushing Kate's teeth, I got that reminder.  Kate's face is still not totally straight and it's normally only then, when looking at her in the mirror I see it clearly.  Others don't notice and normally looking at her straight I don't either but it is there, the asymmetry.  Nikki, her older sister, has commented on it too when looking at her in a mirror.

Today is New Year's day 2014 and it's such a different new year for me.  Last year we didn't go out, I think I was feeling ill and Nikki had chickenpox!  I wrote my review of 2012 on my business blog.  I didn't mention Kate's condition in that as we were keeping it private at that time.   This year, I've spent the whole day recovering from our fun evening with friends, thanks to my Mum & Dad for babysitting and those good friends for their company, support and more over the last year.  I spent quite a lot of time with my girls on the sofa today and Nikki declared it a special hugging day.  What a lovely way to spend the first day of 2014.

If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to contact me directly in any way from my contact page.

Letter from GOSH

This is an extract from the consultant & surgeon dated 1 Aug sent to our local Doctor.  

I'll take a copy of this to our next eye appointment at Sutton Eye Hospital to make sure so we get the squint issue properly checked/confirmed. 

Post-Op Appointment on 1 August

Last week, Thurs 1st August, was our first and only post-op appointment at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), London since Kate's frontal orbital remodelling surgery for left-sided uni coronal craniosynostosis (cranio surgery) on 17th April 2013.

I persuaded hubby to get time off to meet me there and decided, as it was school holidays for Nikki, that we'd make a day-trip to London and go to Coram Fields (right near GOSH) as well as to the hospital.  

It was a very hot day so went up at lunchtime to avoid the sun at that point on the train, then bus, and I was pleasantly surprised to find water in the paddling pool at Coram Fields.

Nikki enjoyed that & playing in the playground for bigger kids while Kate slept in her pushchair.  

When Daddy arrived Kate woke & we had ice-cream before heading into the VERY hot consultant waiting area.

My questions and Dr Britto's answers are below:

Q. Now that it's done (I didn't want to know the gory details before), what exactly did you do to make her forehead straight?

A. Bone manipulation, scraping and breaking - that's why you can feel lumps on her head, but it's all fine & nothing to worry about.

Q. Her left eye socket still seems bigger than the other.  The Ophthalmologist noticed this. I thought you were dealing with that?

A. What do you mean by bigger?  We did and she looks fine.

Q.  What age does your skull normally fuse to become your adult skull?

A.  Early teens normally.

Q. Would it ever re-fuse, the coronal suture, again now?

A. No, never heard of that.

Q. We were told by the Ophthalmologist that she doesn't have a squint.  Is that the case?

A. If that's what they say, then she doesn't.  That's good.

Q. Could that change?  Could she develop a squint later?

A.  No, that's never happened before.

Q.  I've noticed she still has an asymmetry and her face still looks weird in a mirror.  Wasn't the surgery supposed to correct that?

A. No.  The surgery changes the skull, forehead & stops any further facial asymmetry as it grows but it won't correct what has already happened.

Q. She still has a few small bits of scab that look a bit green, is that ok?

A.  Yes, they will just fall off when they're ready. Just keep it clean.

Q.  How long do you continue to see kids for after surgery, until what age?

A.  Normally about age 10.

Q.  Is there anything we should do, or look out for going forward?

A.  No.

Q.  When do we see you again?

A.  Next appointment in 2 years.

Q.  What will that be like, like this, just a general catch-up/chat?!  (I meant about any more procedures/tests)

A.  Yes, just to see me.


So, all is at it should be from their point of view.  For me, except me being able to notice the eye-socket and slight facial asymmetry she's just perfect.  She always seemed perfect to me anyway.  I feel that we're done.  This is really now behind us and the surgery already seems like a distant memory.

I've had contact from a few people going through this and I really hope this blog and the detail helps them/you.  Do feel free to contact me if you want to ask any other questions about emotions, swelling, bruising, post-op recovery or see more of our (pretty traumatic) post-surgery photos to prepare.

I don't suppose I'll be posting here ever again!  Maybe I will in 2 years after our next appointment, if Blogger still exists!

Here's a last few photos.  Before, during & after.

Kate, April 2013

Day 2 (I think) post surgery - 19 April 2013

Kate, July 2013

The latest is one of my latest favourite pics of Kate, happy as ever, with her two big dimples, gappy teeth and one curl on top of her head.  She is so cute & funny, she makes us unbelieveably happy.

Wendy Ager  

Letter from eye hospital

This was good to receive this morning. Letter from eye hospital to GOSH about our last appointment.


"Dear Dr

It was very nice to see Kate today.  She has had cranial advancement from which she has recovered extremely well.

From the eye point of view, we have no concerns today and all looks healthy.  We will be reassessing her again in the Eye Clinic in 6 months.

Kind regards,

XXX
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon"

Post surgery Eye Appointment

We saw the ophthalmologists and consultant this Thurs, 13th June 2013, at our local eye hospital. 

I mentioned the squint and first the lady who did all the basic tests said she sees no squint. This was extremely good to hear. Kate being able to talk a lot more now was able to be tested better than before as she could name all the things they were holding up for her to see this time. She's now 20 mths old. 

By the time we saw the consultant Kate had had enough of waiting. Me too!  It was difficult for them to examine the back of here eyes etc as she didn't like them (one man & lady) at all. Crying isnt a good 'mode' to be in for an eye examination!  I had been prepared as we've waited a long time there before, but she was hungry and she didn't like their lights or headgear!! 

A chocolate roll helped & the consultant got to see what she wanted in the end and said there's no sign of any problems, pressure or anything. She seemed happy with everything.

She thought Kate looked remarkably good after her surgery and said that the darkness under her eyes will continue to fade, it's just a very sensitive and translucent bit of skin. 

We will have a follow-up appointment with them in 6 months. 

5th June, 7 weeks post-op

Just a quick post to say Kate still has very slight dark marks under her eyes still but they are fading.

The scab of her scar is beginning to come off in bits with the stitches and the skin looks great, though you can see through it a dark line, that I think is where you can see where the bone was cut - or maybe it is just the scar. It's hard to tell when they hardly shaved off any of her hair. I can't really see!

We have her eye appointment next Thursday.  This is with the original Opthalmologist department at our local hospital, Sutton Eye Hospital.  We'll see the consultant that originally referred us to Great Ormond Street before we knew she had Craniosynostosis.  Her squint looks much less than before when I've posted, but I'm keen to discuss what might happen and how this will be dealt with if it doesn't correct itself.

I've noticed since our 5 year old's class at school had vision checks that a few have now got glasses.  One Mum I spoke to yesterday said it's because her daughter has a lazy eye (similar to, or can cause a squint) and they're doing glasses before patching.  The squint operation isn't anything major but it is something I'd like to avoid, obviously!

I'll post again when we've had our appointment next week at the eye hospital.

One calendar month Post-Op!

It's a month ago, today, since Kate had her surgery.  Here are some pics to compare and my current thoughts.

15/05/2013

Before pic from March 2013

Recent Pic, May 2013

Before pic showing dip in forehead

17 May 2013 

17 May 2013

My thoughts and observations: 

I still think her right eye 'looks' bigger than her left, which was the original thing that I flagged up  when she was a tiny baby.   The surgery was frontal orbital remodelling, so we thought it was supposed to correct this, as well as her head-shape and the premature fusion of the coronal suture.  She still has a little darkness to the skin under her eyes.

Her forehead is definitely more even and rounded, without a flat/dipped bit above HER left eye (looking her and the pics - on the right).   I still think her forehead is a bit swollen.  I think her facial symmetry is better and this is all good :)

I hadn't noticed her eye being turned in (called a squint) before the op but now I look I can see it was a bit pre-op, but it looks more pronounced now, post-op. We were hoping surgery would avoid her getting a squint. 

Now that the stitches are loosening and when the wind blows, you can easily see her scar and stitches , but when her hair grows some more this will be hidden I'm sure.

We've got completely back to normal, going to classes, toddler group and I'm even taking her to a fun place we love with a bouncy castle today.  She had a bad knock to the head the other day but she's fine, and we've stopped giving her any medicine at all now as she seems fine & isn't obviously swelling up any more.  

Another week went by!

Kate still has just slight dark marks under her eyes that make her look like she's had a bad night's sleep!  She's mostly sleeping through though and her eyes are not obviously swollen in the mornings any more. Her forehead and head still look swollen to me.  She has had a couple of mornings when her waking screeching is suggestive of pain, so I've given her ibuprofen then and I'm continuing to make her daytime nap in the pushchair, only slightly tilted so she's not flat.

Mon 6th May

Tues 7th May

Weds 8th May

Thurs 8th May

I've almost fully recovered from the horrible flu-like illness of last week, and people have stopped stopping us to ask what has happened to her, though in returning to our classes & playgroups (just the ones without slides and bouncy castles so far!) it's still a major topic of discussion as our absence has been noticed!  

Is it Weds?! YES! then it's 2 weeks since her operation date!

Daddy was home very late last night. Dinner, bathing & bedtime almost broke me yesterday. I got so hot & sweaty (I have full on flu) I had to have a shower after & a lie on the bed to recover.  The house was a bit of a mess!

Weds, 1st May 2 weeks after her op!

Kate just still has slight darkness under her eyes. She has been brilliant today, considering neither of us got dressed and apart from essentials like food, drink & nappy changing I've been on the sofa all day nursing my flu. Another Mum took Nikki to & collected her from school for me.

I had a sleep when Kate slept for an hour at lunchtime after she unexpectedly fell asleep in her strawberries!

I provided an easy dinner & resumed my sofa position & Daddy's home in time to do bedtime. Thank goodness.

Day 11 & 12 post-op - I've got ill :(

Kate's swelling is mostly just affecting her head and forehead now.  Even though she slept all night in her cot, she looked much the same in the evening as the morning, with just slight dark patches under her eyes.

Day 11 Post-Op - Mon 29th April 2013

But, this is where I've gone downhill.  I started the day fine but by lunchtime I'd come over incredibly tired and then by 4pm I was shivering under a blanket at my Mum's.   Looking after Kate & Nikki and giving them tea was a struggle.  Daddy didn't get home until bedtime and took over to do that for me, and I went to bed early on ibuprofen with aching limbs, head, neck and eyes like flu.

Kate had a bad night - one good, one bad continues - and spent about 2 hours in our bed and I was awake for most of the night shivering, only going back to sleep on the sofa after a lemsip at 5am.  We managed the school run ok as the drugs are pretty good these days!

My mum is going to have Kate from lunchtime so I can sleep.  (Tues 30th) I think I'm just exhausted.

Tues 30th, 12 Days post-op