Germs, germs go away! We are in the final stretch...

I have officially become OCD about germs. This part of my plan to schedule the surgery in Jan was not thought through carefully enough. If Lauryn gets a cough or fever within the next few days we get postponed for 1-2 months! The problem is that she will need to stay in a holding pattern, of sorts, and will need to stay in casts that entire time. I'm a wreck about this.

Her surgery is in a week and I've basically placed her in a bubble. Her brothers are frustrated with my lectures about germs and telling them to wash their hands.

We took the boys with us Monday up to Shriners to see what Lauryn does during a visit. The hospital just got a donation of toys brought into the clinic to be handed out to the kids. A group of bartenders did a toy drive for the kids and came to deliver them. They were really sweet and loved seeing Lauryn smile at her Little Ponies they gave her. Really brightened the day.

My highlight was watching Jack walk over to Lauryn while she was laying on the gurney. They were getting ready to recast her legs and she started to whimper. Jack quietly walked up and held her hand and whispered, "remember what I told you about counting when you are scared? Lets count to ten and it will go faster..." I almost started to cry. Of course, I tried to slyly get Raj to get a picture and as soon as Jack saw that his gesture of support was being noticed, he gently dropped her hand and moved away.

We also got a tour of the hospital and a social worker talked with Lauryn about her surgery. They let her create a doll, which she named Coco, and showed her how Coco will have a mask out on her face and an IV in her arm. They also casted Cocos feet to match Lauryns!

Here are some pictures of her getting her cast removed, and then her getting them reapplied. There is also a picture of Coco and Lauryn with matching casts.