Sarah Invited to Christmas Shop with Hometown Heros

Hometown Heroes invited our little Sarah to their Christmas Shopping event at the local Monroe Wal-Mart. Sarah and Kim's mother were shown on WBT-TV news at the Christmas Eve event. Mike Heafner went around and put stickers on everyone's shirts. Kim said, " Sarah found out it was fun to take them off of our shirts, and to stick them on Meemaw's face! Sarah was even trying to take them off of shirts of people she didn't know! It was really funny, and such a blessing to have been there -we have been blessed by so much!"

God Bless and Merry Christmas - Chuck and Kim

Stitches are out and were coming HOME

This morning Sarah went under anesthesia and had her stiches taken out. Everything went well and Dr. Levitin said that Sarah's skin has healed beautifully. The most exciting news is that the Dr. also told us that it would be possibly six months before we would have to come back. WOO HOO. The reason is to let the skin around Sarah's chin heal so that they can go back and make another incision there. We will be sending monthly photo's of Sarah for Dr. Waner to see so that they can tell us when they want us back up. We have met alot of parents up hear that go to Dr. Waner with there children and among those are David and Debbie Freedman. They have welcomed us into there home on more than one occasion and have become very good friends of ours. They have two little girls that Sarah enjoys going to see. Last night we went to their house for supper and after playing with the girls and eating, when we got home this is how she looked.

Here are some pictures of Sarah after this mornings procedure and then some just a few minutes ago of Kim and Sarah taking a well deserved nap. Thank you for praying for my family and letting us be a part of your life. God is Good

Sarah's First Circus

Today it rained so we were couped up in the apartment all day but tonight we took Sarah to the circus. She had a ball. She did get scared when they would turn the lights off between acts but besides then she was glued to the stage. We even met one of the clowns after the show. I do believe if we hadn't got out this evening we would have gone stir crazy. Even Sarah was getting bored in the apartment. Tomorrow it's going to be hit or miss with the weather so we hope to get out and walk around a bit. Thursday is suture removal and Friday morning we will be coming home. Woo Hoo. Here are some pictures from the circus.

Monday night at the Laundromat

Yesterday was move day. We went from a two bedroom apartment with two full size beds to a studio apartment (one big room) with two single beds. For some reason mommy didn't sleep very well with sarah in the bed with her. I am laughing now because tonight is my turn sleeping next to Sarah, or so I'm told. We also did our laundry last night and Sarah came down for a visit. Here are some pictures of the new apartment and sarah in the laundry basket. That has got to be the coolest stove I have ever seen.

Sunday Funday

Today was all about having fun with Sarah. We started off with some drawing and ended up at the Childrens Museum of Manhattan which is for the most part a big indoor playground for kids. The museum had some educational aspects to it but would probably be better taken advantage of when Sarah gets 3 or 4. Sarah still had a good time playing with all the different stations they had. Last but not least Sarah and daddy did what they do best, we took a nap. Thank you for all the emails and phone calls it helps us more than anything, keeping intouch with everyone from home makes these trips a little easier.

Such a NICE day!

Today was such a nice day, nice weather and such a nice time! We decided to take a walk-about, like we usually do, and found ourselves on Broadway, and found the Stardust Diner...the waitstaff there sing, it really is such a treat to go...Sarah was awestruck! She loved every second and got mad when we started to leave! The waitstaff take turns singing, and boy do they ALL have beautiful voices! They pinpointed Sarah out pretty quick and would come over and serenade her...she would just watch sooo closely and then clap when they were done! Chuck even got serenaded as well from a waitress...so funny! (carly simons "your so vain") haha! Sarah got all of the love songs! After the diner we took off for another walk, and then to Central park, found the playground, and she ran around with another little boy and did some swinging! It was such a nice day and we are so glad we were able to get out...its supposed to rain tomorrow! UGH! Sarah is doing so well, not much swelling and back to herself again! Yeah, that is such a good sign! Hope you get to enjoy the pictures! Love to all, Chuck, Kim and Sarah!

Day after surgery:looking and feeling good!

Sarah woke up in a pretty good mood today even though it was 3 in the morning... mama didn't know it was that early... she thought it was 6:30 a.m., so mama and sarah decided to wake daddy up! We finally got back to sleep for a couple of hours and woke back up at the real 6:30. Sarah and I got up and made mom breakfast while she slept for a little bit longer! The three of us are getting cramped in here so were going out for a walk to get some fresh air and to see whats going on! Just wanted everyone to see a post surgery smile from Sarah and to show you that you can get sweet tea in NY... you just have to make it yourself!

October Surgery

Today Sarah had her second surgery that involved an incision to her upper lip area and around her nose. This surgery was to pull her lip up because the tumor had made it droop down which inturn gave her a constant drulling issue. Surgery went well today. Sarah woke up from anesthesia upset but that is normal for her. It has been quite a morning so this e-mail is short and sweet. We are all tired and ready for a nap. Thank you for the prayers everyone has given to Sarah. God is good.

Sarah's Stitches Come Out

Today we got Sarah's stitches taken out of her cheek. The doctor's had to re-stitch her chin because some of them came out. It was a deep wound because they stitched on the inside and out. But overall the procedure went well and her new stitches look better then the first one's. I put some pictures from this week on with this post. One is of Sarah at the Central Park Carousel, one of Sarah walking in Central park,one of Sarah just standing there watching TV, and the one in her orange dress is about an hour after getting her stitches out on her cheek. Her chin is still bloody from getting more stitches.

Thank You

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone involved in the Tony Mull Poker Run this past saturday. I wish we could have been there. I hope our letter portraid the way we felt about everyone involved. The countless hours put in to preparing this run were (from my point of view) a real task. This community has continued to help my family and I. All I can say is All the glory goes to The Lord I beleive these events for Sarah is his work.

Day after surgery and ten rounds later

The reason for the title is very evident in some of Sarah's pictures. I think we can really call her our little fighter cause she looks like she went ten rounds in a boxing ring. Last night was very challenging. We tried to put her in the bed with us but she could not get comfortable with the arm restraints on. Kim ended up laying on the couch and rocking her to sleep about midnight. I say midnight in a significant way since we started the process around nine p.m. Wanted to share these photos and then were of to the doctor's for a checkup.

August Trip: Big Changes

We just got back to the apartment. Today's surgery marks a significant step in Sarah's progress. Dr. Waner and Dr. Levitin took the scar off of her cheek next to her nose and they also took the scar off of her bottom lip and chin. They did this by cutting out the scars and then stretching the skin. She has about 15 stitches on her cheek and 8 below her bottom lip. Now the hard part starts with keeping Sarah from rubbing her face. She has little braces on her arms to keep her from touching her face but she is not liking them at all. We have antibiotics for her wounds and tylenol to keep her from to much pain. Overall the day was a success so it's up to mom and I to keep from damaging what the doctor's have fixed. I don't know how we are going to do it but Dr. Levitin told us to try to keep her from even crying so that the stitches won't rip so wish us good luck.We will be here until late next week when they will take the stitches out. I will update soon. Thank you for the prayers, God is good.

July trip to New York

July's laser treatment went very well. Dr. Waner said that Sarah would definately be ready for her big surgery in August. We were also told that after August we wouldn't have to go back up for about three months so that is great. We had a good trip overall. I put some extra pictures in this month's blog. One is of Sarah in her gown before surgery. Another is of Sarah in a Yellow dress right after surgery. There is one of Sarah back at the apartment playing in my shaving cream, we don't take many toys up there so anything goes when it comes to keeping her happy. The other picture is taken outside of F.A.O. Schwartz which is a famous toy store. Next month will be different because Sarah's surgery will consist of an incision to her cheek to remove some of the tumor and also to fix some of the scaring on her cheek. Followed with some more laser treatment. We will be there for eight days so that they can take her souchers out seven days later. This will be hard not just on her but because we won't be able to let her play around for fear of her souchers getting hit if she falls. Please continue to pray for our family and that everything goes well next month. It will be hard on all of us since it is something we have yet to experience. Walking the path with God might be a narrow one but it also has a lot of up hill battles. But it's good to know that with God we also have friends and family to help us up these steps. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.

June trip went well!

We just got back from our sixth trip to NY. We had a new experience going to Roosevelt Hospital instead of our usual Beth Israel Hospital trip. We were across the street from our doctor's office and the hospital this time which cut down on cab fares to the hospital, hopefully we can schedule our visits like that again. Besides a malfunction of our stroller at the airport in Charlotte at the start of our trip the rest of the trip went well. Laser surgery went well. Dr. Levitin told us that after the July laser surgery they will start removing some of the tumor on Sarah's face and will also start fixing the scaring on her right cheek. This is all good news for our family even though it is also a new obstacle. Thank you for praying for Sarah and our family and please continue too. The top two pictures are of Sarah with mom and dad before surgery in the pre-operations area. The last picture is of Sarah back at the apartment after a good nap. For having as much done to her that morning as she did, she is in good spirits.

May trip to New York

We just got back from our 5th trip to NY. We are all a little tired but the good news is everything went well. The Laser surgery went good and Dr. Levitin told us that we would be coming back every four weeks for at least two more surgeries. The good news is that he also told us the rapid growth phase of the hemangioma is for the most part over. And that hopefully by late summer or early fall they can start taking some of the tumor away. This news was good but it also made us very uneasy. Mainly because this is a new step that we are unfamiliar with and the unknown always scares us. The future surgeries themselves take on a whole new aspect to Sarah's treatment and will require our stays to be longer. But we are strong and will get through this. Please pray for our family that we will stay strong and can meet these tasks head on.

The picture of Sarah sitting by herself was taken the day before surgery in central park. The picture of Sarah on mommy's shoulders was after surgery that same day. Surgery was at 7:30 that morning so after a nap and some lunch we decided to take Sarah to the Central Park Zoo. As you can tell she was having fun!

Thank You to All

I wanted to tell everyone thank you for all of the support we have received thru prayers and the fund raisers that have been put on for Sarah. There are so many people who have helped I could not begin to try naming all of them. When you are in a situation like the one we are in you definitely know who the folks are that really care. I hope that everyone knows how much my family and I appreciate the help. Please continue to pray that Sarah will get well and that the tumors will quit growing. You never know what life will bring your way but it's a comfort to know what others are willing to do for you.

Sincerely,

Chuck Porter

April trip

Sorry for the late update.Daddy forgot to pack the camera before the trip. Sarah's laser surgery went good on Wednesday. The doctor's have three different kinds of laser's one for each layer of the skin. They used two of these laser's on Wednesday so the treatment was a bit more intense. The hemangioma is not growing at a rapid rate right now so they decided to take more of the tumor away then they have in the past to help clear the way so to speak. Sarah was in more pain then usually anticipated and had to have some medicine for the pain instead of her usual tylenol. But besides that the surgery went well.The picture of Sarah taking a bath is two days before surgery and the other picture is five days after surgery.