Sarah's Progress in her Battle with Hemangiomas

Day of Nothing....much!

2011-10-10T13:22:00.000-04:00

Since we all had a big day yesterday, we have decided to stay in, or really close to the apartment!Sarah's swelling is down as posted before, and guess what!! So far today she has NOT NEEDED any pain meds! That in itself is wonderful! Our friend Kris was able to get Sarah to forget about her face and stitches for a while (shes been wary of smiling really big and talking a little stiff like) and he was getting her to laugh big belly laughs and smile really big! Big Thanks to Kris!
Oh, had to share this, a friend of ours told us before we left for NY to ask for an oral medicine before surgery to help her relax and not be so upset over going back into surgery. Boy was this THE TICKET! The hospital called it "goofy juice" and we know why! She was hilarious! She started giggling, and picking with us and just being an all out silly little girl, she wanted me (mama) to take her back this time and when I laid her down, she did nothing but giggle, I asked her is she was being a silly girl and she shook her head and said "oh yeah!" giggled herself right to sleep. We don't want to think about how hard it would have been without that, so a big thanks to Kim G. back home!
So far today it has been very lazy here...shhh we're all still in our PJ's!! Were thinking about taking the girls to the park again and another picnic.
Our day yesterday was really nice to catch up with our friends, and the weather here has been great, even a little on the warm side! We were actually looking forward to some cool weather here but what do ya do?!
God is Good!

Statue of Liberty and 9/11 Memorial

2011-10-09T21:25:00.005-04:00

Today we met with our friends Valorie and Kris. Met them at Penn Station and we went on a ferry ride around The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridge. This evening we went to the 9/11 memorial, it was an emotional experience to say the least. The swelling on Sarah's face has gone down considerably and she isn't in as much pain now. We're all tired. Good day. God is good.

Central Park

2011-10-08T21:31:00.000-04:00

Today we went to adventure park inside central park. The girls got on the swing and the slides for about two hours. After, we sat down on one of the lawns for a snack and some rest. We walked down to the famous candy shop for a bag of yummy gummies. Back at the apartment, sarah's writing some thank you cards to her friends and daddy's gonna go do some laundry. Good day overall. God is good

Zoo Bound!

2011-10-08T19:03:00.002-04:00

We went to the Central Park Zoo today per Sarah's request. Now that she's older and more aware she's been asking question's and we have been answering the best we can. You can prepare yourself for the trip, the surgery, and the unrest but it's hard to answer the "why" questions. Today went well though, we just kept her busy so she didn't have time to think about it so much, good thing we're in such a busy city with plenty to do. The hardest part would be the looks people give and the restraint required to ignore it. I have to remind myself that if I react badly Sarah will think something is wrong with her. My flesh and my heart faileth; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm73:26)
God is good!

Thursday night chillin!

2011-10-06T19:23:00.002-04:00

Sarah and I thursday night, for the record I got the first post surgery kiss. What can i say, dad rules.

Big day for surgery!

2011-10-06T18:52:00.004-04:00

Sarah had her 1st surgery in a year today. I don't know if Kim and I are out of practice or this surgery was a big one. I think a little bit of both. Surgery went well and we have all had time to rest. Dr. Waner took out most of the scaring on Sarah's cheek and fixed her lip. When the swelling goes down I think you'll be able to tell a big difference. In this picture, she was coming in and out at the moment and I just snapped a quick photo. God is good

Ferris Wheel bound!

2010-10-10T10:02:00.000-04:00

Friday we went for a walk down Broadway and went to the 3 story ToysRus. Sarah found the giant ferris wheel in the middle and wanted to go for a ride so Mommy and Sarah went while Riley and I watched. Yesterday we went to David and Debbie's house for lunch and afterwards went to central park to play. David and Debbie are friends of ours that we met up here at Dr. Waner's office. Here is a picture of Sarah on the ferris wheel and a picture of us in the park.

In the Park

2010-10-08T13:27:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a great day! The weather was perfect so we spent the day at central park, one of our favorite places! We took the girls to the zoo and then found a grassy area with large rocks and spent the rest of the afternoon playing and relaxing in the shade! Riley took that chance to lay back in the stroller and nap in the breeze! Sarah used her wonderful imagination to entertain us with songs and skits...we thought we would put one up of her singing....Enjoy, God is Good!

Breakfast of Champions

2010-10-07T08:17:00.000-04:00

This morning I got up and made bacon,egg,and cheese bagels. I asked Sarah if she wanted one and she said "no daddy I want some pizza" well we had a slice in the fridge so Sarah had a very healthy breakfast.Ha.
She is feeling good with just a little bit of pain from the stitches. Here are a few pictures from this morning. The red area on her face is from the fraxil laser and it's shiny because it's slathered with bacitracin ointment.
God is good.

Surgery was Successful!

2010-10-06T17:23:00.000-04:00

Today was surgery day and was very successful. Dr. Waner was able to take a good portion of scaring out of Sarah's lip and bring the lip out some to help make her bottom lip look more full with what he described as a certain way of stitching it up. Dr. Waner also did some fraxil laser to help smooth out the scaring on the rest of her face. Sarah woke up from surgery the best a three year old could wake up from surgery and after some serious promising and bribery we were able to get her to drink some pediolyte and eat some crackers. We arrived back at the apartment a few minutes ago and all in the Porter house are in need of a nap. Thank you for your prayers and would like to say a special thank you to Hometown Hero's back home. Here is a picture of Sarah post surgery and a picture of Sarah with Dr. Waner a few minutes after surgery.

Back in the Big Apple

2010-10-05T20:28:00.000-04:00

Today we flew back to Manhattan for another surgery for Sarah. Our flight landed around 10 am and we were in Dr. Waner's office by 11:30 for a visit with him before surgery. We got a picture of Sarah and Dr. Waner which is one of the few one's we have of them together. After the Dr. looked at Sarah she told him thank you, when he went to shake her hand goodbye she went and gave him a big hug. I think it caught him off guard and was pretty cute. Surgery is tomorrow and is scheduled to start at 10 am. Please pray that surgery goes well and that the Dr. does the best possible job he can. God is good.

Stardust Diner...day after surgery...

2010-02-12T15:01:00.003-05:00

Sorry this post is a little late, we realized we had forgotten to put this one on! Sarah did very well this morning getting her stitches switched, talked to Dr. Waner, and he doesn't know what the next step is until we send him some pictures in a month to see how well she is healing, so we will find out later.
But she did well, a little grumpy girl, but shes doing much better!
But we did take Sarah to the Stardust Diner the day after her surgery...and of course she enjoyed it! While the wait staff was getting the music ready to play for the next song, Sarah took that opportunity to sing herself! One of the waiters started to joke that he was going to take a microphone to Sarah! She was singing so loud and having a ball! She did it in between all of the breaks! Her songs were "ABC's" and "Old McDonald!" Here's a picture or two while we were there!

Out and About...

2010-02-11T22:30:00.005-05:00

When we come up, we always try and do things for Sarah, at least something everyday, when the weather is warmer, we go to the park, and the Zoo, etc. But when its cold we have to find different things to go and do inside...so today we decided to take our candy loving little girl, to the very popular and famous "Dylan's Candy Bar" it's not much different from other big candy stores, but its neat and has some really cool things, and its been around for a VERY long time! Sarah was in love! She started to walk around just touching the bins full of candy and looking at everything, and then when she figured out we were letting her pick some candy to go into her bag...well that was all she wrote! She really enjoyed it, and it was a cute place to go and do something for the day! On the way back, we stopped to meet a few of the horses that line up with their buggies waiting to take people on a carriage rides...Sarah and Fredia Joe (the horse) really took a liking to each other! On the way back, right as we were walking up to the apartment building, i looked up and saw Sarah fast asleep on top of Chuck's shoulders! It was a nice day to get out and walk around!
Sarah goes back in to get her stitches switched out in the morning at 8 a.m. Please pray that all goes well, and the pain afterwards isn't too much!
God is Good!

Snow day Continued...

2010-02-11T21:53:00.004-05:00

Well we took off with the girls in their "bubble cart"! They were so snug and warm all bundled up and protected from the wind...it was so nice knowing they were comfy enough to both take a nice nap before the museum. It was very interesting to go, we got to see the Titanic exhibit and the Leonardo DaVinci exhibit. I mostly wanted to do this little blog entry just to show you some neat pictures...i took some really neat ones so its going to be hard for me to pick just a few! Thank you so much for praying for Sarah! Enjoy the pictures! Chuck pushing the girls...and a little lady feeding "her" birds! It was so cute! And a picture of the stroller, with the girls asleep inside once we got to the museum...the cover was covered in snow!!
God is Good!

Wednesday is Snow Day

2010-02-10T10:27:00.003-05:00

We woke up this morning and already had 3 inches of snow on the ground. We are supposed to get up to 18 inches total which is fine, as long as we can leave Saturday. Friday, Sarah is going back into the hospital to get her stitches replaced with dissoluble stitches for the trip home. Today we are going to try and go to the Discovery Time Square Expo and see the Titanic and DaVinci exhibits. The Expo is only 15 blocks from where we are staying so we think we can make it. This is a picture of Sarah at Magnolia Bakery Yesterday. Her chin looks so much better.

Surgery Day...

2010-02-08T19:58:00.004-05:00

Today was a little different than the other surgeries that Sarah has had...instead of going early in the morning, we went later in the afternoon at 12 to be there for her surgery at 1. It was different because Sarah had to go most of the day hungry, instead of sleeping through most of the hungry part! She did good though...
They called us back to pre-op a little after 1:00 to get Sarah ready, and Sarah, Riley and Daddy sat down to watch some Veggie Tales on the DVD player we brought with us! So cute!
When getting dressed in her gown to go back the the operating room, she wanted to keep wearing her tutu! She was so cute...and I'm sure the most fashionable little 2 year old back there in a hospital gown!! (Chuck takes her back, so he took it off for the surgery once she was asleep)
Surgery lasted a little over an hour and Dr. Waner came out to tell us how it went, at first Sarah was supposed to get dissoluble stitches that we could go home with, but when Waner started working he realized that the plan of what he was going to do and how he was going to do it needed to be changed, so she got regular stitches, and on Friday we are going to go back, and they will do more laser (they did some today) and take out the regular stitches and replace them with the dissoluble ones; for us to go home with.
Sarah bounced right back, and was drinking her juice out of a cup and eating goldfish in no time!
Thank you all for your prayers, and love!
God is Good!

Sarah's Surgery

2010-02-08T08:30:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! Just wanted to put a post up to let all of you know that her surgery will be today @ 1 pm. We dont know how long the surgery will be right now, but please pray that she has a safe sugery with no complications. Thank you!
God is good...

Sarah's Favorite Restaurant!!

2009-07-12T12:22:00.008-04:00

After getting out of the Hospital, and some good rest, it was time to get out and stretch our legs! So we decided to take Sarah to her favorite place, The Stardust Diner! If you don't already know, its a themed restaurant where they wear poodle skirts etc. and the waiters and waitresses sing some great songs and perform while you eat! Sarah just loves it, its worth the walk, to take her and to see a smile on her face and the enjoyment it brings her!! One of the waiters, he was the first one to sing to her our very first trip, (and he went on to play in the show Wicked on Broadway, ) it was his turn to sing, he made his way around the room, sang a bit to Sarah and said "Welcome back! Your looking good!" It was so nice that he remembered her! She got up and danced, clapped, and had a really good time! At one point some of the staff started doing the twist, and of course Sarah had to start that as well, she did such a good job! It was very cute, wish everyone could have seen her! Here's a video....

God is Good

Leaving the Hospital

2009-07-10T11:19:00.002-04:00

Sarah got discharged from the hospital this morning and was so ready to go she didn't even want to put on some shorts as noticed is first picture. We did get to meet a clown jokester at the hospital but I think he brightened up mom and dad more then Sarah.

Had to take a picture of Kim eating some cereal at the table or is that her belly. We just got back to the apartment and Sarah is wide open. We are all glad to see that.

We will be keeping everyone up to date.

God is good

Surgery day went well

2009-07-09T21:34:00.003-04:00

Today's surgery went very well considering we didn't know for sure if it was going to happen at all last night. But thanks to a lot of answered prayers Dr. Waner was able to do the surgery. Thank you to everyone for taking the time out of your day to pray for Sarah. This is definately proof to any non-believer that God cares for his children and watches over them.

Surgery went well, they lifted Sarah's lip to make it equal with the other side of her lip and fixed some scaring on her eyebrow line. They also did some lasering on her chin. They admitted her into the hospital this time for two reasons one is to prevent the April trip of going back to the hospital and being admitted and two because it was a big surgery and they want to keep an eye on her. I was not able to stay with Kim and Sarah at the hospital so I am back at the apartment fixing to crash. Hope this message finds you well and thank you again for the support.

On a light note when Sarah came out of surgery the Dr. asked Kim and I was she a mommy's girl or a daddy's girl,we both answered by saying both. The Dr. replied saying that the reason he asked was that when Sarah came out of surgery her first word was DADDY. Just wanted everyone to know that, not that it made my day or anything

Hope and Prayer

2009-07-08T19:15:00.003-04:00

Wanted to update everyone of the current situation. We got to NY just fine today and talked with Ylana which is Dr. Waner's nursing assistant about tomorrow mornings surgery around 3pm. Well we just got a call from her saying that Dr. Waner got something in his eye today and is not sure if he will be operating tomorrow. This is a pretty big deal to us because it will throw off our whole trip to get stitches out next week. I am simply telling you all this so that I could get you to pray for Dr. Waner to be able to do Sarah's surgery tomorrow. Hopefully God willing the Dr. will be ok and everything will go as planned I will update tomorrow with the good news or not so good news. God is good

Going in July

2009-06-22T12:49:00.002-04:00

Hey Everybody,

It has been a few months of being at home and it is time to go back to Dr. Waner's in NY. Sarah's next surgery will be July 9. This will be our last trip for awhile since Kim is now almost six months pregnant. I will update everyone on the 9th after surgery. Hope this email finds you well. Please pray for a successful surgery and a quick recovery.

God is good

Dr. Waner on MSNBC

2009-05-03T19:51:00.006-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

On a new series on MSNBC entitled "A CHANGE OF FACE", we see how three New York City surgeons dedicate their lives to perfect, save, and reconstruct the human face, changing lives in the operating room. All new episodes premiere on Sunday, May 3, May 10, and May 17 at 10 p.m. ET. Watch for Sarah's sweet smile in several of Dr. Waner's clips.

Stitches are out!

2009-04-13T11:33:00.002-04:00

Stitches came out this morning and Dr. Waner told us to wait six weeks and send him some pictures of Sarah's face. Everyone is napping the day away so that we will be rested for our flight tomorrow. We will be home tomorrow around 3:00. This trip has definately been memorable. Our friends David and Debbie Freedman have let us stay in there apartment all 10 days that we have been here. They are on vacation in Florida and graciously let us into there home. Thank you.
Not much else to tell besides we are ready to come home. Thank you for all the prayers and comments.
God is good

Walked half the city

2009-04-12T19:17:00.001-04:00

Today we walked all over the place. We Started from the apartment and went south to a parade that NY had on 5th avenue. After seeing what was going on we went to the battleship Intrepid which is a retired ship that has been restored and retrofitted to let you go in the top deck, flight deck and the hanger area. Just a little fun fact from pamplet it took 7000 gallons of paint to re-paint the ship.

More importantly then the sites that we saw today we remembered the reason for Easter and the ultimate sacrifice our Lord Jesus gave to die for our sins. When I think of Easter I think of sacrifice and love. Maybe these feelings come up because of our own path in life, maybe I am just relating this back to our life but felt compelled to share this.

In preperation for Easter Kim and Sarah sat down last night and colored some Easter eggs. Sarah really enjoyed this until it was time to let the eggs dry. She got so mad she sat down on her butt and then threw herself forward onto the ground. Big time temper tantrum, in her defense we started the painting process very close to bedtime.

Hope this post finds you well! Happy Easter

God is good

Friday Funday

2009-04-11T09:55:00.004-04:00

Hey everybody,

Yesterday was a good day. We decided to walk about NY. We walked down to Broadway and took Sarah back to the Stardust Diner where all the waiters and waitresses sing oldies, she loved it. Then on our way to the East river we stopped at a fountain and let Sarah put a penny in. We got to the East river and found a little park to let Sarah walk around in. We also found a little taste of home that evening, a place called Brother Jimmy's bbq where we found sweet tea. The restaurant had mason jars for cups and had NC license plates all over the walls, we loved it. Sarah is doing great today, we had planned to take her to a easter egg hunt today but it is raining and doesn't seem to be letting up. We are going to try and find something to do inside today.

Sarah will have her stitches removed on Monday at 7:30, please pray that everything goes well, I say this because anytime she goes under anethesia it is a big deal to us. Tuesday we will be coming home, thank goodness because we are missing everyone.

I will update soon. God is good.

Out of the hospital!

2009-04-09T20:12:00.003-04:00

Sarah's fever broke over night and she got up this morning ready for some apple jacks and pedialyte. The only set back was that Sarah's iv came out of her vein and went into her arm filling her arm with fluid. We noticed this when her arm got really puffy. They removed the iv and told us to keep her arm elevated. Dr. Waner came by about 2:00 p.m. to look at Sarah. He removed her drain and discharged us. We got back to the apartment and all of us got a two hour nap. Best nap I think I've had.
I have to tell this story. We decided to go to a famous bakery called Magnolia Bakery to celebrate our good day. We took a taxi because it is on the other side of central park. When we got there I went to pay the driver whom had been asking about Sarah on the way over there. He turned around and said " No cab fair give it to Sarah" For anyone who has been to NY you can agree that is about as rare as it gets. Thought that was something special.
Thank you to everyone that has continued to pray for Sarah,Kim and I.
This picture is back at the apartment
God is good!

Turn of events

2009-04-08T23:25:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody,
This morning about 2:00 a.m. Sarah woke up vomiting and had a fever of 104.5 taken in her ear. We gave her some tylenol and called the doctor. We ended up going to Dr. Waner's office at 10:30 and they admitted her into the hospital. Sarah has fought a 102 fever all day. They would only let one parent stay in the room with her during the night. Visiting hours are over at 8:00 p.m. and they kicked me out of the room about 10:00 p.m. Hopefully by morning she will have broke her fever and I will be able to update everyone with good news. Out of the nine other trips we have made up here this is the hardest trip so far. I didn't take any pictures today for multiple reasons but mainly because I didn't think we would be admitted to the hospital. Dr. Waner came by this evening to Sarah's room and told us that he doesn't think the fever and vomiting is related to Sarah's surgery but that she probably picked up some kind of bug. Hopefully everything will be better in the morning. Please pray that Sarah will get better quickly and that Kim and I can function under these nights of sleeplessness. Nobody said the road would be easy though. God is Good

Day after surgery

2009-04-07T13:55:00.003-04:00

It's the day after surgery and everyone is still pretty tired. We went to Dr. Waner's office this morning and were told that the drain tube will probably be in until friday unless the swelling goes down and the fluid quits coming out earlier. This is the first time Sarah has had a drain in after surgery and it makes the recovery a little harder on us. I say Kim and I because Sarah doesn't pay it much mind at all. She got up this morning and walked around the apartment kicking a soccer ball and enjoying herself. Hopefully her drain will be able to come out before friday, I know I will feel better when it is out. I will update later. God is Good

What a day for surgery!

2009-04-06T20:34:00.006-04:00

Today takes the cake for our surgery days. We were scheduled for Sarah to have surgery at 11:30 this morning which is later then usual. We finally got her into surgery at 3:30 this afternoon because of scheduling issues which means Sarah didn't eat or drink anything all day. Surgery went good though Sarah got the tumor above her nose and the the one next to her nose worked on which included grinding off some of her nose bone to help straighten the nose because her tumor had pushed her nose over to the left. She also had a different laser applied to the scars on her cheek and chin, in the Dr.'s words, sands down the scar tissue to make her skin smoother. She also had a drain tube put under her skin to help with swelling in the nose area. You can see the drain tube coming out her forehead. Ok - got to go and pick up some prescriptions from the drug store before they close. I will update better tomorrow. Please pray for Sarah to have a good recovery and for Kim and I to stay strong.
God is good.

Change in Plans

2009-03-12T06:39:00.003-04:00

Wanted to let everyone know that our March trip got bumped to April. The doctor's in NY were not going to be in at the time for March and we had to reschedule. At first this became quite a problem because we had to change airline tickets which cost $300 to change flights and we were going to have an extra night in NY. But everything worked out great. Our friends that got us the airplane tickets for March were able to call US airways and have the $300 fee removed. We called David and Debbie (our friends in NY) to let them know of our schedule changes and they had good news and bad news. The bad news was that they would not be in town when we came, the good news was that they would not take no for an answer and told us we could stay in there apartment in NY. This is just another example of God's work. We started these schedule changes with added expenses and know have the least expensive trip to NY that we have ever had. Just wanted everyone to know and thank everyone for the prayers. Next update will be from NY.

God is good!

new hardware

2009-02-08T14:24:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone just trying new phone to see if I can use this instead of our laptop when we go to NY. Everyone is doing good. I will update soon.
God is good!

Upcoming Trip

2009-01-01T08:57:00.003-05:00

Just wanted everyone to know that we have another trip coming up in March. We don't know exactly what will be done except that they want to start working on her right cheek area. We wanted to update everyone and wish everyone a happy new year.

God is Good

Sarah Invited to Christmas Shop with Hometown Heros

2008-12-27T18:34:00.000-05:00

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

2008-10-30T12:15:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-28T21:29:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-28T08:44:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-26T19:43:00.000-04:00

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!

2008-10-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

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!

2008-10-24T10:22:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-23T13:46:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-28T18:41:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-27T12:25:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-22T10:56:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-21T12:18:00.000-04:00

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

2008-07-27T13:49:00.000-04:00

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!

2008-06-13T19:03:00.000-04:00

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

2008-05-15T20:24:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-21T10:50:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-21T10:16:00.000-04:00

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.

Done with Chemo

2008-03-25T10:17:00.000-04:00

Just wanted everyone to know that Sarah had her last of four chemo treatments yesterday and everthing went well. She has not had any visible growth this month which is good news. We will have two more scheduled treatments one in April and one in May. After that the doctors are going to reevaluate the frequency of treatments, which hopefully means that we won't have to go to New York as often.
I mentioned on the last blog that the doctors up in New York told us that we are staying ahead of the growth and that hopefully there won't be many more rapid growth sperts.
Sarah is doing well and she has two little teeth right next to each other on the bottom of her mouth. She also discovered her ear yesterday and won't let go of it.
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for Sarah and please continue too.

March Trip to New York

2008-03-15T10:48:00.000-04:00

Just wanted everyone to know that Sarah's trip to NY went well. Dr. Levitin also told us that the intervention we have done (laser,steroids&chemo)is working great and that he feels we are staying ahead of the game. Sarah has two more chemo treatments and that should be it for awhile. These are pictures of mom and Sarah before surgery in the waiting room and then Sarah looking at me saying "take me home" after surgery.Please continue to pray for Sarah and us to stay strong and for her tumors to not grow anymore.

Upcoming Events For Sarah

2008-03-11T19:41:00.000-04:00

There are several events in the near future that are going to go towards helping pay for Sarah's Medical bills and the high costs of taking Sarah to Manhattan, New York for her Laser Surgeries.
These are the events coming up:

On April 5 there will be a breakfast put on for Sarah at Midway Baptist Church from 6a.m. until 10a.m. There are several churches helping put the event on including New Hope and Utah.

On April 5 there will also be a dinner put on for Sarah by Hemby Bridge Fire Dept. at Hemby Bridge Fire Dept. at 6p.m. for further information please contact Windi Henderson at 704-882-2100. Tickets are going to be sold until March 28.

On April 12 there will be a Poker Run held by Iron Horse Motorcycles and Iron Horse Road Riders at Iron Horse Motorcycles in Monroe,NC. For more details please contact:
Linda Coats at 704-233-9156

Latest News

2008-03-07T14:46:00.000-05:00

Kim and I have noticed since the latest MRI a significant amount of growth on Sarah's face.We decided to see her Hematologist Dr. Mogul about it on Monday. After talking with Dr. Mogul and conversing with Dr. Levitin(NY doctor) they decided that going back on steroids was not an option at this point and that a low dosage of chemotherapy treatment from a drug named Vincristine would be a safer step to help control the growth of Sarah's tumors. Sarah got the dose a few days ago and has yet to be 100% so far. She is not as playful and happy as usual but hopefully we will see some good days in the near future.

Next week will be very busy for Sarah, she has her second chemo treatment on Monday and then its back to New York City on Tuesday for her third laser treatment. Hopefully everything will go well and I can update everyone very soon. Please pray for Sarah's treatments to go well and to help her and us stay strong.

Update on Sarah

2008-02-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

As of February 11th Sarah is completely off of the steroids that she began at two and a half weeks old. Sarah's doctors have decided now that she is getting laser treatment once a month that the steroid use is no longer a necessity and the side effects are not worth keeping her on them.

After two weeks of being off the steroids we noticed the hemangiomas had started growing on the inside of her lip. We immediately took her to the hematologist Dr. Mogul. After talking with Dr. Mogul we decided it was time for another MRI because of the new growth on the lip we were concerned about the growth on the inside near her airway and behind her eye revealed on previous MRIs.

After getting the results of the MRI the good news is that there is no new growth anywhere but her mouth and since there is no obstruction with her eating or breathing chemotherapy is not required at this time.

Sarah is very happy to be off of the steroids,she is playing more during the day and interacting with us more. Plus she is now sleeping through the night. She has also been working on her first tooth, expected to arrive any day.

2nd trip to New York

2008-02-18T16:14:00.000-05:00

The image of Sarah with the John Deere hat on was taken a few days before 2nd surgery. The other picture was taken a day after the 2nd surgery.If you notice in the first surgery picture the ulceration under her lip is pretty bad but in the John deere picture it has cleared up fairly well. Now she has an ulceration on her right cheek. The 2nd laser surgery hopefully will take care of that one.

Before and After Sarah's first laser surgery

2008-02-18T16:06:00.000-05:00

The picture on bottom is of sarah before surgery. The picture on the top is after the first laser surgery.

The Three of Us Right after Laser Surgery...

2008-02-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

Sarah's first bottle after 8 hours of no food, so that she wouldn't get sick during the surgery.

Sarah's Hemangiomas - 1st Laser Surgery by Dr. Waner

2008-01-16T20:23:00.000-05:00

Note the Hemangiomas ulcerations that had developed in such a short time before her surgery, the largest under her lower lip.

CLICK ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

Sarah's Laser Surgery went very well. The excitement for us deepened when we first saw her after the surgery and she started giving us all a ton of her happy smiles. While she was under the anesthesia they ran a laparoscope TV camera down her throat and we all were relieved that they found no Hemangiomas inside the wind pipe. Sarah goes back to the Vascular Birthmark Institute tomorrow so that the doctors can check her out before we head home. We are also going to visit the doctor's dormitory that they offer their patients - we have been told that they are very nice at a very reasonable price, just down the street from the Vascular Birthmark Institute.

Doctors (right to left) - The famous Dr. Waner, Dr. Thompson, Dr. Levitin, Vascular Birthmark Institute.

Slide show of our trip to New York

Our Big Decision - How best to Battle Hemangiomas

2007-11-20T17:15:00.000-05:00

CLICK ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

Sarah’s local dermatologists wanted to do Laser Surgery here in North Carolina. We then talked to Sarah’s hematologist who gave us his opinion because he had worked with our dermatologists for a long time. He advised that we should strongly consider going to New York and see Dr. Waner. We had heard that Dr. Waner and his staff are known to be the best in the country, perfecting the laser application and inventing new technology just for children with Hemangiomas.

Sarah just a few hours old

2007-08-31T19:11:00.000-04:00

CLICK ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE

Sarah was diagnosed at birth as having a port wine stain on her precious face. At 2 and 1/2 weeks old we found out that she has Hemangiomas and that she needed to be put on steroids to stop the possible rapid growth. At close to three months of age we discovered the famous Dr. Waner and his Vascular Birthmark Institute. From the first phone call Dr. Waner answered our questions personally and gave us his email address and phone number.

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2007-07-12T20:13:00.002-04:00

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2007-06-26T12:28:00.000-04:00