Surgery Update

This morning, May 7th, was Ashlee’s long awaited appointment with her surgeon where were supposed to get a surgery date. Instead…we didn’t. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we have an AMAZING surgeon who knows his limitations. Our surgeon was very honest with us at her last appointment telling us that he has done Cloaca surgeries before but that he wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t tell us about this Surgeon in Cincinnati, OH that does them almost daily. This other surgeon is also the one who “invented” (for lack of a better word) the procedure to fix these Cloacas. We told him that we had confidence in him as a surgeon and appreciated his honesty but wanted him to do the surgery. Today he told us that after we left that appointment he didn’t rest for 2 days. He hasn’t done a Cloaca surgery in 6 years and has never done the specific procedure that Ashlee will need. He is very concerned for her Gynecological future and doesn’t feel confident that he is the best surgeon for the task at hand. His sincerity is touching, and we know that his concerns are real. (Especially remembering back to the NICU when we first met him and he told us how confident he was in doing the procedure to fix her Esophagus.) Again, we appreciate his honesty. He said he also doesn’t know a surgeon in Arizona that he would recommend for this procedure. He again mentioned the surgeon, Dr. Pena, in Ohio and said that he was waiting for our call. We are very pleased that Ashlee’s surgeon who has performed all of her surgeries and procedures since birth will fly out to Cincinnati for her Surgery with Dr. Pena to assist him and learn more about the procedure he will be doing. We knew Ashlee’s situation was rare when we first heard about it but now we really know how rare it is seeing that we have to go see the man who basically invented the wheel for this procedure.

This means that we will have to fly to Cincinnati for a consultation with Dr. Pena. Then after the surgery is scheduled we will have to fly back out for the surgery. So now added to our list of expenses is the two flights for Bryan and I to go out there for the consultation and for the surgery itself. Many of you already know that we are going to be having an All for Ashlee Fundraiser to help pay for medical expenses. It will be a garage sale/bake sale/boutique. If you have anything you would like to donate, please contact us at allforashlee@gmail.com , or you can make a monetary donation right here on this blog by clicking on the "DONATE" button. The actual fundraiser will be on Saturday, May 17th. Please contact us for directions.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Bryan, Coree, Dane and Ashlee Adams