Sydney's Journal - December 2005
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Today is my last day before port surgery. I got to enjoy a few weeks without a tube in my chest and it was fun while it lasted, but tomorrow I go back to the hospital to have my new one put in. Fortunately the new one will be much better than the old one because it will be completely under my skin, so even though I'll have a tube again I won't have anything hanging out of my chest anymore. It sure would be nice to not have one at all, though. We took a few pictures today just to remember my last day without one.
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We got up reeeally early today to go to the hospital for my port surgery. It seems that surgeons love to get started at the crack of dawn. The rest of us are not so eager to be awake yet, but somehow Mama managed to get me up and drag me there. It was silly because before they got started they gave me something to put me right back to sleep. That was fine with me.
The next thing I knew it was all over and I was waking up in a different room. The nurse brought me out to Mama and there was Dada and Aunt Titi too. I was a little woozy and sore, but we got to sit and visit for a while until I felt better. Before long we were all on our way home again.
This port I have now is really great. It's underneath my skin so I no longer have a tube hanging out of my chest to worry about and it has a lot less chance of getting infected like my last tube. I can see where it is because it's a little bump under my skin about the size of a gumball. That's where the nurses will stick the needles from now on because it's connected to tube that goes right into my artery. Even though they still have to use needles I don't feel it because Mama rubs a cream on my skin before I get poked and it makes the feeling go away for a while. I'm so excited because now I can really go swimming and play in the water like all the other kids.
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We don't get a lot of snow or ice where we live. Well, actually, none at all. Except for once a year when a really special show comes to town. There's a place not far from here where they can make the temperature go down to 9 degrees inside, and it's huge! Then they have artists from all over the world come and sculpt a winter wonderland entirely out of ice. When they're done they open it to up to everybody and you can walk around and look at it all.
Daddy's family came up to visit and we all went down there tonight to check it out. What an amazing place, but wow is it sooooooooooooo cold. It's so cold they give everyone big thick parkas to wear. They even had one my size. Well, almost my size. I had no idea where my arms were the whole time, but at least I was warm. There were so many things to see and they were all made out of ice. We saw entire scenes made up of people, animals, trees and buildings. They even built a giant castle that we could climb up on and slide down. It was lots of fun, but after a while I wanted to get out and warm up. 9 degrees is about 80 degrees colder than I'm used to. I had a good time, though, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next year.
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I had seen this Mickey Mouse guy in pictures and on TV before but today we actually got to go see where he lives. Daddy's family was still in town, so this morning we all went there together. What a magical place. In fact, they even call it The Magic Kingdom. I couldn't stop smiling when we got there. There were so many things to see and do and it just went on and on forever. In the middle of it all was a beautiful castle and they say a princess named Cinderella lives there.
One of the first things we did was go on a boat ride called It's A Small World and it was amazing. I sat there with my eyes and mouth wide open the whole time taking in all the sights and sounds. A little later on, Daddy took me for a ride in a race car! Wow, was that fun. After that we wandered over to Mickey's Toontown and saw Mickey and Minnie's actual houses! To my delight, Mickey was actually there and I got to meet him in person. I wasn't sure what to think of him and at first I was a little nervous, but eventually I decided he was an alright guy.
Later on we went back over to Cinderella's castle and discovered a huge golden carousel. That was my favorite ride of the entire day. I loved it so much, Mama took me on it several times.
Near the end of the day we got to see something really special - the SpectroMagic parade. I'd never seen anything like it. Everybody lined up along the streets and watched these wonderful colorfully lit floats parade by to music along with all the Disney characters you could think of. Once again I was mesmerized. When my good friend, Mickey, came by waving to everyone near the end I got a huge smile on my face and waved right back.
When the parade was over, I thought it was time to head home, but alas, there was more to be seen. Suddenly, the sky lit up with fireworks. They were the prettiest I had ever seen and they exploded in time with music that was playing all around us. By the time it was all over it was way past my bed time, and I was pooped. It was a lot of fun though and I can't wait to go back again.
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I was really starting to feel lousy again because my blood was running low and Mommy and Daddy wanted me to have a nice Christmas, so today I got another transfusion. Of all the gifts I may receive this year, these transfusions will will always be my most treasured. I will always appreciate the people out there that give their own blood so that others may live. Without them I would not be here. Thank you for your generosity.
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Christmas afternoon we headed over to Nana's house to celebrate with Daddy's side of the family. It sure is fun when Christmas comes twice in one day. I got bunches of wonderful gifts - mostly books, some clothes and a few toys. I really love books and Nana always gets me lots of good books. At one point, Uncle Bryan opened one of his gifts and it was packed with bunches of those white packing 'peanut' things. It didn't take long for them to get tossed all over the room. There were so many of them it looked like it snowed. By the time we were done, the place was a disaster area, but we had lots of fun. I always enjoy Christmas time.
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It's my favorite time of year again. Christmas! I love getting to be together with family and to see all the pretty decorations. But what I enjoy most are all the presents. Mommy and Daddy's families live in the same place so we get to spend Christmas with both of them. Today we woke up and headed over to Mommy's sister's house to spend Christmas morning with her family. It was so much fun. Everybody gave me wonderful gifts and I had fun playing with my cousin. Before long it was time to leave and go to Nana's house for Christmas - part 2. Can you believe it? More presents... and more cousins!
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This year we got a chance to visit with Papa at Christmas time. We all went over to his house with my uncles and cousins. I don't get a chance to see Papa very much so this was a nice treat. The weather outside was beautiful and cool so we went down the street to a park near his house and had a picnic. There even was a big playground there. I had a blast climbing up and down all over that thing. Now that I'm such an expert at walking I like to challenge myself with climbing. I couldn't quite manange all the stairs on my own so Mommy and Daddy helped me up and they took me down the slides.
The sun was going down so we eventually had to head back. Before we left I got to have a close encounter with some silly white ducks. They were pretty brave at first and got right up close to me, but they all went running when I started quacking at them. I must've said the wrong thing.