Payton had to be at the hospital at 9 this morning for all of her pre-op work. She was first seen by the Nurse Practitioner that has been working with us from the beginning & did very well.

We then had to go get an EKG done, which has never been Payton's favorite thing. So I broke out a new princess doll & a sucker. The combination of the 2 hit the spot. She had to be still & calm for 15 to 20 seconds & usually it takes a lot longer than it did this morning. The poor technician was such a good sport... he'd patiently replace the leeds after Payton with break free of them....

Then she needed an xray. Well I will just say that I'm glad it's over. She was a very good girl for the first one but by the 2nd she was done with the process. She ended up needing to be strapped down & actually did better than I thought she would.

Lastly she needed blood drawn. It went just as I expected so I was prepared... Payton on the other hand was not happy. The guy doing it was awesome & got it the first time. He also listened to me & took my suggestions. Payton started screaming when the turnikit was put on so when he got access to the vein I asked him to make a big deal out of taking off the big blue rubberband & she calmed down a little & was better. After it was off she looked at her arm & said "mommy no more red"!

It took her a while to calm down & I wanted to give her a good memory before we left so I took her out to the garden. It was completely decked out with Christmas Decor. We walked around until Payton was 'over' her experience. I asked her if she had any owey's & the first time she pointed to her arm & her chest (all of sickers from the EKG). I waited a little while longer & asked again. She pointed to her knees which let me know she wasn't thinking about her real oweys... or they stopped hurting her.

Surgery 7am Monday - So we have a surgical time on Monday. We are first case, which is awesome!!! Have you ever tried to keep your child from eating when they are hungry? Yeah no fun! So we have to be there at 5:30a & assuming she is healthy we will proceed.

There is a very good chance that she may not be healthy. Currently she has a runny nose & as long as it doesn't develope into something else (wet cough, fever, throw ups, etc.) we will be able to go ahead with the surgery. So I hope it doesn't have to be postponed... I'd love to just get this over with.

Fast With Us. We would like to invite any of you who would like to join us in fasting for Payton, the Surgical Team & Dr's & Nurses who will be caring for her this Sunday. As before my sister will be updating this blog on Monday & throughout the week when I cannot. We thank you for all of your thoughts & prayers.

Ready or Not... HERE WE GO! :(