10:43 p.m.

Today was another good day for Mal.  She did have labs done today and her numbers looked great, the liver numbers that had gone up on Friday have now come back down, YIPPEE!! We did speak to the doctor on call today, Dr. Vos, about the IV fluids and feeds, we will start these back and hopefully this will help to put weight back on Mal. Rachel and Abby came by and visited Mal and she was so happy to see them.  Mal opened many gifts today, a BIG THANK YOU to Becky (nurse that used to work on 4 East) and her husband Justin, they sent Mal a great inspirational scrap book along with some very generous donations that they collected on her behalf.  Thank you both so much and we will be calling you soon, Becky please email me your phone number.  Thanks also to Sandy Spence yet again for your kindness!!  Thank you to Mawmaw Roberts and her Sunday school class for the gifts you sent and to the wonderful folks at Henderson Arms for your continued kindness.  Well, the presents are all wrapped, Mal and Michael have opened their Christmas Eve gift and we are ready to turn in for the night so Santa came stop off at the Smith"s house.  We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!!  Merry Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!!!  We love you all.  The Smiths

10:00 p.m.

Hello, hope everyone is doing well tonight.  Another good day for Mal, she and I went to Target for a short shopping trip.  She is looking so much better and we are so proud of her.  We have decided to not go to Egleston for a weigh in tomorrow, Mal is eating better but has lost a few pounds since stopping the feeds.  We have decided to go ahead and do the feeds at night again and she will continue to eat in hopes of gaining back the weight she lost and a few more pounds on top of that.  She really wanted that tube out by Christmas but also knows it is just too soon to remove it, she needs the nutrition while she is regaining her strength.  Cortney, our wonderful home nurse, will be by in the morning to draw labs so we are praying for good numbers again tomorrow.  Mawmaw and Robert arrived today and will stay with us until some time in the afternoon on Christmas day, we are happy to have them with us.  We played wii for a while today and all had a good time together, let me tell you, if you have never played before, that game is so addictive!  Well, tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I am happy to say Michael will spend the night with us so we can wake up on Tuesday to see what treats Santa brings!  Of course, I already have my treat, having Miss Mal home and on the road to recovery.  Well, thanks for checking on us and sleep well.  Lisa

10:35 p.m.

Well, another good day for Miss Mallory, she has felt good all day today.  It seems like the fluid area that is between her liver and diaphram is still there, the pain is pretty much gone but I am still needing to empty the bag daily.  We will see how her eating goes and what her weight is on Monday morning, if it is where she needs to be we will go for a weigh in at Egleston on Monday in hopes of getting the feeding tube removed.  If her weight is down from Wednesday we will just call the doctors and see what they want us to do as far as continuing with the feeds until she eats more and feels better. She does want this tube out but is not stressing out about it, it will happen in time.  Mal made sausage balls today and they were delicious.  We would like to thank Hal, Phyllis and McKenna for stopping by today and for the bags of goodies you brought, you guys and great friends and we love you.  Hal also presented Mallory with a gift and cards/notes from our friends at Unilever, thank you all so much for the prayers, gifts and concern for our family.  Mike has not spoken with some of you in several years, it is so nice to know we are still considered part of the Unilever family, again THANK YOU!  The Smiths

10:20 p.m.

Mal had another good night last night and had a good day today.  She has a cold or sinus or something going on but otherwise is doing very good.  Her labs were good, a few numbers went up but only slightly.  Mal spent the day at the house with Mike and Michael and I went shopping for a little while.  Speaking of Michael, we are sooooo proud of him, he passed the firefighter tests yesterday is an Official Firefighter with the Marietta Fire Department, he received his helmet late last night.  He will begin EMT school at the beginning of January and it will last for 3 months then he will be placed at a firestation.  Michael, we love you and are so very proud of you!!!!!!  Well, that will do it for now, thanks so much for checking on us.  Good night.  Lisa

10:20 p.m.

Today was a pretty good day for Mal.  She slept VERY good last night, from 9:30 or so until around 7 this morning then back to sleep til 1:15 this afternoon, I think clinic yesterday wiped her out.  She has a sore throat and is a little nasaley, praying this will not last long.  I did call Todd to see if he thought she needed any additional medicine for this cold or whatever it is, he did not think so at this time, we will let it run its course.  He did tell me what to watch for as far as additional symptoms that could develop, the symptoms he discussed are not commom but according to Todd Mal is not usually in the"common" category.  So, with that said we will just watch her closely.  She wrapped a few gifts for me and also cooked lasagna for our dinner tonight, it was very good!!!  She requested a glue gun today for a special project she is working on, so Mike went out and bought her one, not sure what she is working on as she will not let me see yet.  She went to bed early again at 9 and is resting well.  I think she has a lot of catching up to do as far as resting and sleeping well.  Thanks for checking on us and enjoy your night, at least what is left of it.  Lisa

Hi everyone it"s Mal! I just wanted to say hi....and i had a really good day!

I also wanted to tell everyone about the awesome gift i got in in the mail today!!  I recieved an alabama jersey.. witth the number 17 on it, and MALLORY on the back!! and the best part ..it was from jamie chistensen!!! I was really suprised... it was so cool! Roll Tide! But i will let my mom do the update i wanted to just tell everyone about my awesome gift!  THANKS JAMIE!!!

So, we had labs this morning and we went to clinic today.  Mal"s labs remain very good, her liver numbers did go up slightly but are still stable.  The drainage tube and bag was left in place as she is still having drainage come out so it is too early to remove it just yet.  She wanted so bad to get the feeding tube out, she was at the weight Dr. Romero wanted her at, however the tube remains in.  With that said, this is the plan......we will not do any feeds at night and will do IV fluids the next three days in a row.  Mal will eat as much as she can, then on Monday we will go to Egleston for a weigh in, if her weight is still at least what she is today then the tube will be removed right then.  If she is not able to maintain the weight the tbe will stay in place a little longer.  She really wants this tube out but has decided she will not stress out about it, she will do her best and see what happens, this "test" will allow both the doctor"s and Mal see if she really is ready for this step. Otherwise clinc was very good, labs again on Friday.  Thanks for checking on us!   Lisa

10:00 p.m.

Today has been somewhat of an up and down day.  Mal woke up not feeling too good, but later in the day felt much better.  She had lots of visitors today.  Her friends Andrea and Natalie came by with flowers and 3 pair of cute socks.  Then Jessica and her mom, Claire, came by and brought Mal some treats and a movie (one we have not seen).  Later tonight Aunt Bonnie, Megan, Gene and Rachel came by with a few items from Disney for Mal and many cards with gifts from the sweet residence at Henderson Arms.  Henderson Arms is a high rise in Marietta that Bonnie works at, these people have been soooo thoughtful to Mal, they have never met her, yet they continue to send her many cards and gifts.  As soon as Mal is up to it we will make a trip to visit the building and meet all these wonderful folks!!  We did make some Christmas cookies today as well.  Thanks again to the Spence family our house is sparkling clean.  Mal has gone to bed now and was not feeling too good.  We will go to Egleston for clinic tomorrow, she is right at her goal weight so we are hoping she will get an early Christmas present, removal of the feeding tube.  Labs will be done first thing in the morning and we will get the results at clinic.  Thanks to everyone for your cotinued support. Thanks to our visitors today, we enjoyed spending time with all of you.  Lisa

9:45 p.m.

Well, today is Mal"s 3 month anniversary with Izzie.  We had labs done today and everything is looking great, her blood counts were a little low but not low enough to call us in for some blood.  Mal had another good day, she decided she did want to go to the mall, so off we went.  She had a good time and bought herself a few items.  We came home and rested for a bit then went to Target.  Mal looked really good today, she curled her hair and was just so cute.  I will continue to say I am sooooo proud of her.  Well, I better go for now, I have IV"s to do and meds to give.  God Bless!  Lisa

9:30 P.M.

Today was another good day. Mallory felt very good today.  Haley came by and she and Mal made a ginger bread house and had fun together.  It is so nice for Mal"s friends to stop by and spend time with her, she enjoys seeing all of you!!  I feel a little better but not great.  Michael came over for a little while today and we enjoyed having him, we made a few Christmas cookies and they turned out great.  Our home nurse, Cortney, came by today also to get all the paperwork together to help take care of Mal, she will be back in the morning for labs.  Thanks Rachel for dropping off the soup, I am sure we will enjoy it.  Tomorrow is Mal is up to it I will take her to the mall for a little while.  Thanks for checking on us and all the continued support and most importantly prayers!!  Lisa

9:45 p.m.

Sorry I did not do an update earlier today but I have not felt well at all, I have that yucky crud that is going around.  I did call Dr. Ujjin and get some meds so hoepfully it will start working very soon.  Thanks Dr. Ujjin!  Mal had a decent night last night and had a very good day.  We are having problems with her picc line, both ports are being very sluggish so we might need to go to Egleston early in the week for them to check it out.  Mal had several friends stop by today for a visit.  Farid dropped by for a short time, Rachel came and brought Mal a beautiful scarf and braclet and now Abby Abby Abby is here visiting and brought Mal a cute pair of slipper socks and some yummy chocolate.  Thanks to all three of you.  Mal ate quite a bit today and the feeds are going very good, they changed the type of formula she is on and it seems to be working, she has also put on a few pounds.  Thanks for checking on us and I will update again tomorrow night.  Lisa

9:10 p.m.

So, we are back home again!!  Mal has had a good day, she is still having some pain from this fluid and still has the drainage tube and bag.  We will try to manage the pain at home, if we are not able to control the pain we will need to call Todd and probably be told to head back to Egleston. The thoughts are that as more fluid drains the better she should start feeling, if the pain is to the point that her meds are not able to control it, that could be a sign that something else is going on. Her labs did look very good again today.  We will have labs on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and will be seen at clinic on Wednesday.  We certainly are happy to be home again!  Thanks for checking on us and be sure to leave Mal a note!!  Lisa

Home Sweet Home!!!

Update #1  5:45 p.m.

So last night was just an okay night.  Mal did need morphine again this morning because the pain was so bad.  Today Dr. Heffron and Todd decided to aspirate the drainage tube to see if there was still fluid, Todd was able to pull back some fluid so it was decided to leave the tube in.  If Mallory still has another night with a lot of pain they will probably do an MRI tomorrow, everything is just day by day as always.  I hear Dr. Heffron will be saving another life tonight, last word was he will be doing a transplant around midnight tonight.  Thank you Lord for Dr. Heffron"s steady hands and his entire surgical staff.  Thanks for checking on us.  Lisa

Update #2  10:00 p.m.

Today was a decent day for Mal.  It is crazy but she did have that red man syndrome happen again tonight after the benadryl and darvocet so Todd was called.  The possible cause is that at the time she received these meds both last night and tonight was when her prograf level was probably at its peak???  Weird, I really don"t know what or how to explain/understand this one.  She had the same meds at 4 a.m. and 1 p.m. with no problem, just makes you scratch your head and say "HMM??"  Anyway, we will see how her night goes as far as pain and reevaluate in the morning.  I am feeling a bit under the weather, please say a little prayer that I feel better soon, I must stay well to take care of Mal!!!  Thanks to Karen and Kelly Shaw for visiting today and for the cookies!  We saw Alex today and he was not feeling so great, please pray for him as well.  Have a good night.  Lisa

Update #1  2:15

Well, it is me again, Lisa.  Now I know you all would rather hear from Mallory herself, so I hope you will not be too disappointed>  HAHA!  Mal had a decent night, her labs look great again today.  Dr. Heffron nor Todd have been by yet today.  It is clinic day so we are hoping they will stop by when they are finished with clinic.  Will update again later.  Lisa

Hello everyone!

This is Mal here to do the update! Today was a good day...i got to sleep in and not long after i woke it was time to move! We got in our brand new room...im the first patient to stay  in room 6239 in the Georgian Bank"s Transplant Recovery Unit!! Which reminds me to say thank you to everyone at Georgian Bank who is responsible for the new unit... I am benefitting from it!

Today i have walked alot! we made 2 trips downstairs to the cafeteria area...which is a looonngg way from my room, so that was pretty good! I havent needed much pain medicine today it is definitely getting better so I think I will be out of here in a day or two!!

Also, they looked at my CT scan and said my liver looks great! And Dr. Romero gave me a goal weight to reach to get my feeding tube taken out! yes!! So weird story.. tonight after all of my regular meds and a little pain medicine I all of a sudden turned red and got itchy and felt like i was on fire! after 75 mg of benadryl I am starting to get better and less red.

I hope to see all of my friends soon who are coming home within the next few days! YAYYY!!! Everyone keep praying!

Mallory

Update #1 10:30 a.m.

Mallory had a rough night last night, she is still needing pain meds about every 3 hours, praying this will get better very soon.  Her labs look very good again, I think once her pain is gone or we can at least get it under control we should be able to go home.  The doctors have not made rounds yet so nothing new to report from them.  Yes Marisa, Mal loved the gift you sent her, it was perfect, Mal has ALWAYS loved socks.  I can remember when we would be at cheerleading practice, all the girls look alike when they are on the floor and it was hard to spot your child, that is for everyone but Mal"s parents.  All the other kids would have on plain white socks, not our Mallory, all we had to do was look at the feet and we could immediately pick her out.  She LOVES socks, of course, I did too as a kid so I guess she gets it honest.  Thanks for checking on us and I will update again tonight.  Lisa

Update #2   3:00

Ok, so here is the deal.  Mallory did have an area of fluid behind her diaphram.  The surgeon did draw out some fluid and put in a drainage tube, he did tell us the fluid will be sent to the lab for testing, his inital thought is the fluid might be infected bile that collected after her bile leak.  Mal is having some pain but hopefully as more fluid drains into the bag this will decrease.  The Georgian Bank Transplant Recovery Unit will open tomorrow on the 6th floor so we will be moving up there.  We went up there a little while ago and Mal picked out the room she wants to move to, 6239 will be our room number tomorrow.  Thanks for checking on us.  Lisa

Update #1 10:30

First of all, Mal had a rough night, a lot of pain and the pain meds just were not lasting very long at all.  Here is what we know as far as why she is having the pain.  The ct scan shows that Mal has some fluid built up, I believe behind her liver in the diaphram area.  Today around 12:30, she will go into surgery to have the fluid tapped into.  They will draw out some fluid and send it for testing just to make sure there is no infection.  The plan is that they will place a drainage tube to help drain off this fluid.  Hopefully, Mal will see some immediate relief, we are not sure how long we will be here but it appears it will be a short visit.  Thanks for checking on us and we will update again later today.  Thanks.   Lisa

10:20 p.m.

Ok, so here is what we know so far.  Mal"s labs look very good, her bilirubin is .7 and everything else looks good as well.  The chest xay came back okay also.  We don"t know about the ct scan should know about it in the morning.  When we first arrived she was given morphine which relieved the pain, it has come back and she had nubane earlier and also had some darvocet and benadryl. This pain could be referred pain caused by fluid between her liver and diaphram.  She has recieved lots of fluids since we arrived, because she was dry.  The feeds have been started back and she is on a constant slow IV drip.  She is feeling pretty good right now and is drawing some pictures.  We hope to find the cause of this shoulder pain tomorrow and hopefully can be sent home with a stronger IV med to control the pain.  Thanks for checking on us.  Lisa and family

4:00

Well, we are back at Egleston.  Mal has dealt with pain in her right shoulder pretty much ever since her first transplant, since the second one she has had it off and on as well.  Since being home we have been able to control it with her pain meds, that is until last night.  We could not get her pain under control, we called Todd and off to the ER we went.  She has had labs, been given fluids, a chest xray and we are now waiting on a ct scan.  Should be any time now.  I have come back home to get us some clothes and decided to update everyone before I head back down, Mike is with her now.  Dr. Heffron stopped by the ER to see her and told her she will be admitted, room 470.  We are remaining confident that this will be a quick fix with a very short stay.  Please keep those prayers going and thanks for checking on us.  I will update tonight when we know more.  Lisa

9:45 p.m.

Well, Mal has had her nightly meds and is now settled in for the night.  She did eat more today than she has in a while and we are so proud of her!!  Michael came over today and we all to Target for a little bit, just to get out of the house.  I brought Mike and Mallory home and Michael and I went to Kohls.  He is having a new bedroom suite delivered to his apartment tomorrow and part of his Christmas gift is a new comforter set, we were able to find one at Kohls that we really like. We are so proud of you Michael.  Maw Maw, Robert and Bridget have all not felt too well, we hope all of you feel better very soon.  Mal had some more feeding issues today, I guess this is just something she will need to deal with until she gains some weight and the doctors will take out that darn tube.  Oh yeah, Destin will be joining the army, leaving for boot camp on January 10th starting off in Fort Benning, all of us are so proud of you Destin and we love you. Thanks for checking on our Mal and please keep those prayers going, they are working!  If you stop in to check on us don"t forget to leave Mal a message.  She has started reading the journal and is just amazed at all the things she has gone through that she does not even remember.  She is one blessed young lady.  Good night and God Bless.  Lisa and Mike

9:15 p.m.

Mal had an okay day today, not the best but it was good overall.  Last night was pretty good also.  Sleeping is getting better thanks to tylenol pm and benadryl.  These feeds are still just  not very tolerable for her.  She did have labs done again today and they looked very good.  She does not have to go to clinic on Monday, we will go back on Wedneday.  If she is feeling good enough we will go to the mall for a little while on Monday just to get her out of this house.  I did go buy Mal a "special" christmas gift today, I will let her tell everyone about it after the 25th!  Thanks to Amber, Chris and Nicole for stopping by to see us tonight, it was so good to see all of you.  Well, hope you have a good night and God Bless you all.  Lisa

Update #1  5:00 p.m.

We are home from clinic and what a great visit it was.  Mal is doing very good, she slept great last night, the best she has in months!!  Her labs looked GREAT today, bilirubin is now 0.7, Thank you Jesus!!!  One of her morning meds was decreased and her cmv is still undetected.  We will continue to do 2 liters of IV fluid each day, the feeds will stay at the same rate but the formula has been changed.  She had gained about a pound since Monday.  We stopped by to say hi to our friends on 4East, they were so happy to see Mal.  She looks good today, Dr. Romero even noticed that she had on makeup, it was a great visit.  We did stop by Target on the way home just to stroll around, Mal bought herself a new game for her Nintendo DS and is yelling at it right now, she is having such a good day and it makes me grin from ear to ear!!!!  Thanks to our wonderful GOD!!!  Have a good evening, Mike and me are planning to put a tree tonight and a few other decorations to brighten things up around here.  Lisa

Update #2  10:44 p.m.

Mal has not felt too good today, those feeds are starting to really take a toll on her.  As I said earlier today we will discuss this again with the docs tomorrow at our clinic visit.  I did go out and start my Christmas shopping today, it was nice to get out and about but I must admit I missed and worried about my sweet Mal.  Thanks to Coach Fak for dropping by for a visit today and for the goodies for Mal.  Also, thanks to Dr. J for the shirt you sent Mal, she loves it!  Thank you Farid for stopping by to see Mal and for the roses.  Mal has gone to bed now and we are just praying for some good sleep.  I will update again tomorrow after our clinic visit, probably will not be until around 4 or so.  Have a good evening.  Lisa

Update #1  9:45 a.m.

Last night was a little better, Mal did get some more sleep.  We decided to not run the feeds to see if that would help, so she had tylenol pm and no feeds and seemed to rest better.  The feeds are going again and she is feeling sick from them, I decided to slow the rate down and see what happens, please pray this works!!  We have another appointment tomorrow at 1:00 at Egleston, we will discuss either running the feeds in slower (if this helps today) or maybe changing the formula, Mal just cannot tolerate these and I will be so glad when she has gained weight and can eat again.  It seems like our 2 biggest challenges are sleep and feeds.  Thanks for checking on us and have a good day.  Lisa

 5:30 p.m.

We are finally home from Egleston, we arrived there around 10:00 and left around 3:30.  Mals labs looked pretty good, her liver numbers are stable and the bilirubin is 1.1 now.  She was dehydrated so fluids were given while we were there, we will now start giving her IV fluids at home, 2 liters a day.  She really wanted them to take the feeding tube out but the doctors just don"t think she is quite ready for that, hopefully soon.  Mal seems to be feeling better even though she has been up since 3 a.m, yep you guessed it another restless night.  We will try tylenol pm tonight to see if that will help any with this issue.  I am cooking chicken and dumplings for dinner in hopes she will be able to eat.  Have a good night and will update again tomorrow morning.  Lisa

Update #2  10:15 p.m.

We are getting ready to go to bed and praying so hard that Mal will sleep tonight.  The day was quiet for the most part and Mal just did not feel well today.  We will go to Egleston at 10 tomorrow and will post an update when we return home.  Thanks so much to Haley and Ben for visiting today, we enjoyed seeing both of you.  Thanks to our wonderful home nurse, Cortney, for coming by today to check on Mal, you are great.  Well, good night and happy dreams to each of you.  Smiths

Update #1  2:00

Sorry I did not update earlier.  It has been a hectic day, Mal is not feeling good today.  We did call Todd earlier and he stopped a few meds and gave us some new instructions.  If Mal is not better later, right now she is about the same, we are to call him back.  Last night was another rough one.  Please keep those prayers going and we will let you know how things are later tonight.  We do have an appointment at Egleston with Dr. Heffron at 10 in the morning for labs and a checkup.  Lisa

Update #2  10:15 p.m.

Today was a pretty good day other than Mal is just so tired still, she is sleeping now and I pray she will sleep many hours before waking up again.  She is trying to eat but it is still a challenge for her, she just does not have an appetite at all, please lift up some prayers that she will begin to eat again very soon.  I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Sandy Spence and her family (her daughter Rachel is one of Mal"s very best friends).  Sandy called today and had many surprises for our family, she delivered enough home cooked food to last us a few days, we already started on it and it is delicious!  Sandy also brought us a poinsetta, a christmas plant, gifts for Mal and a gift for me as well.  And, on top of all that she told me she was going to have her cleaning ladies come over her a few time this month and clean the house for us, their first visit will be Thursday.  Thanks Sandy and family, you have no idea how much this means to us.  It is so great to have such wonderful friends to support us through this journey.  Also, my sister Kim and her husband Steve were in town today and came by for a short visit, we enjoyed seeing them.  They brought gifts also, pajamas from Kim and also from Gail and her family, and a cute little doll and necklace from my best friend in high school, Theresa.  Thanks to all of you, your kindness is appreciated.  Well, that is about it for tonight, thanks for checking on us and have a good night.  Lisa

Update #1  12:00

Well, it is so nice to be home again.  Last night was rough, Mal did not sleep very much at all, that dreaded throw up monster followed us home, dang it.  She is very tired and could use alot of continuous sleep, maybe tonight!!!  All the morning meds have been given and we are just trying to get settle in here back at home.  Munchkin certainly was glad to see us, we missed her so much.  Just planning on relaxing and unpacking some today, it will take a while to get everything unpacked but it will eventually be done.  Oh yeah, I will go buy groceries later today also, for the first time in over 4 months!!  Have a good day and thanks for checking on us.  The Smiths

Update #2   10:30 p.m.

Whew!!! we made it home today around 1:30 and have been busy ever since.  I went through all Mal"s meds and have them sorted in a plastic container with drawers in it, trying to be organized here.  Healthfield delivered our feeds, feeding pump and wheelchair tonight.  Our  wonderful home nurse, Cortney came tonight at 8 to set us up and do all the paperwork, we did have a little problem getting the feeding pump to work, our other wonderful nurse Lydia came by to help out and after a couple of phone calls the pump is working great.  Mal had a good day, ate a little dinner and played on her wii, Michael spent the evening with us and it was so nice to have the four of us here together and eat a meal together at our table.  I have a lot of stuff to do...clean, decorate for the holidays, shop for Christmas gifts and get our family going again, but I am certainly not complaining I am just so thankful we are home and Mal was well enough to leave the hospital.  Dr. Heffron will want to see her at least two times a week so we have an appointment back at Egleston on Monday morning at 10. If you have not clicked on the picture of Dr. Romero yet, please do, he did a dance for Mal when we left today, it was great.  The nurses and staff were all so glad to see us go but sad also, they absolutely love our little Mallory. Thank you 4East Nurses, you ALL are wonderful and we love you.  We have such an awesome GOD!!!  Thank you Jesus for answering our prayers!!  Good night!!  Lisa

It"s Mallory......

I"M GOING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Today is the day! Yippee Hooray!!

We are packing up the room and getting ready to go home! At 11:45 Dr.Romero will be here to do the dance he promised, and then we"re on our way to k-town!! Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive of me! Remember...I still need your prayers!!

Home sweet home in mind,

Mallory

Update #2  9:45 p.m.

Today was a good day for Mal.  She did get 2 units of blood today so hopefully this will pep her up.  This afternoon she had a visit from Dale and Kalen of Aveda Institute Atlanta.  Dale cut Mallory"s hair and gave her a new hairstyle, it is so cute, I will post a picture in the next day or so!  Mrs. Marsha (the wonderful lady in charge of the 4East Nurses), our buddy Steven and Child Life Specialist Brittany all had a part in this.  Mrs. Marsha thought it would make Mal feel good to get her hair done and man was she right.  Dale and Kalen also gave her some Aveda products and a gift certificate for a 90 minute facial.  Thanks so much to all of you! Oh yeah, by the way Congratulations to Steven and Felicia on getting engaged we are so happy for you both.  Thanks for checking on us and good night.  Lisa and family

Update #1  12:30 p.m.

Last night was about like all the other nights, I am so praying that once we get home Mal will start to sleep better.  Her liver numbers went down today and her BR is .08!!!  Her blood counts did drop a little more so they are giving her two units of blood today.  No fever or pain after the stent removal, which is great news.  Hope you all have a great day and will update again tonight.  Lisa

Update #2  9:40 p.m.

Today has been a pretty good day, Mal was kinda tired but all in all a good day.  She did eat some chicken tenders and fries from Zaxby"s tonight and has started drinking a lot more.  We did some walking and went downstairs to see the lighting of the christmas tree in front of the hospital, it is so pretty.  Dr. Heffron said he will see what her labs are tomorrow and possibly give her some blood then hopefully we can get home on Friday.  Her last iv med was converted to oral today, so we only have iv fluids at this point, we may be doing these at home but they might try stopping them also.  Praying for good numbers and good news tomorrow. 

Update #1  10:45 am

Last night was another restless night here.  When the docs make their rounds I plan to ask them to increase her ambien dose or maybe change to Ambien CR.  Her BR is still 0.9!!!  Other liver numbers did go up a little bit but that is to be expected after the procedure yesterday.  Blood counts did go down again, no word on if they plan to just watch those numbers or if she will get blood today.  Have a good day and we certainly hope to be posting from home soon!!  lisa

Update #2   9:45 p.m.

WOW, what a day!!!  Today was a great day.  After the procedure Mal was awake, smiling and hungry.  The nurse that took care of her in recovery just fell in love with her.  Today she ate a little of the following:  chicken fingers, fries, gravy (from Churchs), pizza rolls, and cereal.  She also drank 5 seven ounce Sunny Delights, what a great menu.  Mike, Mallory and me walked over to the family library and picked up 3 movies, The Lion King, Frosty the Snowman and Kindergarden Cop (we watched it tonight) and will watch the other two tomorrow.  Tonight I took Mal for a ride in a wagon, it was so much fun.  A couple of times today she danced and sang for the nurses as we did our liver laps, she even had the Cafeteria lady that delivers trays dancing in the hallway with her.  Everyone was laughing and enjoyed seeing Mal come back, it was great.  The surgeon told us today that everyone loves Mal and that she has been through so much and that he too has been praying for her.  Wow, isn"t God great, so many prayers going up for her and so many answered.  I wanted to mention that the other day one of our nurses Cassie, gave Mal a book with just all kind of neat stuff in it for girls, from learning the game of bowling to making friendship braclets, she loves this book and so do I.  Tonight, Sarah another nurse, brought Mal a pink thermal coffee mug from Starbucks, it is perfect for Mallory.  Thank you Cassie and Sarah for the gifts and for taking care of Mallory, we love you guys.  Well, I could continue to rattle on here about our day but I will go for now.  It was a GREAT day, thanks to our awesome GOD!!  There"s no place like home, there"s no place like home, there"s no place like home!  SOON very soon.  Good night.  Lisa

Update #1   1:40 p.m.

GREAT NEWS!!!!!  Mallory had a stent check and the leakage is gone!!!!!  We thought they would just move the stent up above the leak and leave it in place.  However, the surgeon consulted with Dr. Heffron during the procedure and told him the leak was gone and that Mal"s liver looks great!!!!!  It was decided to remove the stent, YES, she is stent free!!!  YIPPEE!!!!  Her labs look good, BR is 0.9, normal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Other liver numbers are trending down and her kidney numbers are still completely normal.  Her blood counts were a little low but they could be diluted due to the amount of fluids she is receiving.  Mal was feeling good this morning and even cracking jokes with the nurses.  Home is looking closer and closer.  Have a great day.   Lisa

Update #2  9:00 p.m.

Today was not the best day, Mal was sick most of the morning and just has not felt too well.  A few "as needed" IV meds were stopped today, one being changed to oral.  Stent procedure is set for tomorrow, they say around 10 or 11 which might mean 2 or 3.  They will replace it if needed, if the leak is closed they will move the stent up to just above the leak area and watch it, if numbers continue to be good then the stent would be removed.  We will know more tomorrow.  Thanks for checking on us.  Lisa

Update #1 11:00 a.m.

I just cannot believe Mal is still unable to sleep.  I have taken Ambien before and it absolutely knocks me completely out.  She was out by ten, up again at midnight, at two then very restless the remainder of the night, maybe she needs a larger dose.  Maybe we need to be home, there are so many interruptions here, all day and all night, I know I cannot wait to sleep at home, I look forward to being able to sleep at least 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Her labs are stable, br is 1.2.  Her blood counts did go down some today but not enough for her to receive blood.  Dr. Heffron nor Todd has been around yet today so we have no updates from them yet.   Have a good day.   Lisa

Update #2 10:45 p.m.

Mal had a very good day!!  We walked to the gift shop and back, she ate 1/2 cheeseburger and 1/2 order of fries and the last of the left over turkey, oh and a little pizza!!  She has gained two pounds as of last night!!  She has felt good today and been talking and acting more like our Mallory.  She did have some shoulder pain and had to get pain meds once but otherwise all went good today.  Dr. Heffron is very happy with how she is doing, wants to do a stent check on Tuesday and even talked about sending us home this week!!  She had her ambien and is out now, praying she sleeps all night.  Thanks for checking on us.  The Smiths

Update #1  11:40

Last night was ok, the ambien did knock Mal out but only lasted for 5 hours until 3:00 a.m. after that the rest of the night was about as usual, very restless.  Right now she is trying to get some more sleep, unfortunately we have screaming babies all around us so it is very difficult to rest, I cannot wait to be home again.  I think our plans are to wash her hair today and conitnue doing some more walking and eating.  Bilirubin is at 1.1 and other labs are stable.  Have a good Sunday and in this family we still stand strong........ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!  Lisa

Update #2  9:45 p.m.

Today was a good day for Mal.  She ate some dressing with gravy and also later tonight she ate one piece of pizza and part of a second piece, Mike made it and brought it down for us.  Mawmaw and Robert left this morning headed back South and we are glad they made it home safely, it was seeing them.  Mal"s very good friend Alyssa was home from college for Thanksgiving and came down this afternoon, Mal really enjoyed her visit.  While she was here we went downstairs for her to see the Christmas decorations and took a few pictures of them, we will post them later.  Tonight Mal was feeling kind of yucky so she has just had her ambien and will try to get some rest now.  Bama is still on but she just could not hold out to watch it.  Praying she will get some much needed sleep tonight (and me too).  Have a good night.  Lisa

Update #1  12:00

Mal did not sleep again last night, so restless, I think she is ready to go home and will probably sleep better once we are there.  Her labs are stable and her br is 1.2, almost normal!!  Dr. Heffron came by, he is going to try giving her ambien to see if that will help her sleep at night.  He mentioned going home and said he would try to get her out next week, he also said he did not want her to have to turn around and come right back.  So, we wait and watch and pray to be home soon.  Have a good Saturday!!  Lisa

Update #2  10:00

Today was a pretty good day for Mal.  Mawmaw and Robert came up today, Mal did not know they were coming, they brought both she and I flowers.  They will stay at the house tonight and come by for a while tomorrow before heading south again.  We enjoyed them being here today, they are now helping to keep Munchkin company.  Michael came down with Mike and brought us the movie Hairspray, one of our sweet nurses Kelsey also brought gifts tonight.  Would you believe the movie Hairspray for Mal!!  She also brought me 4 cute little christmas ornaments.  Dr. Heffron came by and no changes were made, just keep up with what we are doing and praying for a good night.  Bama plays Auburn tomorrow, OH MY!! 

Update #1  10:45 a.m.

Last night was a little better, only 2 visits from that dreaded monster.  Her labs are about the same as yesterday, br is 1.3.  Mal is still sleeping so I am sitting here trying to make as little noise as possible so she can get rest.  Dr. Heffron has not been by yet so not sure if there are going to be any changes.  Mal is soooo ready to go home, maybe soon.  Have a good day and fun shopping (if you are brave enough to go), hope you find some bargains!  Lisa

Update #2  10:35

So another day behind us and it was a good day for us.  Mallory ate a small lunch then later in the day ate some more potato salad, turkey and dumplings, she also had a popsicle and drank some milk tonight.  She did not feel that great during our lunch downstairs but pepped up not long after that and we all had a good afternoon together.  Mal and I watched Grey"s and now she is sleeping, praying so hard for a better night!  Hope you all had a great day with friends and family.  Good night.  Lisa