I wanted to post one final update about Clara now that she is 6 weeks post-op! Overall, she’s doing great! We’ve made great progress since the recovery of her infection. She can now swim and resume her activities as a toddler pretty much normally. She has a follow up appointment in the beginning of August with her surgeon. She will be getting a custom compression outfit which she is to wear for the following year to assist the healing process along. At around the one year mark, she will have what should be her final surgery. 

As mentioned before, there wasn’t quite  enough skin at the time of the surgery. It is because of the lack of skin that the stitches ended up splitting open in the center leaving a big gash. This is the area that became infected. A big part of the following surgery will be to close that gap and make the scarring more subtle. 

Brett and I have decided to include pictures of what all this looks like. I’m sure this process has seemed rather elusive when relying solely on writing to understand the graphic components of it. Below we have attached a few images that may help you understand what we’ve meant by “tissue expansion” and the gap I just referred to. The last picture is a picture that was taken just yesterday. You’ll see the tremendous progress. If you look closely, you’ll notice some rough patches of skin. This is because a week ago she developed heat rash from being bandaged up 24/7. We have given her a break from the bandages for the rash to clear up. 

Thank you again for the outpour or love and support! We are a lucky family and she is a blessed baby to have so many of you thinking of her and praying for us on a regular basis. We do not take this act of service lightly!