Update on Marissa's cyst

Hi Guys sorry it's been a month since I have posted anything. There has been so much going on that I have had absolutely no time to even check my email or do my usual online things.
Marissa has been to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital 3 times in the last month or so. She went for tests a week or so ago. They had to put her to sleep to do a contrast cat scan of her throat and then they put a tube with saline in the hole in her neck. We knew it did not go all the way through but her doctor wanted to make sure. Marissa did so well, she had to have an iv and they poked both her hands but we were able to calm her down in no time.
I have been a complete wreck for about a month, haven't been able to eat or sleep because I have been so worried. I just knew I would not be able to watch them do those tests on my baby, but so many people have been praying for her and on the day of the tests God gave me peace. I did not panic or even cry when they had to stick her twice to get the iv in nor did I when we had to watch them hold her down to put the tube in her throat or even when they put her to sleep and did the cat scan. I felt tears come when we were in there with her and she was asleep from the medicine and they had to strap her on the table for the cat scan but I said a prayer and was calm again.

Marissa has a thyroglossal duct cyst, that is what the hole in her neck is called. It connects to a small sack inside her throat. It is not bothering her right now but her doctor said that it will not go away and that it will eventually get infected and can grow into other organs and cause lots of problems. So on Sept. 10 Marissa will be having surgery at Vanderbilt. If everything goes well she will not have to stay overnight, only about 10 hours. The surgery however will only be about an hour or so. The tests also showed that she has some nodules on her thyroid, her doctor does not know why because thas is not her specialty but she is going to confer with an endocrinologist and see what needs to be done. The other thing they found weres some clotted blood vessels around her throat area but her doctor is pretty sure this will go away in a few years and they will not cause her any problems.

So we are taking one thing at a time, we will get through the surgery for her cyst first and then see what needs to be done about the other things. Thank you all for your prayers and phone calls, they mean more than you know. I will try to do a better job with updates and pictures on here.

A Few More Pics

Ruben's 3rd Birthday

We just had a small party at home, a Thomas Train party of course. :)
He loved helping me decorate his cake and Erra (Sierra) spent the night before and he loves her.
He got lots of little trains he collects form Thomas Train and he knows all of their names. We got him a punching bag and gloves and also a soccer net that cheers when you make a goal. He got clothes and a dinosour that you can draw on and then it glows in the dark. Oh and also one of his favorite things is the bubble lawn mower he received. He gets out there and mows with me or Jose for as long as we are out there. he will be sweating and his face all red but he doesn't stop until we do. I have to make him go inside and get water and cool down.