11:00 AM LA Time

Report from the OR is that everything is going well.
Alan and Brooke

7:55 LA Time Monday -- Sydney's in Surgery

We will try to update this throughout the day. Sydney went back about fifteen minutes ago. As expected, she did not go too willingly. They tried to give her some liquid Versed to drink before going back and even that was a struggle. I am sure she will do fine, however. Brooke and I are holding up as well as can be expected. I know Sydney is in very capable hands and that the Lord Jesus Christ is watching over her. We ask that you continue to pray for her during the day. More updates later.
Alan and Brooke

THANK YOU

As Sydney begins what will be the first of many surgeries, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our families and friends for the love, prayers, and support that has been given to us. A very special thanks to the entire Blessing family including my staff, colleagues, and administration whose support, thoughtfulness, and generosity is greatly appreciated.
Alan and Brooke

A trip to the Santa Monica Pier and up the PCH

Today we decided to take Syd to the see the ocean, and went to the Santa Monica Pier. It was a lot of fun. We walked down the pier and looked around. The amusement park(Pacific Park) was closed for a private party, so we walked along the beach for a while. Sydney wanted to look for seashells. I found a small one in the sand and showed it to her. After that she was stopping every few feet to pick up more. I ended up with a pocket full. We tried walking in the water, but she didn't like that at all. The water was a little chilly, but I think she would have played in the sand for hours if we let her. We coaxed her off the sand with the promise of lunch which we ate at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Since Pacific Park was closed until 4 we decided to take a drive on the Pacific Coast Highway and let Sydney have a chance to take a nap. We drove along the PCH, which runs along the coast, for about an hour. The most exciting part was driving through Malibu and seeing the massive mansions that sat upon the hillsides. There were also many beautiful beaches full of surfers and swimmers. I have never seen anything like it. After our drive we headed back to the Santa Monica Pier where we took in a few rides before going back to our hotel. Sydney took a bath and headed off to bed. I hope she is ready for her big day tomorrow.

Saturday

Today was bittersweet as we had the opportunity see my good friend and former Quincy physician Dr. Donald Mann. Don's family is from North Hollywood. Unfortunately his father Mack passed away on Tuesday. We were fortunate enough to be able to go to his services today and see Don and his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Don returns to Cincinnati next week where he will continue a surgery burn fellowship at the Shriner's Hospital there.

Otherwise we have not done much today. Sydney wants to go swimming later in the pool at our hotel. Last night there was a nationally televised event, Stand Up For Cancer, held at the Kodak Theater. The back entrance to the theater is literally 50 feet from the door to our hotel room. We didn't see anyone famous however.

Sydney Has Lunch at The American Girl Store and Meets Dr. Reinisch

Lunch at the American Girl Cafe


A delicious dessert to end our meal.

A big smile and shopping bag in her arm--Daddy, hide your wallet!!

In the waiting room at Dr. R.'s office.

Dr. Reinisch

Today started off early as Sydney is still on Illinois time. She was up at 5 am LA time. I tried to get her back to sleep, but it didn't work. So we got up, ate breakfast, and got ready for the day. We ventured to "The Grove" shopping center today. It was extremely nice with a mix of upscale and moderate shops. We started out at the American Girl store. Sydney was very excited. We headed straight for the Bitty Babies. She picked out a tea set--she loves having tea parties--and a T-shirt. as we were looking through the store we saw the cafe. We were able to have lunch there. Syd got to pick a doll to sit at the table with us. She was dancing and hopping all around with excitement. The 4 course meal was very good. After lunch we headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap.

At 4 o'clock we had an appointment with Dr. Reinisch. We left at 2:30 to ensure that we had enough time for the 4 mile trip. It was a good thing we did because we got a little lost. The office building has 2 addresses, one for Beverly Hills, one for LA--why I don't know--but I had the wrong one. Anyway we ended up getting there with about 25 minutes to spare. Dr. Reinisch was wonderful and spent about an hour with us. We talked about the surgery and found out that he will be taking a skin graft from Sydney's abdomen. He said that he likes to use the abdomen graft in bi-lateral cases because it gives him more skin to work with. The skin is also a little thicker than the scalp graft skin. I wasn't expecting that, and almost shed a tear. However, I know that Dr. Reinisch is fantastic at what he does and will do what is right for Syd.

We made it to LA!!

It was raining cats and dogs when we left St. Louis this morning, but it was bright and sunny as we flew into LA. Sydney loved the plane ride. She asked me, "When are we going to blast off?" several times as we were waiting for take off. Then as the plane sped down the runway she let out a big "WooooHooo". The flight was uneventful--which was a good thing. Sydney finally fell asleep as we touched down in LA, and we had to wake her up. Needless to say the trip through the airport wasn't too pretty. We made it to our hotel around 2:00 LA time. It is in a fun area within a block of the Kodak theater(where they have the Academy Awards), Grauman's Chinese theater (home to many red carpet premieres), and within view of the "HOLLYWOOD" sign. We ate lunch/dinner at UWink--a restaurant where you order your food via a touch screen at your table. It was neat, but I don't think we'll be going back. We did a little sight seeing of the area before Sydney's exhaustion kicked in. Syd is about asleep, and Alan is off to the grocery store. Tomorrow we meet with Dr. Reinisch.
I want to thank you for all the prayers and support. They really mean a lot!!