Laura's New Travel Date

One of Salma's recent phases of learning was the discovery of her tongue. She went through a period when she was constantly sticking out her tongue and feeling it (not a very hygienic habit). Fortunately that stage is passed and now she has moved on to rolling the tongue around the inside of her mouth, exploring the contours of her cheeks and palate.

I sent out Eid greetings and New Year's wishes to many of my friends, some of whom have not heard from me in a while. So for those who are new to my blog, welcome. If this is your first time seeing photos of my daughter Salma, you're probably wondering, what's that lump on her head? Did she fall?

No, she did not fall and she is not growing antennae. It is a type of birth mark called a strawberry hemangioma, a collection of blood vessels under the skin. We are told that it will begin to shrink as Salma grows, and will finally be only a flat mark. Most disappear by age 5 or 6, and some by age 9. It is not dangerous and recommended treatment is simply to wait.

Laura is now at her mom's house and doing well, AlHamdulillah. She's back to eating solid food and is happy to be reunited with Salma. Laura and Linda's new travel date to Panama is January 8th. They were able to reschedule the flight date with a note from Laura's doctor explaining that she could not travel on the earlier date. They will also be bringing Zippy with them, I believe.

I'm looking forward to seeing them all, Insha'Allah. I have missed them but especially Salma. It's been hard, being separated from her for so long at this early stage in her life. When Laura was in the hospital for two days she said, "I'm afraid Salma is going to forget me," and I practically sputtered, "Well! What about me?"

I'm a very skilled sputterer.

By the way readers, occasionally I also have trouble getting back to the site after clicking on a photo. But you'll notice that in both Explorer and Firefox there is, next to the back button, a small arrow that allows you to pull down the recent history and select the previous page that way.

Update on Laura

Laura is still in the hospital. Continuing abdominal pain last night was relieved only by morphine. She met with a gastroenterologist today. White blood cell count is still elevated. The problem could be a stone or stones blocking the common bile duct. This would not show up on ultrasound. The doctor is proposing to run a camera and microtools down into Laura's abdomen through her mouth and throat; he would then widen the opening of the bile duct with a small incision, pull the stones out, then cauterize the incision. Theoretically, the pain will then be relieved.

This operation is scheduled for today at 2:30pm Pacific time.

Her return to Panama will have to be delayed.

Laura's Condition

Laura had a severe attack of abdominal pain last night and is back in the hospital again. Her white blood cell count is elevated. We don't know yet what the problem is.

Smiley Salma Sells Seashells by the Seashore

Ok, she doesn't sell seashells, but she is very smiley!

Is this some kind of mutant with a head growing out of her chest?
No, it's Mommy with Salma in a sling.

Here's Smiley Salma with her Grandpa Hale.

Laura is Out of the Hospital

Laura is out of the hospital now and continuing to recover nicely at her mother's house. She is back to breastfeeding Salma. She's still weak and sleeping a lot. Her mom and sister wake her up to breastfeed the baby, then she goes back to sleep. She does expect to return to Panama on January 1st as planned, and to bring Zippy with her. Linda will be traveling with her on the same flight, fortunately.

Thank You to Auntie Crystal

Salma's Auntie Crystal has taken time off work and is taking care of her right now. I know she will do a wonderful job and I am very grateful to her. Still, it makes me sad that Salma must get by without either of the two people she knows best in the world, her mother and father.

We don't know yet if Laura will be able to return to Panama at the scheduled date of January 1st. We'll see how her recovery goes. I have not called for an update today as it is still quite early, but I will do so before I leave for Christmas dinner with Tracy, the atheist.

Swimming Academy

I dreamed that I joined a military swimming academy, perhaps something like the Navy SEALS. My sergeant was Tom Cruise, who I do think is a great filmmaker by the way, in spite of the wide contempt in which the public seems to hold him. But come on, you've got to admit that Vanilla Sky, Collateral and War of the Worlds were great pictures. And even his earlier films, like Jerrry McGuire and Rainman had value, portraying these arrogant, shallow characters who go through some transformative experience and are forced to become more humble.

Back to the swimming academy. The first day my sergeant (Tom) harangued me and singled me out for abuse because for some reason I did not have the proper haircut, and I did not have the sheet of instructions all the other recruits had. I was behind in my training and had not yet swum a single lap. I asked my bunkmate for help and he said, "Why should I help you, what do we have in common?"

"I don't know," I said, "Where are you from."

"Cincinnatti."

"Oh," I said, "I have a good friend in Cincinnatti." Which is not exactly true. Dr. Sayed's son Ayman was relocated to Cincinnatti by the company he works for, The Gap, and I have known him since he was a baby but we are not exactly friends.

I decided to forget all other considerations for now and just start swimming, but I discovered to my horror that I had not brought any swimming trunks. I went to find Tom Cruise. I said, "Sir, I know this is going to sound idiotic, but I don't have any trunks. Can I go buy a pair?" He shook his head and laughed and muttered something under his breath, then said, "Go ahead."

I figured I'd go by Supercuts to get the right haircut while I was at it, then maybe Taco Bell. I hurried to the barracks to get my wallet. When I opened my bag I spotted a pair of pink swimming trunks, that I now rememered bringing. I said to my bunkmate, "My swimming trunks are back!"

"Oh yeah," he said, "The captain borrowed a bunch of stuff for a skit. Your pink trunks were a riot."

What was I thinking, bringing pink trunks? I'd never hear the end of it. I'd better buy a new pair anyway.

Just then the barracks phone rang. "Hey recruit," someone shouted at me. "It's for you."

I picked up the receiver. A woman's voice declared, "I saw your website on TV."

"Who is this?" I said. "Someone of the female persuasion clearly, but I don't recognize your voice."

"Maymuna, of course," she replied. Which was odd since I have not seen her since she was six years old. "I've been watching this current events roundup show on cable, and your website Zawaj.com was mentioned three times."

"Yes," I said. "They have software that does that now."

"You know," she said. "Ismail is waiting for you to take him camping."

Aaaaaaah!

Laura's Status

For over a year now, Laura has had periodic bouts of abdominal pain, usually late at night. We had an ultrasound done at one point but it showed nothing unusual.

When I spoke to her yesterday evening, she had just returned from a small get together at a friend's house and complained of some stomach pain.

Apparently the pain continued to worsen last night and Linda took her to the Stanford Hospital emergency room. They discovered that her gallbladder was inflamed and enlarged.

This afternoon the doctors performed surgery to remove Laura's gallbladder. It was removed laporoscopically and the operation was successful. Laura remains in the hospital for now. We owe Crystal a debt of gratitude for caring for Salma during this time.