Back to Blogging
I feel like I’ve dropped off the face of the Earth—at least in blog-land. It’s been a long time since I checked in, but now that Millionaire has finished taping for the season, I’m back. Here’s what’s been happening in my neck of the woods (as Al would say)…
It's Monday, and Meredith is back to blogging in her office at Studio 1A…
A while back I told you how my daughter Lily was suffering from severe stomach aches. It turned out to be chronic appendicitis. Last Friday morning, she had her appendix out. I literally walked her to the door of the operating room, at which point I gave her a big hug and started to cry. As usual, Lily rolled her eyes. And then she marched in with the nurses.
It was elective surgery, but I was worried about the anesthesia. An hour later her doctor led Richard and me to the recovery room. On our way to Lily we passed one stretcher after another—each one with a child who had undergone some sort of surgical procedure. We found ourselves making eye contact with each parent—not knowing the severity of their child’s illness, but silently reaching out to them as they did to us.
Lily had laparoscopic surgery—the surgeon made three small incisions; one to insert the tiny camera, and the other two for the surgical instruments. What I didn’t know is that they pump gas into the belly to enlarge it. Lily’s pain post-op had more to do with some of the trapped gas than it did with the incisions themselves. In fact later that day she had shoulder pain, which we learned is a common side effect of laparoscopic surgery.
After an overnight stay, she’s home, and now the only gas pains she’s experiencing are from my bad cooking. (Though Gabe and I did make a mean banana bread yesterday afternoon.)
Thank you to all the doctors and nurses at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in Manhattan for taking such good care of Lily.
A Happy Story...
Another important person in my life was also in the hospital last week…my assistant Amanda. Now she and her husband Keith are home, along with their brand new baby girl, Sophia. To think that just a year ago Keith was rushed to the emergency room after Amanda found him unconscious—and doctors thought they might lose him.
It’s amazing what a difference a year can make, and in this case, it’s a happy ending. Little Sophia will always have the best birthday parties of any of her friends. She arrived on Halloween, 10/31, at exactly 10:31PM. Spooky!
So far I’ve stayed away so that the new family can bond, but I’m invading their home tomorrow with a camera in hand! In the meantime, here's a picture sent to us from proud parents, Amanda and Keith:
Sophia Antoinette Bushey, 6 lbs
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glad to hear Lily is ok. and congrats to your assistant!
So glad you're back, Mer. We missed ya!
I'm glad that Lily is ok. It's not easy when your child has to have surgery. Sophia is a beautiful baby!! Truly a blessing.
Sophia is perfect! Congrats to the proud parents.
Yeah you're back... Missed ya.
Glad that all ended well for Lily.
Congratulations to Amanda and her husband.
Wanted to bring something to your attention. This morning you said that you'd take your American breakfast over what Matt was having. That could be taken as an insult to other countries. It sounds a bit like "the ugly American" who always thinks things are better in the USA. Hearing that kind of comment when I'm traveling makes me cringe.
Welcome back, Meredith! I've missed your daily wit-icisms. I'm glad your daughter is okay; it must have been very frightening. Congrats to your assistant and her new little family! What a wonderful time for all :-)
SOOOOOO cool to see a picture of you in your 'space' -- great to have you back blogging!!
I have had laproscopic surgery; the gas pains in the back are worse the the incisions! Poor thing. At my age (40 something) I thought it was a heart attack! Glad all went well.
It's good to have you back blogging Meredith! It felt strange checking in here daily and not seeing an entry from you. I missed by double Vieira fix - The Today Show and Meredith Today. I'm glad to hear that things have slowed down for you and that Lily is doing well. Wishing her a speedy recovery.
Meredith,
I'm glad Lilly did so well during her surgery.One of my friends daughter's, who's 5,(the daughter not the friend, LOL)just had her tonsils out 2 weeks ago.She did great, but it was still a worry. My daughter now 7 had to have emergency surgery 2 years ago when she was 5.Of all things she swallowed a dime! Yes, I said a dime.My husband who is a paramedic was in Nashville, TN at the time. He kept telling me she'll be fine.Of course,I didn't know it was a dime at the time. She wasn't sure what type of coin it was. He told me not to worry that it would pass. She kept complaining her chest hurt and I'm one of those paranoid mothers. I just wanted an x-ray to make sure everything was ok. It was that mother's intuition that you keep talking about on your show. We went to our local hosp. at 4pm. They basically blew us off. Until a friend of our's saw us in triage and looked at her and got her to x-ray. Now it is 9pm. They are telling us she needs surgery immediately. So I send my 8 & 3 yr olds to a friend
Continued dime story-and rush my daughter up to Indianapolis which is the closest place. I was so scared all of the way up there. My best friend who is a nurse and lives there came and met me so I wouldn't be alone because it was going to take my husband over 5 hours to get there. I was very upset and scared for my daughter but I of course couldn't show it. But I was also angry because the ER didn't listen to me, when I told them my daughter was having chest pains. She is this tiny very petit little girl. She was a child who just didn't complain about things. The x-rays made it look like she had swallowed a quarter, so they were very panicked and it was stuck in her esophogus. The staff at St. Vincent's Childrens Hosp was amazing and so was my daughters surgeon. I will never forget how I felt when I had to stop at those doors of the OR. My friend literally had to pull me away. Plus I didn't want to cry infront of her. The moral is always push when you know somthing is really wrong.
Kristi Hale, Williamsport,IN
Hmmm if your assistant just had a baby I'm wondering if that was her I met on Friday.... I know she told me she does your blogs with her and Lenny told me she was your assistant (and the name Amanda does ring a bell), but if she did just have a baby, she sure looked amazing! And what a darling baby she is! :)
Also very glad to hear all went well with your daughter.
Thanks, Meredith,
You kept the whinning about how busy you are to a minimum.
You are not your average mother, however. $11 million from the Today Show alone. I'm sorry to hear about your daughter - glad all is well. Maybe you could have had a room for two at the hospital. Your daughter had her appendics remoived - you could have had the gold spoon taken out.
Happy blogging.
JMM
Welcome back, Meredith!! Missed ya on the blog but didn't miss you on Today. Loved today's TODAY by the way! The pictures from Matt, Ann and Al were amazing! My 11-year-old is seriously concerned about global warming. I cannot wait to show him the coverage and stories you all told today. :)
I'm so happy Lily is OK! Whew!
Congrats to Amanda and her husband on the arrival of Sophia. What a beautiful little bundle!
Oh..one more thing...I loved you as Lily Munster! Hehehe! Great costumes for Halloween!
Always happy to read your blog! Alice :)
We missed you Meredith!! I am glad you are back in "blog-land"! Sophia is absolutely adorable and I am glad Lily is OK!
11/5/07
HI..MEREDIETH:
THE NATION HAS MISSED YOU!
GLAD YOUR DAUGHTER IS DOING WELL &
YOUR ASSISTANT'S BABY IS VERY
PRECIOUS..
HOPE YOU GUYS DID NOT HAVE ANY
RAIN/WIND DAMAGE IN THE LAST STORMS.
*MEREDITH, YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE!
YOUR SUCH A GREAT INSPIRATION TO ME.
KEEP SAFE & HAPPY
BEST WISHES
TONI
Meredith - I'm so glad that you're back to blogging! Your blogs are always really entertaining! Thanks for putting in the extra hours for us!
That is one beautiful baby! Lucky family~ I'm glad your daughters surgery went well. Must be a relief. Thanks for blogging again!
Hi
Welcome back to blog-land.. You were missed I am so glad you will continue the blog and also that everyone is OK in your family. I loved the show today you were great as usual and it was so interesting hearing what's going on in the top middle and bottom of the world. It really made me think about global warming effects. Keep up the excellent work.
Our lil guy went thru some surgery 10 days ago and it was the hardest hour of my entire life. I hear you about walking into the recovery room. It is heart wrenching. Thankfully, 5 hours post-op he was running around the nurses station with his Thomas the Train cute-case(as he calls it) and we were able to head home.
Several days of ice cream later, he is just fine and NO MORE snoring. I have found myself checking to make sure he is breathing because he is soooo quiet. Nearly 3 year olds should NOT snore. Why didn't anyone ever tell me that?
Glad that Lily is doing well and on the mend. Parenting is the MOST difficult job on earth, and I have been a teacher for 17 years!!
Glad that you are back. Missed you,
Jackie D.
Great show today Meredith , you were terrific from your central position at studio 1A. You were right about Matt, he looked like he was ready to stick his head over the side of that boat !!!! I think anyone looking in must have felt for Matt on the rolling seas in that boat. Nice end to your day today having breakfast at that nice restaurant !!!!
I agree with everyone glad that you are back!
Meredith Vieira please do not give equal time to crazy people. Report the facts and when people dispute them, hold them to higher scientific standards.
Welcome back to blogosphere, Meredith! You owe us about two weeks (kidding). I love the Ends of the Earth feature... just remarkable! :)
Glad that Lily is okay. And congrats to Amanda and her family. What a cute baby.
I'm glad everyone is doing well!
Stay out of hospitals; there's a lot of sick people there. Seriously! More people die from infections they get in hospitals then are murdered.
My daughter is doing better. No word on if they're going to have to operate on her yet.
I agree with everyone I'm glad you are back. Glad that Lilly is alright and what a cute baby.
Aw, Sophia is beautiful! Congrats to Angela & Keith.
I know I don't post comments often, but I do read regularly. Glad to hear that Lily did well with surgery. My girlfriend's son is 10 and just has an emergency appendectomy. Now that its over he's quite proud of his 3 little scars.
Welcome back, Meredith! It's late, but congrats on the Red Sox win!
Hi Meredith. Like the pics on your blogs. I hope you can posts more behind the scenes on your life on the show. You look great by the way. Cute baby too!
Glad Lily, Mom and Dad did so well with the surgery! Sophia is absolutely beautiful, matches her name!
Linda
Glad to read your blog again. The following might sound smarmy at first, but I mean it as a backwards compliment. I saw a photo of you on the latest cover of Good Housekeeping, and I think it is a terrible picture of you, mainly because it's obviously retouched. You look perfectly fine in your "natural" state. Was the retouching your idea or the magazine's?
Hi Meredith,
Thanks for the pic of you in Studio 1A. Pretty cool!
And thanks for sharing Baby Sophia with us! What a beautiful name for such an adorable baby!!! :)
Joe
Welcome back Meredith,
My daughter who is now a beautiful 21 year old young woman was born with a cleft palate and we have endured being in that surgical wing 17 times, I have done the comforting and been comforted.
Sophia is beautiful. I am a teacher in one of the best infant room's at the best learning center in the Elkhart-South Bend, Indiana area and I would love to be Sophia's first teacher. Have a great day!
welcome back buddy. thanks for returning armed with reports of goodness all around!
I had laprascopic (sp?) surgery once and the post-op gas was horrific! An old time nurse in our local hospital warmed up some ginger ale in the microwave, made me drink it (guzzle) and my gas was gone! I use that trick today with my children. My husband is going to have the same type of surgery for some hernias and I'm going to pack some warm ginger ale in a thermos to bring with me to the hospital! Welcome back Meredith - you were missed!
Hey Meredith, so glad you're back. 2 questions. 1- What's in the glass? Ha-Ha. 2- How come that beautiful baby wasn't named Meredith?
Keep up the great work. Glad to know Lily is okay too. There's nothing scarier than a sick child, no matter what the age.
Beautiful baby. Cozy office. You're pretty, too.
Wow what a difference 40 years in surgical advancements make! When I had an emergency appendectomy in 1968 I was in the hospital for 10 days!
McEntire - Wow. Do you have any idea what you sound like? I've been reading your comments for a while now. Wow!
You're really angry about something - and I don't know what it is, but I can tell you that it's NOT Meredith.
Sheesh, dude, quit reading! Why put yourself through the torment?
(Also it's "whining" not "whinning".)
People can be so incredibly rude (JMM). I'm appalled at the "gold spoon" comment. I hope I'm taking it more seriously than it was meant. It's amazing the things you'll say to people when you know they won't respond to you. I wonder if you would have said that to her face. Maybe you need a hospital stay to have your foot put back into it natural location.
Hi Meredith,
Just wanted to say that you are my favorite female on TV to watch. You are so down to earth, never putting on, just being yourself. I never watched Millionaire but before you hosted it. Now I wouldn't niss it. I so enjoyed the article on you and your family in the Good Housekeeping Magazine. I wish your daughter and son a healthy life. My thrill of a lifetime would be to meet you one day and just be able to shake your hand.
I hope to take a tiny bit of your time to check out my website a nd see a bit of where I live and meet my family.
Take care!
Boy, MacEntire has got to get himself a chill pill. How awful to go around with that kind of attitude.
Good to have you back Meredith, the baby is just beautiful.
Hi Meredith,
We're so glad that Lily is okay after her surgery. We missed seeing you on the Today Show each morning. Tell Amanda how excited we are for she and Keith with the birth of Sophia! Her pictures are absolutely perfect! Hopefully we can see her in person whenever we make it back to New York!
HI
I am also glad your back blogging, missed them. It is always upsetting when one of our children are sick or having surgery, so glad she's better. Amanda baby is very cute, glad they're doing well. Sophia is a pretty name for her, our new granddaughter name is also sophia, so it has an extra special ring to it. Glad to have you back.
I tottaly know what you are saying about the shoulder pain. I had some female surgery in May the same your daughter had her appendix out. The shoulder pain was by far the worst pain I had ever experinced!
Good to have you back blogging!
maria
I just want to add that I too miss you on the View. As a matter of fact I miss the old crew. Or at least the one I started with. But I am glad for your continuing success. You must be very organised to do what you do in a day. You go girl! All the best.
I am furious! First, Katie left and then you made such a big deal over Meredith coming to take her place. Well, where the hell is Meredith? I never see her on the Today Show and I watch every morning! Why not dump Meredith and bring back someone fun and upbeat and that can also be serious when need be. Don't get me wrong, Meredith is a very nice lady but she never is on the show. Either put her back on or let her go. Make her work for the big buildup you made for her when she first came on. Margie
What time is Margie turning on the Today Show? I see Meredith on the show every morning.