Lucky

Charity is still doing fine.  She hasn't had any more touches of fever.  As long as that stays away, all is good.

I titled this entry lucky because that is how we all feel.  We have been so touched by all of the love and support you all have given us.  Today we finally got a chance to go home for a bit and found a package that contained a beautiful quilt given to us by our friend Kim.  Another friend, Bonnie, was kind enough to include us on her blog which I am sure will lead to more prayers and thoughts headed our way.  (The more the better.)  We have had so many Facebook messages to help support us along the way as well.

I tear up when I think about my coworkers.  They have all been so wonderful.  It has truly felt like my coworkers have been family members.  I am especially touched to have Jean and Janice as coworkers.  We work on the same team and they have both been so wonderful.  Before we had Charity, they threw a great shower for us at work.  Since we have had her, they have been even more wonderful.  I was dreading planning for this week.  I don't know my students all that well yet and I have no idea what will work with them and what will not.  Janice (Auntie Janice to Charity) and Jean actually took time out to plan for me.  You have no idea how much that has meant.  When Jean sent me a text saying that everything was planned, I felt like a weight was taken off of my shoulders.  Thank you to you both!!

I also want to thank Sandy, our 5th and 6th grade counselor and her husband Chris.  Sandy has been so supportive every step of the way.  Chris has been doing a great job subbing for me and even helped plan for my students.  I feel so much better knowing that he is there with my kids.

I want to once again thank EVERYONE for their thoughts, prayers, and support.  I am tearing up right now as I am writing this thinking about everything everyone has done for us.  Preparing meals, calling us, checking our blog, and writing on our Facebook page have all meant a great deal to us.  I don't want to leave anyone out, but it would be impossible to thank everyone by name.  Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to keep you in ours.  I am sorry if I did not mention you by name, but that does not mean that we don't appreciate you.  We appreciate everyone of you!!!

Thank you again!!

CB

Day 4

It usually isn't a good sign when I start using the day count as the title for these posts.

This is Charity's fourth day in the hospital.  When the surgeons made there rounds earlier today, they said that they were concerned about Charity's bottom.  It is red and there is a small infection.  The informed us that she will be receiving antibiotics via a PICC line (basically a long term IV) for the next 5-7 days.  That means that the earliest Charity will be able to taste fresh air will be next Monday.  She is still resting comfortably and doesn't seem to be in any pain.

Jamie and I have hunkered down in her room and are doing fine.  We are working out a schedule today in order to stay busy while she is sleeping.  I have requested the rest of the week off of work to be here and I think Jamie has pretty much decided to move in a little more than me as I tend to leave our 16 walls (Yes, I counted.  There are 16 walls in our room not counting the interior bathroom wall.  Lots of angles.) a little more often than she does.  Charity and I are both so lucky to have her here.

Thank you once again for all of your thoughts and prayers.  Once Charity is out, we should be good to go.

CB

When Will It End?

Ok, so we hit yet another snag.  We were hoping to be leaving today, but it isn't looking very likely.

Charity had a fever after her surgery.  This is completely normal and part of the healing process, however, it shouldn't last that long or be that high.  She ended up topping out at 102 or so.  This lead to a few more tests...

First of all, she had some blood work drawn.  They wanted to be sure that she did not have an infection and also wanted to see how her blood count was doing.  The tests did not show any abnormalities to suggest a massive infection.  Yay.  However, the tests did show that she did not have a normal blood cell count.  Boo.  She had another test a little later in the morning that showed that her number was improving.  Yay again.  Her count should be a little low after surgery, so the tests seemed to be pretty much right on.

We also had a sonogram on her to check for any internal bleeding.  They did find one spot with some extra fluid.  Boo.  That means that she is going to be monitored carefully to be sure that it is not increasing.  As long as it is not increasing, we are good.  If it is increasing, she will have to have some repair work done to sew up the area that is leaking.

Luckily, her fever is gone (at least for now.)  She is eating, pooping, and peeing, so things are good on that front.  It looks like we are going to be spending at least one more night in the new St. Francis wing.  I have a feeling that since all of these tests were done between 3 am and 6 am this morning that it is going to be a bit of a tedious day for Jamie and me.  Charity, on the other hand, is enjoying her sleep right now.

Who knew that having a kid would teach me so much about the new building at St. Francis?  (By the way, I don't want to be here, but it is very nice and comfortable!)

Surgery is OVER!!!

Charity is now back in our arms.

The surgery went well.  They removed 4-5 inches of colon, but that is not much since it is usually close to 5 feet long.  The surgeon said that she should not have any major problems and that she should be home "very quickly."  I don't have a clue what that means, but it sounds better than the "several days" he told us about for the last appointment.  We basically have to be sure that she is eating and pooping for her to be released.

Charity is resting comfortably right now being as cute as ever.  I am sure that she will be feeling much better once she soreness decreases.

Thank you for your support.  It means the world to us.

CB

Surgery - Check

We got a call 11:07.  The surgery pretty much over!  They have removed the amount of colon that they need to. When they called they were going to begin finishing things up and get her back together.  I don't know how much they had to remove yet, but there were no incisions needed, so it wasn't the worst case scenario.

Thank you again for all of your prayers.  Now we wait to see her and for her to come home (again).

CB

9:00 AM

The surgery has officially begun.

Surgery Time

Ok, so it has been a hectic morning!!!

Jamie and I were about 10 minutes from the hospital when we received a call from the hospital.  They moved her surgery up!  She went from having a 9:00 surgery time to an 8:00 surgery time!  Thank goodness we were already on the road!

We ended up getting to the hospital at 7:10, so we actually did fairly well.  Nothing like a little adrenaline with breakfast!

It is now 8:54 and she is currently in pre-op.  She should be beginning her surgery shortly.  The surgeon seems to be fairly confident that she will be out by noon.  We will see!

Jamie and I are currently at the hospital with both sets of our parents and Jamie's aunt and uncle.  We are all really nervous, but at least we should be through everything before this afternoon.

Please keep Charity in your prayers.  All of your prayers have already helped her so much.  This went from being a procedure that would take a few months to be completely finished to a procedure that should be done in one day.  God had to have had a hand in that.  Thank you so much!

CB

Surgery Info

The three of us just got back from meeting with the surgeon.  She is scheduled to have her surgery on Friday, August 27th at 9 am.  We don't know how long she will be in the hospital, but it will be "several days" according to the surgeon.

We did find out that they shouldn't have to make any incisions in Charity, they will be pulling the colon out through the poo hole and then cut and sew it from there.  This will mean no scars for Charity!  The surgery will last 4-6 hours and will be preformed by Dr. Mark Holterman (Bio).  

In the long run, Charity will have to be sure that she stays regular.  That means a diet high in fiber and full of fruits and vegetables (could be worse).  I guess that means she will be one of the healthiest kids around!

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers.  They are truly appreciated!

CB

Update

Charity has a few appointments tomorrow (8/17).  She will have an x-ray done tomorrow morning and then an appointment with the surgeon in the afternoon.

Just to clear up any confusion, she will definitely need surgery.  We are hoping to schedule it tomorrow so we can get things in order.  Once we have a date, we are going to work on getting the baptism lined up.  Surgery isn't something that we really want, but it is best for Charity.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.  We will update this blog as soon as we get back from the hospital.

Hopefully we will have a full synopsis of everything very soon.

CB

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