February 14, 2022 - Surgery is Underway

Surgery is officially underway . . . 

Shortly after my post yesterday evening, the anesthesiologist called our family at home!  What an incredibly compassionate thing for him to do after reading Hope's case and wanting to offer extra and un-rushed time to talk and answer questions.  Hope loved his sense of humor and all the information that he wanted to make sure we knew.  His primary message was that he intended to take the best care of our girl, and he wanted us to know that!  What a compassionate and merciful God to lay this on his heart, and I shared with him what an early answer to prayer and sweet blessing he had been to Hope and our family through that call!  He also had several different plans than our chat with the last anesthesiologist.  He told us that he is the lead anesthesiologist for spinal cases, and he has 35 years of experience.  One of the differences was that he wanted to be the one to start her IV, and so that meant Hope would not have her dad nor I with her for that fearful experience for her.  I was so thankful that Hope and I had already talked about this possibility last Sunday, and now it was time for mom to get out of the way and let God be her place of refuge and strength in dealing with one of her biggest fears.  I had told her that as I prayed that she wouldn't have to do it alone, I had been comforted knowing she was never alone, and that God would be an even better support person than her mom if that is what God had for her.

No one in our family slept much last night.  It was quite late by the time we had the final details taken care of, and then you finally get to bed, and simply lay there, not able to fall sleep.  Hope was already awake at 4 am when we went in to get her ready to go.

Being unable to sleep, Hope said she had decided to write Gabi a poem to give her this morning.  It read . . . 

The bond we share
Nobody dare
Nothing can tear
Us apart.

She gave her poem to Gabi and then prayed with her this am.  It was pretty sweet to watch.

 

It took us a while to get through admitting, but the anesthesiologist stopped by to say hi and meet us there.  One of the things he told Hope then was that he was going to tell the unit not to have her pre-op bloodwork drawn.  Instead, he would draw the blood from one of the other lines that he would start before surgery.  She will have a regular IV, an arterial line, and a central line in her neck.  Again, God's faithfulness and mercy was evident as Hope was spared one more poke!  She was thrilled!!!

On the unit, the time went quickly as all the pre-op pieces were being checked off one by one.  We had a little time to read a few of your messages to Hope, but the rest will have to wait until later.  What an incredible outpouring of love and prayers for our girlie you have lavished on her, and I saw her tear up multiple times during the few we had time to read, especially when you shared a Scripture verse with her!  Thank you dear ones, for being Christ's love to our Hope and to our family!  Hope loves Scripture and I love how much she treasures the Word of God!!!  When the ECG was being done, she was trying to hold still . . . the more she tries to be still, the more her little body lights up with involuntary movements, which then distorts the picture or reading of her cardiogram. I noticed her moving her lips, and I thought she was counting to try to distract herself.  She told us afterward that she was reciting Psalm 23 to herself, and then she recited it out loud for the ECG technician, who said it was one of her favorite ones, although she didn't know it as well as Hope.  Please pray that our family will be salt and light to all those around us through this!  I forgot to ask that last night, but it is always our heart's desire to see each trial count for God's Kingdom!

I was able to pray with her one last time and kiss her beautiful face before they wheeled her away to the OR at 7:45 am.  The nurse told us that her surgery would begin at 9:05 am and would go until around 5:15 pm.  We are to call the pre-op unit at 5 pm to find out what unit she will be transferred to after surgery.  Then, we are to call that unit to find out what the specific rules are for visitation in that area, as it differs unit to unit.  Please pray that they will allow both of us to see Hope after surgery!  And, please pray that they will allow me to stay with her overnight . . . this is her biggest fear and concern!

We were told that we needed to leave the hospital.  It was incredibly hard to leave as we've always been close by when Hope was undergoing surgeries.  However, the blessing side of this was that we could come home and spend some time with our sweet Gabi, who was pretty sad and concerned last night and this morning.  We were even able to be home before she woke back up again!

On our drive home, Trevor and I were struggling to not obsess about how it was going for Hope . . . how did the IV start go; was she afraid; how long would she be waiting and awake?  About half way home, I received this photo text from a dear friend who also happens to be an OR nurse and was working there today . . . 

That smile says it all!!!  How I love that Hopey smile!!!  And how I love that precious friend who found a way to be with Hope and give us updates all the way through to the start of the surgery!!!  But most of all, how I love the God who orchestrated all of that for each of our hearts . . . what a gracious and loving God!  Needless to say, there were no dry eyes in the van the rest of the way home . . . as Trev put it, "I was having a little trouble seeing there for a few minutes."  God is so good!

So, our friend shared that they had Hope off to sleep around 8:50 am, the rest of her lines were started, and surgery began around 10 am.  We heard around 11:10 am from the anesthesiologist that the first part of the surgery (done from the front to fuse the L5 and S1 vertebrae) was close to being done, and everything has gone well so far!  He just texted again to say that they had her now turned over and were scrubbing in to start the second part of the surgery on the back to repair the broken rod and add additional screws and supports to her fused spine.  So, it seems that things are on schedule or, if anything, ahead of schedule.  He had told us before the surgery that there were two additional surgeons scrubbing in to help keep the surgery moving along so one surgeon doesn't get tired and to shorten overall surgery time.

We will be heading back into Calgary to wait closer to the hospital this afternoon, and will send another update when able!  Thank you, with all our hearts, for your love, prayers, and messages that the Lord is using to sustain and carry us through this difficult day!  

You are so very loved, dear ones!!!