We are home.

Surprisingly, we were only at the Surgical Center for about three hours total.
That is a welcomed new record.

As predicted, they did fully sedate Bella, which meant that she had to be wheeled – once again – through those horrific OR doors, without me at her side.

She cried.
I cried.

There are way too many of these moments that have taken up residence in my permanent memory.

As always, I think it is important to acknowledge where God not only showed up, but revealed His steadfast and enduring character to us::

* Our anesthesiologist was amazing. The young dad of twins, he listened to us. In fact, he asked Bella what she wanted. She told him. He honored her request. And by doing so, my daughter learned a valuable lesson about the importance of advocating for herself, making her needs known, and that she has a right to be heard. I am indebted to him for this.

* Once again, we had a phenomenal nursing staff. They doted on Bella, were gentle and kind, and one of our nurses was a kidney transplant recipient and understood some of the special needs Bella has.

* I made it through the day. Really – this is a big deal. I was not sure I could do it. It was the first time I had to do this on my own with Bella. We had a bunch of scheduling conflicts, so I had to go on my own. I honestly was not sure I could do it. I could not sleep the night before, and I am NOT a morning person. But I did it. By God’s mercy, I made it through. I am paying for it today, but Bella is not.
And that is what matters.

* Bella’s pain is manageable. This is HUGE.

So, now what?

For the next 4-6 weeks, we will be doing foot soaks and bandage changes three times a day. Bella will be wearing flip flops to school for the next month and I now have the challenge of trying to keep her feet warm with her toes exposed. 😉

Our continued prayer is that we are able to stave off infection and that her toenails would not reverse to their former growth pattern.

Soon, it will be time to start dealing with the scoliosis, beginning with X-rays.

Sigh.

But for now, we are all taking a bit of a rest. We are regrouping, recharging.
Martin and I have a date night planned.
I cannot even begin to articulate how imperative date nights have become! 
((Aside::)) It is interesting to me how my ENFJ-ness is becoming more and more an INFJ-ness – whether that is because of all that we have been through with Bella, or just me becoming more comfortable in my own skin as I get older – not sure.

And we are preparing for Abeni’s 5th birthday on Monday!!
More to come on that, so stay tuned…

Thank you for your prayers, thoughts, emails, and for being
Our Village.