In some respects, our 4:30 a.m. wake-up alarm came all too sudden because we had a restful and cough-free night's sleep from Willow (we thank God for that). On the other hand, it couldn't come quick enough because our spirits were anxious to get Willow's surgery "on the road" after our roller-coaster ride/on-and-off again false surgery starts given Willow's erratic health condition. After getting ourselves ready, we woke the girls up at about 5:15 and plopped their limp little bodies into their car seats in the dark of the morning. (Barret spent the night at a friend's house so that he could get a ride to school and not be disturbed by our early morning preparations.) We arrived at Children's Hospital right on time (6:00 a.m.) and everything seemed to click along like clock-work; check-in, routine questions, forms filled out, verified vital signs, changed into surgical clothing, etc... By the time she was finally wheeled into the preoperative room, Willow was already becoming groggy from the pre-medication and almost fell asleep in Victoria's arms. We met with several different nurses, all of whom were extremely friendly and helpful, the anesthesiologist (seen below), and her surgeons (one for her ears because tubes needed to be implanted, and the other for her cleft repair). Again, all were as equally kind and patient as the nurses. What a wonderful place for sick children, but just as wonderful for fearful parents entering into the unknown with their most precious gifts from God.
It was a sad and somewhat emotionally-restrained moment when Victoria and I watched the anesthesiologist take Willow into her arms and disappear around the corner, into the operating room. We waved good-bye, already starting to count the minutes until her estimated two and a half hour surgery would all-too-slowly come to an end. After killing time by eating a few "things" in the hospital cafeteria, our preassigned pager finally rang its unique tone three hours later. We grabbed our stuff and hurried to the post-operative room. They really didn't want Poppy in there, so Victoria went to see Willow first. I guess it was a bit shocking and moving for her to see her little Xuan Xuan lying there, all helpless with a swollen mouth and all. I finally worked my way in there to see her, sneaking Poppy in, and was thankful that it was over, knowing that the really hard part is yet to come. Dr. Cedars, the cleft palate surgeon, said that everything went swimmingly well given the large gorge in the roof of her mouth. While not quite the Grand Canyon, he said it was definitely one of the larger clefts he's seen and worked on, but then he was quick to say, "Not anymore!"
Willow's now in her room, with Victoria, receiving hourly doses of morphine to ease the pain. Much to our surprise, she's going to be in the hospital for four days and three nights (we originally thought two days and one night). Since she can't eat or drink anything for a couple of days, they'll need to keep her intravenously hydrated and fed, something we obviously cannot do at home.
Our whole family so appreciates your thoughtfulness with prayer, calls, notes, meals, etc... We have it so good.
Gratefully in Christ,
Tom (& Victoria)
PS: More updates to come later.
with a special dinner on the Oakland waterfront. The restaurant table had a wonderful view. He was joined by all in the family except the little ankle-biters who we left with a neighbor baby-sitter (we figured it was the only way to have a peaceful meal with any focused conversation). Austin also brought his girlfriend, Meagan, who we picked up at the airport on the way there after the two of them just returned from an extra long weekend in Colorado. We appropriately embarrassed Barret with colorful and bright balloons, stories about his unique birth (which we won't go into here), gifts, and just being weird like only families can be in their own special way. We even made Barret carry the balloons back to the car, passing dozens of people along the way, which can be pretty dang embarrassing for a fresh 16 year old. He was a pretty good sport about it all, I must say.
We're proud of Barret. He's virtually a straight "A" student, (works very hard to get those grades mind you), thoroughly enjoys playing the guitar (and is getting quite adept at it I might add), loves his family and those two little China cherubs that now grace our home. Most of all, on the way to the restaurant last night I asked Barret as he sat behind the wheel how turning 16 was going to change his life. He responded by saying, "Well, I really want to be more mature with my life and my walk with the Lord." That was his birthday gift to us.
They may be painted blue (with a little bit of yellow here and there), but blue is hardly how I feel after I've seen the Blue Angels. And I'm sure it's hardly how the pilots feel when they're jetting through the clear blue skies of the San Francisco Bay Area on one of its most glorious days of the Fall. It was Fleet Week here in San Francisco and tradition has it that the Blue Angels perform Thursday through Sunday. And our family tradition is to go into the City and get on top of Hines' trophy tower, 101 California (~50 stories), to watch them with unobstructed and sometimes eye-level view. Austin and Annie were a bit jealous when we called and reminded them what we were doing. Of course the Blue Angels never disappoint, and they were true to form this time as well.
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