Day 109 | DECEMBER 28, 2021
Good Evening Friends, today is day 109 of our new and amazing life!
Today Charlie underwent surgery for the application of CEA on the inside part of her leg and feet, technically this surgery concludes the coverage of her entire burn surface with CEA, but sadly it is not the last of surgeries, her doctor will have to go back on certain areas of her body to really CEA on the spots that did not take, since CEA take is not 100% according to their website the average take is 75%, but Charlie as we got to know is not average and her take before this application, was around 87%, so she has some areas to be redone but not a lot .
When I arrived at the hospital today, Charlie was still at the OR, so I decided to wait for her return at the waiting area, and it took me a second to realize that I started to feel the same feelings from the day of the accident, it was like I had a flashback of memories, I remembered the chair that I set in that day, and I also remembered the sound of the tv that was on, until the chaplain came and set next to me and held my hand, at that very moment I cried when I start to realize the severity of Charlie situation.
God I was so scared! It is incredible the feeling I felt on my body today just by seating on that same chair and closing my eyes, in a instant I felt cold and started to feel my hands trembling and tears started to fill my eyes, I stay on that seat for about 5 minutes until I said, not today, no room for sadness or fear, I changed seats and went back to my grateful mindset ! But wow! How powerful those memories were!
Charlie was brought back to her room around 4:30pm, this was a very long surgery, over 8 hours! Thank God, the surgery went well and the CEA placement was successful.
As usual after any surgery, especially this long, Charlie was in a lot of pain ! It had been a long time since she said that her pain was at 10!
My heart broke for her , in addition to be in a lot of pain in her legs, she had to be placed backed on the ventilator for few hours to help with her CO2 levels, all because she was under general anesthesia for a very long time, in a weird way this visit was like a trip to the past, Charlie back in the vent, the non stop loud beeping, her super sleepy, just an incredible sensorial experience, but this time around , I have the wisdom and I know all this is temporary and not a set back, we are actually getting close to her next phase the rehab.
Only God knows how hard those early days were, I had no idea if my wife would survive or not, still I am heart broken for the pain that Charlie felt today .
I am so grateful for God’s strength and life experience, I now know that everything will be ok, and in the next 48h Charlie will be back to her normal self and we will be watching tv together while sipping some sweet tea .
Thank you God for today’s success and for Charlie’s successful surgery, tomorrow will be a better day.
As a left, Charlie remained in the ventilator, she will stay on until her CO2 levels improve, they will do another test at midnight.
I kindly ask you to pray for Charlie to be off the ventilator before sunrise tomorrow, she absolutely hates the ventilator.
May God bless You!
André
