Day 14 | SEPTEMBER 24, 2021

Good evening Friends, Day 14 of our new life!

It is hard to believe that 2 weeks ago, the life that we knew was taken away in a split of a second on 9/10/21 at 9:05am to be exact.

Today my day started very hard . I went to bed last night with the fear of my wife being in a septic shock, and I woke up with that same fear in place, and as the hours went by I was overcome by the fear, I was frozen and could not stop crying, I received a call around 8:15a from the hospital, the usual consent call, but this time they emphasized the high risk of the surgery due to her possible infection, It was the first time I heard the words high, high risk surgery.

I remained in the fear mode until around 10:30a or so, when a dear friend of Charlie came by to help me, by looking at the boys clothes to ensure they had enough clothes at the right size for the winter months. Having a conversation with her really took my mind off the fear mode and I was able to stop crying and have a conversation. Thank you friend for your time today, and guess what? Charlie had bags in the boys closet filled with clothes for the next sizes up! Oh Charlie, always prepared!!

So, around 12:30p I started to drive to the hospital, it is a 1:20h drive each way, my heart was concerned, but also excited to be able to see her, around 12:50p Dr. Drake calls me to inform that he had ended her surgery, and that all went according to his plan, I asked him how was Charlie and he said, she did very well, she is actually responding to the antibiotics and she is no longer displaying symptoms of a septic shock, I further ask him, was she ever on a septic shock ? He said, maybe in the beginning, but now she is better and that is what matters.

When they told me , this journey would be a roller coaster ride, I never imagined that it would be so literal, the ups and downs come and go so fast it feels like.

After that call my spirits were up, I actually pulled over into a rest area and took 10 minutes to allow the fear to leave my mind and heart, I needed to close my eyes and take a deep breath and say a thank you prayer.

As I continued my drive, my mood was changing, I could feel my face smiling. Just amazing how quick I went from a fearful state into a happy state with one piece of good news!

Today I arrived at the hospital bearing gifts. One of my wife’s amazing and generous friends dropped an awesome basket of candies and Girls Scouts Cookies to the nurses, they loved it so much! They even took a picture to post in the hospital internal Facebook group, to show off their awesome gift . thank you friend!! Nurses love gifts! I try to bring something every other day, they deserve it so much !

When I entered Charlie’s Room she was sleeping very peacefully, it is such a relief to see her, some of the partial burns in her chin are healing really well and her face looks beautiful, the OR docs and nurses washed Charlie’s hair, she looked so clean and comfortable ( not sure how) , but she did. I gently touched her forehead and she opened her eyes, she sees me and smiles , and goes backs to sleep, she was still under sedation from her surgery, so today we did not communicate very much, I just seat next her, turned in the

music and just looked at her for the next 2 hours in silence, just thinking about our amazing memories, our boys and also trying to imagine what our new life is going to be. There is no way to tell yet, but I would like to know . But I know , one day at a time.

I asked her nurse how she was doing, and I received a good report. She is stable, but still taking antibiotics since she may have some kind of infection on her respiratory system, we will know more in 5 days.

Charlie is a fighter, and I am so proud of her for overcoming her first speed bump on a record time, I do know many more challenges will come, but I will once again ask God to protect her and bring her home and talking about God, let’s not forget that she received her anointing of the sick last night, and she also have all of you praying for her! Thank you! For God nothing is impossible!

Thank you so much for your love and generosity, Charlie and I are so appreciative of you, giving us so much!

May God Bless You!

André