Day 25 | OCTOBER 05, 2021
Good Evening Friends, Today is day 25 of our new amazing life!
Today we had another good day
Charlie underwent her 18th surgery. Today they focused on her back, upper and lower area, they replaced all of her allografts on that area and did wound care on the rest of her body, doctors are very pleased with her healing and there are no signs of any topical infection, all good news.
When I arrived at the hospital Charlie was back in her room , and she was awake. I always cherish when she is awake upon my arrival, because she does wave her arms up and down in joy when she sees me at the door.
Today I had a huge box with little Halloween treat bags for the nurses , they LOVED it so much !! Thank you friend for your kind and creative gift!
The nurses are starting to say, they never ever see anything like this from their patients, in our case You! They are feeling so loved and cared for and I can see in their interactions with Charlie how much they appreciate it! Thank you so much for not only being generous towards my family, but for also caring for Charlie’s medical team!
This week Charlie getting some days off, her next surgery is not until Friday, so she will have the opportunity to rest and also be off the ventilator for most of the day, they are just placing her back on at night to give her some rest, it does put a lot of work on her lungs to breath on her own, just because of her hyperbolic state, her whole body is running at 300%. But the more she breathes on her own, the stronger she becomes and less exposure to infections.
Charlie is very stable and doing the best she can under her circumstances, and that is good news ! She is an incredible fighter! Once again today I witnessed her declining more pain meds, her nurse asked her, Charlie are you in Pain? She said yes I am , in my back ( where they did the surgery) , the nurse would like more pain medication , Charlie said no, I just want to go home .
Since yesterday, Charlie has been telling us that she wants to go home , so I have told her that it will be few months, until that happens and she will need to pray for patience, and she said, I don’t have patience:), but she smiled after that, so I know she is being funny.
For the new friends, Charlie is a very funny person and a prankster. She loves to laugh and her laugh is contagious, so far she has only smiled. I am waiting for a laugh , hopefully soon!
As I write this post, I have a memory that makes me happy and sad, today my sister Marianna is arriving in Charlottesville with her Fiancée Giuliano, every time a family member of mine or hers would arrive in town, Charlie would clean the house , change all the beds linen, and bake some amazing cake, cookies or dessert, and she would always have a new Orchid plant, ( her favorite flower), and she would wait home , while I would go to the airport, she was always so excited to prepare our home to our guests, that is one of her passions, to welcome people to our home , she is a fantastic hostess and baker . So, today I am sad that Charlie won’t be home to prepare our home to our guests, I am also sad that this time they are not here to visit and have fun, but they are here to give their love and support to a family member in need , I am so thankful for them to have stopped their life’s in Brazil to come as fast as they could to give me and Vovo a hand with the boys ! Thank you Marianna and Giuliano! And sorry. No freshly baked cookies
Another piece of not so good news is that I was made aware today, that the lab making the Epicel lab grown skin will not have her skin delivered this Friday as hopped, but will try to deliver on the 18th or 19th of this month, it is not a huge deal, her Surgeon said in a way it will give Charlie time to heal better and increase the chances of the skin grafts being taken, but it does put her 2 weeks behind from the original plan, so let’s pray for the lab to get her skin here soon, and for her to not develop any infection in the next two weeks!
I was able to prepare a few cards for Charlie and she loved it! Today another 40 cards arrived , please keep it coming!! We are so far away from the 1k goal!! I need you to ask your friends to send cards as well, or wait! Don’t we have 3.2k members ? Where is everyone’s card? I am just kidding, but please send your card.
Today, I am grateful for my wife’s life, I am grateful for her recovery, and I am grateful for you.
Your cards and their messages are very touching, some do bring us tears, and other smiles. Today we opened a Card from Charlie Anne First grade Teacher, and her RA doctor, she has treated Charlie since 1993! and until last year when she retired, both cards were so sweet! Thank you!
You may not realize, but words are powerful, the same way they uplift and make one happy, they can also bring someone down, so please be kind with your words.
I am very excited for the next 2 days for Charlie, no visit to the OR means , no sedation and more alertness, she will get to practice with her robot voice machine .
Thank you God for all these wonderful moments with my wife!
Thank you for your love and support!
Since tomorrow, Charlie will be more awake, can you please write in the comments what questions you would like me to ask Charlie ? Please ask positive questions, and I will choose 10 of the best ones to ask her and tomorrow evening, in my post I will write her answers to those 10 questions! Thank you for your kind questions:)
May God Bless you !
