Day 287 | JUNE 24, 2022

Good evening, Friends today is day 287 of our new and amazing life!

Well, you will want to read today’s entry until the end.

I was up early today, 5 am before any of the boys, I guess I had a lot in my mind.

The benefit of waking up so early is the peace and quiet I get to experience; I took two hours to work on our book. I am now entering the part where Charlie was moved from the ICU into a regular room, and that is a very happy part of her journey.

Around 7am, Julien woke up and London shortly after, it was time to make breakfast, nothing fun today, just the usual protein waffles and fruit.

Charlie woke up and got ready for her OT appointment that was in the morning. Once she arrived home, she had planned a fun picnic with a few of her friends and neighbors. I could hear all the fun and laughter from the kids in my office.

When I went outside, it was an amazing site! A true block summer party! There were water balloon fights, kids laughing, others crying, moms having fun, and Charlie was in heaven!

They had Pizza, water and juice for the kids! It was so much fun to see London having a blast! And Charlie as well, she loves to be with her friends, and especially when the boys are having fun!

Today was the day, People article came out, I also tried to secure us a copy, without success, but tomorrow I will try again 🙂

Here is the big announcement, Charlie will be returning to VCU burn unit next week, she will be redoing a few of her skin grafts, the open areas on her buttocks, knees, elbows and ankles.

It was a very difficult decision that Charlie had to made, she has been enduring incredible pain and discomfort, the open wounds made rehab extra painful and difficult, and that continued at home, those spots just were not healing on their own, so on her last appointment with her Burn Surgeon, he made the assessment of the spots, and just few days ago, the determination came, those open spots will not heal on their own, a skin graft is needed.

Charlie and I knew that was a real possibility, we just were a little surprised on how quick the surgery would be, next Tuesday!

That is right, Charlie is returning to the hospital and could be there for upwards of 4 weeks and including a stop at rehab :(

It is very hard to accept, that once again she will endure unbelievable pain, once again be at risk of infection, and the most painful part is to be away from her boys, once again!

Charlie is strong and brave to be going back, she knows that she is taking a step back, but necessary to move forward.

Once the skin grafts are done, her open wounds hopefully will be closed, and the pain associated with it gone, she will be able to work harder on her PT, without tearing her skin, and that means she will be on the road to hopefully have her knee replacement surgeries in the near future.

Now more than ever we will need your prayers and support, we are going back to a very scary place, where there are no guarantees and fear will crawl its way back in our minds.

Please pray for our kids, they will learn tomorrow that mommy is going back to the hospital.

I am trusting God and his infinite mercy, that he will continue to bless us, but I would be lying if I didn’t express how scared I am, how anxious and also scared Charlie is.

Our new life takes unexpected turns, we have no control over anything, but the one thing we can do, is to focus on what we can control, and that is how we react to what life throws at us, we choose to be grateful, and we ask God for his mercy, and we ask you for your prayers, and we do it now once again, because it worked before! Let’s do it once again!

For the newcomers, you are about to experience the same intensity of emotions and feelings that I felt in the first days of the accident. We are going back to that same hospital; you will want to stay on!

I hope we can continue to count on you!

May God Bless You! Have a good night!

André