Day 304 | JULY 11, 2022

Good evening, Friends, today is day 304 of our new and amazing life!

Today I started my day early as usual and I had a busy schedule ahead of me.

London was back at his summer camp at school, he woke up by himself and got dressed, he is growing up so fast.

Baby Julien woke up shortly after and we all came down for breakfast.

I called Charlie and she was happy to see the boys play before I had to take London to school.

After dropping London at school, I started my busy work schedule.

Right around noon, I came up for Lunch since I had a video call at 1pm.

But when I got upstairs, my mother was not feeling well, she had vertigo and she told me that she needed to lay down because she was extremely dizzy and nauseated.

I knew at that very moment my work day had to be canceled, and to makes matters worse, Charlie called and she was also not feeling too good, she was feeling extremely tired and she was really looking forward to our visit, but I had to tell her the not so good news, I couldn’t go to visit Charlie today!

Yes, not only did I have to stop working at noon, I also could not visit Charlie, and I was devastated. Charlie needed me and my boys also needed me to care for them, since VoVo had to get rest and hopefully feel better.

I will be honest, today was not a day I could just not work, I actually ended up making a big mistake since I was trying to work and care for the boys.

By 3pm, I just knew I couldn’t do both specifically after trying and making costly mistakes.

Earlier I had mix feelings, I was upset that I was not able to work, I was worried about my mom, I was heartbroken for not being able to visit Charlie when she really wanted to see me, it has been 3 days since I visited Charlie, but I am also grateful that I am able to care for the boys when VoVo is sick and that she can rest a little, so a mix of bad and good feelings, and I did pray that my mom felt better.

Well, God is always there when we need him and me did feel better, so around 4pm my mom came downstairs and was well enough to take care of the boys while I visited Charlie, so before I left, I gave both boys a bath, that way VoVo just had to feed them dinner and do bed time.

I left at 5pm to see Charlie, and I was so happy, my heart was no longer broken, I was on my way to see my beautiful wife.

I encountered some heavy traffic on 64, but made my way safely to VCU. When I got there, I asked Charlie what she wanted for dinner. She asked for soup from Panera.

When I got there, Charlie was not feeling good. She was very sleepy, cold to the point of shivering, and burning up hot minutes later, I learned that Charlie has not been feeling like herself all day!

I was not happy to see her that way, especially when I had the initial suspicion of her being in withdrawal, but I am no doctor, but I am her Advocate.

I went to work, it has been a while since I had to advocate for Charlie, but I felt that this deserved my full and undivided attention, so I went to the nursing station and started to ask questions to her day and evening nurses. They were doing the shift change.

I didn’t expect that a nurse would have the answers to our questions, but I wanted to make sure they knew what was happening with Charlie. I asked if they could page the pain management team.

They sent us a PA, she did the usual questions about her symptoms, and ordered a COVID test.

I am praying that Charlie does not have any serious infection, it is too early to know, but tomorrow we will know the result of her Covid test.

Charlie is very uncomfortable, tomorrow she will undergo a procedure, called “Road Show” , that is where her surgeon will clean and inspect her allografts. They will take some cultures of her wounds to also check to see if there is any infection in there.

Well, tonight my mind is under attack from my old not so friend, Fear.

But guess what? Fear, this is not our first or second encounter with a possible infection, so go back into your dark corner, and let me welcome my friend, hope, and faith.

Tonight, I am choosing to remain positive and pray, I am asking God that Charlie remains infection free, or if she has an infection, it is something treatable.

I will not suffer and I will not fear, I know that God will protect Charlie and I also know that her doctors will do their best to find out what is happening to her.

Tonight, I am posting from the VCU parking garage, it is 10:20 pm and I am just now leaving VCU.

I kindly ask you for your prayers, please ask God to keep Charlie infection free, and that her doctors are able to find and treat what May causing her discomfort.

Tomorrow we will see what the day will bring us.

Have a good night, and thank you for the several cards that you have sent, Charlie really loves to read them.

May God Bless You!

André