Day 317 | JULY 24, 2022

Good evening, friends; today is day 317 of our new and fantastic life!

I tried to wake up at my usual time; however, my body decided to stay in bed, so I woke up at 9 am today!

I know my body needed the extra sleep, but it certainly changed the flow of my day.

When I got downstairs, Vovo had already fed the boys’ breakfast; I quickly ate my breakfast and took London outside to play, wanting to avoid the heat again.

The day went by fast today; between playing with the boys and helping my mom organize our closets, the day was busy.

I spoke with Charlie in the morning and afternoon; she had an almost uneventful day, but on our last video call, she revealed some upsetting news to me.

She had the nerve block placed in her left arm on Thursday, to which we expressed our concern since, over the weekend, there were no hand specialists or OT.

Well, our concerns become evident since no one came to see Charlie over the weekend, and to make matters worse, as of Saturday, her left arm was no longer “blocked,” we wondered if that was normal. Still, today a Nurse from the anesthesiology department came to look at Charlie's block. Upon inspection of her dress, Charlie noticed a look on her face, so She asked her to tell her what was wrong because Charlie knew something was wrong.

Charlie was told that the catheter for the block had come off, so there was no nerve block medicine being injected at the right place!! That explains why Charlie could use her left arm fully when it was supposed to be blocked, and she could not move it!

Charlie and I discussed and decided that tomorrow, Charlie will ask you have the block removed because she will not change the risk of nerve damage by redoing the league; they had their chance, and they chose to do the block on a Thursday when everyone knows that on the weekends, there is no therapy, they tried, and they failed, we also have decided to get a second opinion for her hands, so we are done with guesswork at VCU, we will treat her skin their and keep at it for now.

It is very frustrating when you trust doctors. They don't deliver what they are supposed to do just because they lack the interest in learning about your medical history or thinking about the execution of their orders; what we have learned during our many hospital procedures is to follow our instincts if you don't feel good about something, don't be afraid to stop or change your mind, part of being an effective advocate is to know your body, no doctor knows you better than yourself.

I am praying that no nerve damage is caused to Charlie's arm due to the failed nerve block.

I am hopeful that UVA doctors will be able to give us a positive second opinion.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. I am beyond grateful to all of you!

May God Bless You!

André