Day 60 | NOVEMBER 09, 2021

Good Evening friends , today is day 60 of our new and amazing life!

Well, today is one of those days you wish you didn’t have , but here we are once again, dealing with my unwelcome feeling of fear, today around 4pm I received a call from her doctor at the OR, and he sounded a little worried, he said that when they placed Charlie at the OR table her oxygen saturation went down and they were not able to operate on her, after some tests they found out that her left lung had some sort of blockage and fluid in it, they planned to drain the fluid and see if her saturation would improve , but as they were trying to place the tube, Charlie was able to unblock her left lung on its own after being placed on the ventilator with a higher oxygen pressure, the chest tube was not necessary tonight, she is back to 100% saturation, but she is back on the ventilator and she is sedated once again.

I am sitting here next to her and I can’t help but to feel a Deja Vu feeling, from her first weeks when she was on the ventilator, the beeping noises of the ICU, it is a very strong and bad feeling, it feels like a huge step back, but for my fear I tell you , back off!

I have no room for you in my heart or mind ! Go back to your dark corner and leave me alone !

Charlie is strong and she will overcome this speed bump! Of course I am worried about her surgery on Friday, will it happen? Her doctors are also waiting to see how she does in the next 24 hours and see if she remains stable.

Of course I am sad and disappointed because now, Charlie won’t get her Trachea Collar downsized, and be able to talk in the next week or drink and eat in the following weeks, this is now on hold and I am so sad for Charlie!

But here is the lesson I am hoping to take from it, Patience is a virtue and not an easy one , I am so grateful for Charlie’s amazing recovery, truly she has been remarkable, and a true miracle, even her nurses agree on how remarkable she has been able to do so well, but I also need to recognize that she is human and bad days will occur, maybe God wants me to remain humble and not get too confident ? It is not easy and I am fighting so hard to not give in to fear, because by now I know the damage that fear can do to my spirit and I don’t want to leave my grateful state. Please pray for me to not give in to fear.

It is not by chance the doctors call the burn patients' recovery a roller coaster! I never liked roller coasters, but now I am riding in one where my wife’s recovery is the tracks, and we have been going up and up for a while now, let’s hope that we don’t go down too far this time around.

I am going to ask you for some serious prayers tonight, here is what we need to ask, that Charlie lungs remain stable and that Friday Surgery will happen!

If Friday surgery doesn’t happen, Charlie skin from the lab will have to be thrown away, and she will have to wait 3 more weeks for a new batch. It will really extend her stay at the hospital. We need all the prayers, positive thoughts from you !

Well today was a challenging day, when I received the doctor call, I was very worried and concerned, my drive to Richmond I felt like I was numb, but also had mixed emotions, just when I arrived at the hospital and spoke with her doctor and was able to understand what happened and got assurance from them, that the more serious issues have been ruled out, that I was able to calm down and refocus into a more hopeful mindset.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

May God Bless You

André