Hello everyone! First, Happy Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) Awareness Day! Also, Happy Valentine's Day! It's been a little busy around our household lately. And that has a lot to do with some recent news we've gotten. I received a phone call from Dr Bradley's office the other day. His nurse was calling me with two possible dates for Atticus' surgery. WHAT?!! I thought we were following up with his cardiologist who was then going to pick a date with us?! Some of this is still new for me. We never left the hospital between Atticus' Norwood Procedure and his Glenn Procedure, so I'm not really familiar with the protocol for scheduling the next surgery. I went with the earlier of the two dates, so it looks like Atticus will be having his Fontan on July 11th, 2012. (Akk! Less than 5 months to go!) We'll have to check into the hospital on July 10th at 9:00 AM for his pre-surgery work up. Which means we'll have to drive down the day before to stay with my sister and her husband. I'm really not looking forward to this. Its a day I've know was coming since before Atticus was even born, but I'm still not ready. (Honestly, is anyone who has to go through this EVER really ready?) I don't like to think about it too much, until its getting closer to time to go. The thoughts of having to hand my baby over to the doctors and surgeons is too much. To know that I am willingly giving him over to their care, so that they can break his sternum again to repair his heart, is gut wrenching. To know that he'll be put back on not only a heart/lung bypass machine again, but also that accursed ventilator again is more than frustrating. To know that he will be in pain, swollen, and delayed in his development makes me want to break down and cry. Then I think about Sandy, Gideon and Robbie. Atticus will be old enough to know if I'm gone from the hospital this time. I won't be able to leave him with some one else. He's a major "mama's boy". Being somewhere strange, with complete strangers (to him anyway--they know him quite well!) would be too much for Atticus. I'm praying that we are there for just a few weeks, and then back home again. (Please keep this thought in your prayers too!!) I know that Sandy and Gideon are older now, and they have a better grasp of what is going on this time around. Sandy will be almost 7 years old, and Gideon will be 5 years old; versus 4 yrs old and 2.5 years old. But the longer I'm gone, the harder it will be on them. Sandy's birthday is August 17th, so I'm definitely praying we can be home by then! (Otherwise we may have to plan a birthday in Charleston...) Whew....that's a lot of "what ifs". Again....it's why I don't like to think about it too much. I'll worry myself to death. And worrying doesn't change a thing. I just continue to trust that no matter what happens, God has a plan for it all. ("Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee..." Jeremiah 1:5)
So since we got this news, I took a part time job to help save up before we have to go down there. It's only about 20 hours a week, but the money is pretty decent. Its already helping ease the budget up a little. And we're going to need it. Our car won't start now, so its in the repair shop. (At least when it happened, God had a way to take care of it already in place!) I'm glad we have such wonderful family and friends to help us out when things like this happen.
In the meantime, we're continuing to work with Atticus. He's up to about 35 different signs now. He's even starting to combine 2 signs at a time when asking for something! (like "want, please" or "down, please" or "more bubbles", etc) Its so awesome to watch his understanding grow. He really likes cars. Atticus recently discovered Gideon's "Batmobile" car. It has a turn switch on the back that activates it and then it will zoom across the floor for the entire length of the room. He LOVES it. He'll turn it on, let it zoom, then go crawling after it! He's learning to color, and I think he's going to be a lefty. :) Now to get him to quit putting them in his mouth! Lol! He's also quite demanding about wearing his hearing aids. He wakes up in the morning and after he gets dressed, he'll do the sign for "hearing aid" and fuss until he sees that I'm going for them. I was really impress a few days ago when he started pointing to his left ear and doing the sign for "hearing aid", even though he was wearing it. He kept doing the sign, and pointing, getting frustrated, when I decided to take it out and check it. Sure enough....the battery was dead! I got it a fresh battery, put it back in his ear, and he started smiling! It was the first time he had let me know that the hearing aid wasn't working while he was wearing it! Progress! Progress!
Well, its getting late enough for this old lady. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We have a big journey ahead of us, so I'll update more as we get closer to the big day!
