Surgery and the Move

Oh, this sad, sad, forgotten blog.  Days and weeks and months and years have flown by and I have not properly processed life internally or externally, or so it seems.  I have discovered as I have grown into more of a conscious and aware adult (sometimes I am) that there are days that I don’t know how I am until I write it out.  There’s an internal processor for you.  I journal MAYBE once every month- or two- and I would say that about 90% of those entries begin with alerting my reader (no one) that I am sitting in a coffee shop for some much needed time away with my journal, a nice pen, and a cup of warm coffee.  Seriously.  That is the first paragraph, explaining away how I have been so busy and how I dearly need to figure out how I am.  I then rattle off stream of consciousness for two to three to four pages, and generally abruptly cut it off in order to start the next page in my journal as either a to do list or a new budget plan or something else more pressing and practical.  ‘Tis the season of life, I suppose.  I think it has been a few months or years since I had much margin in my life.  Waa, waa, whine, whine.

I have wanted to write to the great and grand world out there and wax eloquently and think deep thoughts and inspire others to do the same.  Full disclosure: I haven’t had many deep thoughts of late.  I also haven’t slept more than four hour stretches for ¾ of a year, so I think those two things are related.  So this entry will disappoint if you were hoping for some inspiration.  This is merely a catch up on the life and times of our family, as there is a lot going on and a few of you who would like to hear!  And then maybe later I will share some deep thoughts, but I’m pretty shot at this point!

James- We added to our number ten months ago, and he is a little charmer.  Happy, inquisitive, content, and just entering a little stage of separation anxiety, so that should be fun.  Two bottom teeth and dark hair that sticks straight up on top, Mohawk-esque.  He is a spitten image of Ada when she was a baby, but all boy.  He can clap, crawl, click his tongue, and I promise you he says “Ada”.

Speaking of, Ada- she is nearing her fourth birthday and knows who in the family has to have birthdays first before her birthday comes.  She is bright and beautiful, sings and has an active imagination.  She has entered the age of the “why” questions.  Ada loves to help out with cleaning and kitchen projects and basically wants to be everywhere I am, doing whatever I am doing.  I need reminders that this is a precious stage, and that this too shall pass.  She is doing fairly well health-wise, but it is clear that her heart needs the next surgery.  She will tire out just walking up the stairs of our house or walking a block at a brisk pace.  Surgery is slated for June 22 at Children’s.  We will have the same surgeon, and feel comfortable with the staff at Children’s, as our first experience went so well.  This surgery is called the “Fontan”.  In general, this surgery is the final, and it connects the inferior vena cava to the pulmonary artery so that the end result will be a long loop…. Blood will leave her heart and go to the body and the lungs and back, rather than in our hearts, where there are two circuits- one to the body and back, one to the lungs and back.  Her blood oxygen levels should be much improved and I am hoping that she discovers that she feels much better overall!  It is hard to know with little ones, especially as she has never known what it feels like to have high/normal oxygen levels.  Length of stay in the hospital could be five days to five weeks, depending on how her lungs handle the increased blood flow to them.  So, a lot going on with our precious first born.  There is obviously a lot that I am feeling right now as the mom, as one can imagine.  We need wisdom in knowing how to prepare her for this surgery, as her experience will be one that she will remember, unlike her last surgery at 5 months of age.

And then the kicker- Nick got a transfer with work!  Bittersweet, to be sure.  He will be continuing with the same company, but working out of the Twin Cities in Minnesota.  Yes, folks, my homeland.  For years we have had it in mind to make a move to Minnesota and now that it is a near reality, my mind is spinning.  On the one hand, I am excited to reconnect with family and friends as well as places that I hold dear.  And on the other hand, now that it is happening we are feeling the pain and grief of leaving a place that has been home to Nick for his whole life and for me these past ten years.  Nick has already begun his work out there, flying out to MN for the weekdays and back to CO on weekends.  Largely due to the surgery that we have been planning on for so long, we have decided that we will not move as a family until after the surgery and hospitalization and hopefully a bit longer afterwards as well, as Ada has many adjustments to face.

We will have more to say and will use this blog again for giving information, particularly as the day of surgery approaches.  Please pray for us!  Oh, and bring by empty boxes, come July.  Our previous move was just long enough ago that we gave all our moving boxes away!

Peace…