Tuesday September 20, 2011
I was woken twice by the elderly woman’s cell phone sitting across from me. Finally gave up on sleeping a little after 6:00 AM. Today’s the big day of your surgery. The doctor (your surgeon) said that your pain level was down to a 4. Yeah – good news for you!
I returned phone calls and texts and took some items to the car. They said we would be in a different waiting room for the surgery on the first floor. Also, they would be taking you down around noon. So, after I was done catching up with communications – I have a few minutes to sit and write in your journal. Our 10:30 visit is only less than an hour away. They called us to go to the first floor waiting room a little after 10:00 AM. I cried because I didn’t think that I would be able to see you for a very long time and I was looking forward to our 20 minute visit and then an additional one before the surgery. Every minute is precious at this point and I want as many as I could take.
We went to the first floor waiting room and were called back to where you were being prepped for surgery. I was amazed at your peace at the thought of surgery. I only cried while the anesthesiologist was there and explaining his part. I calmed back down. The heart rate monitor beeping was getting on your nerves. You showed us how you could raise it. Your mom and I both laughed. Carol Woodard and Susan Stulting made it back. I was totally surprised, and said without thinking, “Oh, they let you come back?” Then Brother Guy came back to see you. He was all smiles and telling you about the staff retreat. He prayed with you – I prayed with you. We were with you for nearly 2 hours! I loved every minute.
They called to tell us when your surgery began, about 1:15 PM. They said that they would call us every hour with the progress of the surgery. They called about 2:30 PM and told us the surgery was still going on. Not 10 minutes later they called us and said the doctor wanted to see us. I said, “Oh Shit!” I honestly thought that you had died on the table. Michelle Qualls went with your mom and I to meet with the doctor. Doctor Banks came in and shook your mom’s hand, I wouldn’t shake his hand – I just wanted to know about you.
He said that the surgery went well, and that they were done. At this point I burst into tears of sweet relief. My sweet dear husband was alive. Doctor Banks went on to say how your brain had just fallen into half, so that he could get to the aneurysm to fix it. He said some other stuff that I don’t remember. Let me tell you who all was here during the surgery: Carol Woodard, Dave Nelson, Susan Stulting, Brother Guy, Ron & Allison Huskey, John Crocker, Michelle Qualls, Julia Wall, Stephanie Allison, Adel & Yadira Robayna, Gordan Gilbreath, Andrea Nell, Amanda Criss. Now granted, they didn’t all stay the whole time, but they showed up!
We moved down to the NICU waiting room, which is much nicer and more comfortable. Stephanie Allison helped me call people to tell them how the surgery had gone. Carol Woodard also helped. Dave Nelson brought me a milkshake. Amanda brought me a lemonade. Carol gave me a green tea and a Twix bar. It was nearly 3 hours for them to let us up to see you. Your mom and I got to meet your nurse, Jamie, who seems nice. She said to only stay 5 minutes. When we walked over to your bed – your eyes fluttered open – oh – what a beautiful sight. And then you talked. You told us that your head really hurt. For some reason, perhaps because it was such an obvious statement, that struck me a funny. I said it would probably hurt pretty bad for a while. You were in and out of sleep. Since I knew that you were OK – we probably didn’t even stay the whole 5 minutes.
I went back to the cafeteria to eat with Carol and Stephanie. Carol bought my supper. Then Celine came with my bag of clothes for the night. When I walked back to the NICU waiting room, there was Gene from the Child Evangelism Fellowship group. He was the guy that I met with Susan Stulting that Saturday that I went to the fair. To be honest – I was pleasantly surprised to see him. Celine, Sophie, and I visited the snack area. Afterwards, I went back and the area had cleared out except for a couple of friends.
At the 8:30 PM visit; your mom, Chris Qualls, and I came up for a visit. Dave – you have just amazed me at your ability to speak coherently each time I see you. You can’t even imagine the sense of relief that I feel that you made it through your surgery. Your mom headed out after the visit to drive 14 hours to southern Florida. Chris left Makayla to stay all night. I found out later that that was your mom’s idea. I went to sleep around 10:00 PM and slept through till 5:00 AM. That was the most sleep that I had had since I got here…
Still more to come…
