Family

The last three weeks have been such a roller coaster. We found out on my precious M’s birthday that her allergies were unfortunately causing several problems. The first correction to be made was to have surgery. Many children have these surgeries each and every single day. No harm done, and I just figured that it would be the same for us. That is what I get for thinking right?

M was scheduled for surgery two days after Christmas. We would write notes back and forth to each other trying to squish all her fears. I kept reassuring her that everything would be okay and she would be a new girl for the new year. What I meant was, she would be able to breathe better and in return get a good night’s sleep. Even though her nerves crept up on her the morning of surgery, I was proud of her for putting on such a brave face. They wheeled my sweet girl back to the operating room and I waited in recovery room. I worked to try and keep my worries at bay. She had her tonsils removed, adenoids removed, tubes put in her ears and allergy testing all done during surgery. After about one hour and half, a nurse greeted me with good and bad news. Good news, her surgeries were a success. She did not even bleed any during surgery. The bad news, she tested positive for 23 different allergies. I can deal with this as L has several different allergies. I was just ready for the nurse to quit talking and direct me to my sweet M.

After, hugging my sweet girl very tightly, I let her finish waking up and get adjusted. We were able to leave three hours later. I assumed this would be the finale and my little girl would be on her way to being healthy again. For 14 days, she followed the strict schedule perfectly. She did not have any problems and did not complain at all. Day 15 this all changed unfortunately. She woke me up around 4am and she was bleeding out of her mouth. It was not a bad bleed so we got it stopped with salt water and headed on over to the ER. They did more salt water and sent us back home to follow-up with ENT. We followed up and everything seemed to be alright. The very next day, I get a call from school that M is bleeding yet again. Tears filled my eyes and I hurriedly made my way to the school. M leaped into my arms with such big tears. We both were crying. This was taking a toll on her and she was scared. We went straight to see her surgeon. Once again, we were reassured that everything was going fine and she was 98% healed. He said, I am pretty sure she will not bleed again but if she does, please call me immediately. I tried to stay calm and reassure M that she was doing a great job.

Fast forward two days, this becomes a nightmare. M woke me up at 12:45am and blood was going everywhere. My precious girl how can this be happening? I jumped up fast and went straight to the fridge to make a huge cup of cold ice salt water. The bleeding was still going and fast. I began to panic. Please Lord, let us get this bleeding to stop. This was by far the worst bleed yet. It took five cups of cold salt water to get the bleeding to stop. The bleeding was just shooting out from the back of her throat. We hurry and get into our vehicle and make our way to the ER. It is pouring the snow and we slide. Lord, please just get us to the ER. We made it and I am trying to comfort M as I am driving.

As we get into the ER, the doctor is very concerned and calls M’s surgeon immediately. They want her admitted right away. The surgeon comes over and I can tell by the looks on his face, he was worried. He said, I just really thought this would not happen again. I hope you have not lost faith in me. Absolutely, not. He was our saving grace and he comforted us both. He grabbed M in his lap and immediately said a prayer over her. We were headed to an emergency surgery. It was M’s artery in the back of her throat.

M was so scared. I was scared. All I wanted was my baby girl to just be okay and get over this bump. They put in the IV while she was awake which they did not do last time. The pain across her face just broke my heart. I knew it had to be done though. As she was being prep for surgery, our family and church friends were arriving at the hospital. We were being surrounded with prayers and love. I felt calmness come over me and knew M was going to be just fine. After about another hour and half, the surgeon greets us. She did wonderful in surgery. He pulled her palate very tight and double stitched over the artery. He also, recauterized her blood vessel in her throat.

She had to stay in hospital for two days but was such a trooper. The surgeon said in his 22 years of practice, this had never happened. Leave it to my M to defy the odds. The first day I was worried as she just slept and slept and slept. She refused to eat, but who could blame her? This had taken a mental and physical toll on her. Just today, I finally got her to eat her first bites. Praise God!

I feel like we have made it past second base and running towards home plate. We are almost there hopefully. She cannot do any activities for 3 weeks and you better believe I am watching every move she does. I keep reliving the scenario and it just breaks me down. I could not sleep last night well because of all the nightmares from this. I know without a doubt that my faith and prayers from everyone has got us all through this. I never want to experience this again. She did lose a lot of blood and has to build back up her red blood cells and hemoglobin. The surgeon ordered her to eat lots of red meat. I absolutely cannot stand red meat, but will do anything for my sweet girl.

I am proud of you M. You are one strong little girl!