SURGERY RESCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY MARCH 3RD

I've been up since 3:20am. It just doesn't make sense to lay there staring at the ceiling. I utilized the coffee maker at our hotel, although they only have decaf (BLAH!) and those pre-filled coffee filter pouches. The coffee is so thin you could read the newspaper through it, but at least it's warm and soothing. :)

I decided to go downstairs and get the laptop out of our Suburban so that I could really give you some detail as to what happened yesterday, and what the next step is.

Mom and Dad were separated from us the entire day because she was in pre-op...laying for 7 hours in a hospital bed with an IV...just waiting and waiting. Her surgeon Dr. Kruper was SO apologetic and was really upset with the operating room folks for the day not going as planned. It most certainly wasn't her fault and was completely out of her control. I sure wish all of you could meet her, you'd love her just like we do. As I mentioned in the post last night from my cell phone, there was a series of events that led up to this cancellation. First of all, there was a power outtage on Wednesday which pushed one of their cases to Thursday. They had to squeeze this operation in after all the others scheduled which had Mom's plastic surgeon, Dr. Tan operating until 2:30 am the night before Mom's scheduled surgery. I saw him walking around the hospital early in the day, so I know he was back to work at a decent hour and most likely didn't get too much sleep. On the day of Mom's scheduled surgery, there was a different surgery taking place which took several more hours than expected (which made me very sad for that family, whoever they were) which is the reason why we kept waiting and waiting for the room to open up. By the time they were finished with the other surgery, it would have put Mom's surgery ending around midnight or 1am - so the head of surgery opted to cancel it. He decided that having Dr. Tan operate into the wee hours of the morning on consecutive evenings wasn't giving her the best service. Dr. Tan also said to Mom that he is so familiar with performing this surgery that he could do it in his sleep, but she deserved better than that. I loved that statement. First of all, he HAS done this operation so many times that it's a piece of cake to him, and secondly that he wants to provide her with the best service possible. I loved hearing this. During all of this uncertainty in the day, Dr. Tan (who is normally booked for months) had a surgery cancellation on Tuesday which allowed them to reschedule Mom so quickly. I am grateful for that.

Even though I understand all the reasons why and thought it was a good idea to cancel, I still can't believe we have to go through all of this again on Tuesday. I know this is all part of Gods plan...but yet again my tiny brain can't comprehend why God wants us to experience this twice. I just have to trust that this is part of a bigger picture.

I can't imagine what my Mom went through. It was such a mind trip for me having a C-Section surgery, but at least I got a precious baby to take home as my reward. I can't imagine what it would be like to mentally prepare yourself for THIS kind of surgery, knowing there's a year of pain & numerous surgeries ahead of you...then to have the whole thing postponed literally as you are about to go in. You guys, she has 'sharpie' marker lines all over her upper body that won't come off as a semi-permanent reminder of yesterday's events. If you look at the 'Surgery Canceled' post, you can see the picture of my Mom and Dad standing there, with lines drawn on her chest. My Mom was so distraught that she said numerous times that she didn't know how she could possibly go through this again. I know that I felt positively sick to my stomach and was riddled with anxiety for a good part of the day. I felt as if I was on the edge of breaking down all afternoon, and finally at one point just had to let myself cry. I loved having so many of my precious friends and family members there. Aunt Audrey comforted me just as my own Mom would when I was having a rough patch in the day. I hate waiting and uncertainty. I am a fixer and an organizer. When I don't have anything to do is when I get really down in all of this. I love that I can post the blog from my cell phone because it gives me something to focus on and something to take my mind off of things. Long periods of 'not knowing what's going on' make me weary.

I am very pleased to report that my Mom was VERY relaxed through the day yesterday, up until the cancellation. She knows that her peace of mind was purely a gift from God, through all of your prayers. Dearest loved ones, we will have to call on you once again on Tuesday. I will certainly be praying that she will have the same peace she enjoyed throughout the day yesterday. Once again we don't have an exact time for her surgery on Tuesday, but I will definitely post it once I do.

We are having to make arrangements and reschedule all of the sweet people coming in to help out after surgery. Thank goodness as all of this was happening, Chris had the presence of mind to go over to their 'Village Office' and reserve us an RV spot for the 2-3 nights beginning Tuesday. I think this will be a WONDERFUL way for poor little Ruby to have a better experience. She was banished from the area where we waited (as are all other children under 5 during flu season), and really only got to hang out on the first floor and outside. At least with our trailer there, she will have a great place to nap and we will have a little retreat during Mom's 6-hour surgery.

Thank you, once again for your love and support. I don't know where we'd be without you.
Love,
Alissa