Thursday, August 15th
I set my alarm early in order to shower before Avery awoke. It made no difference as we were both awake before the alarm sounded. Avery was in a happy mood, and began crafting before 6am. She wanted to make her Daddy and sisters new bracelets.
As the time for surgery quickly approached and we prepared for the final steps, Avery's anxiety quickly began to rise. It took Shon, myself, and two nurses to hold her down and wipe her with the pre-surgical wipes. A hospital gown definitely wasn't happening neither was a trip on a gurney. I carried her in my arms as she held on for dear life with a Minnie Mouse blanket over her head. We walked side by side with her bed as a nurse carried her IV and equipment. Once we reached pre-op, I sat down holding my baby wishing I could do something...anything to take it all away. They pushed some meds to calm her down and told me she would be fine to lay on the table. She was on there for exactly 2 seconds before she sat up kicking and fighting. We had no option other than to watch her be wheeled away terrified and screaming.
The next 6 hours were quite possibly some of the longest of my life. We chatted to pass the time, but the hours between the update calls seemed to span centuries. Finally around 3pm, the surgery was complete, and we went in to meet with the Dr. He explained that the surgery went well, but the initial pathology indicated that it was the type of tumor that would require chemo therapy and radiation. They were able to remove the majority of the mass, but there were small pieces left that were touching good brain tissue which were more dangerous to go after than to leave them in. We were devastated by the news, but my only focus was to see by baby's face and see that she was ok. It was nearly three hours later before we saw her as she was being wheeled to the PICU
She woke momentarily once we reached the PICU. I breathed a sigh of relief that felt like I had been holding in all day when I saw her sweet eyes open. She was here. She was alive. We would be ready to take on whatever may come next.
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