Can’t wait to see her up in her chair and laughing again!

Kennady had her second surgery Tuesday morning.

Robin and I (Erica) were both shocked when they were about to take her back and told us it would be 4 hours.  For some reason, we thought this surgery would be shorter than the last.

They took her back and we headed out to the coffee shop upstairs for some breakfast.

The waiting for someone in surgery can be many things

1.) Nerve wracking

2.) Boring

3.) Sleep inducing

4.) A good time to catch up on random stuff

5.) A good time to talk to your spouse, uninterrupted

Seeing as Robin and I had done a lot of catching up the past several days, and I really don’t like sitting and staring at the walls, I decided to go shopping around the corner.

This is where my martyr level started to drop.  I knew I shouldn’t leave because immediately, this gives my husband the lead, but..I decided to let him keep the lead temporarily so that I could possibly get some new clothes.

It is a little strange leaving the building while your child is in surgery, but it sure did help the time pass a little faster.

We finally got the page to come back to talk to the doctor 6 hours after we left her with them.  Then, we got back to the waiting room and waited a loooonnnggg 35 minutes before the doctor came in.

She came in and said something along the lines of, no part of this is easy with your daughter.

Basically, they had to redo the initial part of the surgery during this second part.

They had to remove the catheter in her spine that was placed initially, and put in a new one,  then they were able to place the pump and hook the catheter up to it.

So the plan was that she would not have to lay on her stomach again after the second surgery, but because of the incident with the faulty catheter, she is back on her stomach for 3 days.

This is extending our time here by a day or two.  We are hoping to be out by Friday or Saturday.

Robin left to go back to San Marcos to teach a class tonight and sleep in our bed at home.  He is officially losing his Martyr status.  I however, will be staying up her tonight and smothering our girl with hugs and kisses, and sleeping on the hard couch.

Ok, ROBIN breaking into the blog now! I have officially lost my martyrdom status to my lovely wife and will completely enjoy spending the night at home tonight!

Oh, the fun we have.  Thankfully, God’s grace includes a package of humor and joy.  We don’t just get through by plugging along.  God gives us space to pick at each other and enjoy the difficulty.

A couple of nights ago, we had to go eat dinner and we missed the surgeon’s check up visit.  When we returned to the hospital, the nurse said, “the surgeon wants you to call her on her cell phone so you can talk about Kennady’s status.”  Erica quickly responded, “Robin, you talk to her.”  I was SHOCKED.  I couldn’t believe that she was actually going to let me talk to the doctor.  Erica always takes the communication role because she spends so much more personal time with Kennady and knows so much more about her.

Later, I said, “Erica, I almost fainted when you said that I could be the official spokesperson of the family and talk to the surgeon on the phone.”  She softly stated, “I was just trying to submit to my husband.”  I burst out into hysterical laughter!  I was worried that the rest of the hospital floor would be disturbed, but we both laughed so hard about her sarcasm and then we laughed about the fact that we were laughing so hard about her submitting to her husband.  Anyway, for those that don’t know us, please see this as a sign that we have a completely healthy relationship.  We love each other dearly and are so thankful that God’s grace fulfills us with joy no matter the ‘life climate.’

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them. Psalm 126:2