A month has come and gone and Chloe continues to fight! She continues to climb mountains until her body, mind and soul find that right path to her ultimate recovery. We hold her hand and stay by her bedside day and night, and stay strong because we know that in those beautiful eyes, we see her fiery spirit and sense her everlasting strength.
It was a long night and day of decision making on our part. In the end, we decided to give consent to the gastrostomy tube (G-tube) surgery to be performed tomorrow afternoon. Last week, we refused to hear the suggestion of its possibility and dismissed the surgery team when they came to assess Chloe. We remained, and still remain, optimistic about her ability to relearn how to drink from the bottle. Chloe’s strength astounded us when we first saw those first few sucks and we were so excited when she independently took her first real tastes of milk, but she still needs help in getting the nutrition that she needs in order to be strong and keep fighting. Her doctor who we adore and trust told us “you are giving her a gift by doing this surgery.” In having a G-tube placed, Chloe will no longer have a tube that runs through her nose and into her belly, will no longer have tape across her beautiful face to hold it in place, will no longer run a risk of pulling the tube out and risk aspirating. Certainly with a G-Tube there are other risks and complications that are possible but we are allowing her a chance to move closer to her discharge and rehab, and we give her time to relearn this suck and swallow skill at her own pace. We have put a lot of pressure on us, and especially Chloe, in these last few days to overcome this obstacle. We are not giving up, we are not surrendering… we are fighting, we are surviving!!
We pray we have made the right decision and that Chloe will have a successful surgery. And afterwards, we will continue our work with her therapist to get her to eat independently. We are still very much confident that Chloe will relearn all her skills and pray that we will soon come upon the day when we can have the tube taken out.
We ask for your positive thoughts and prayers as always. We ask for your support as we begin our day preparing Chloe and ourselves for her fourth surgery. She is scheduled to be in surgery around noon and we will be sure to let you know how everything goes.
Much love and thanks,
Rethier, Michelle, Olivia and Chloe
we'll be thinking of you Chloe. We know this is a walk in the park for you!
ReplyDeleteLove and prayers,
G, Christine,
Sam, Syd & Skylar
We hope the surgery went well today. We love you all so much!
ReplyDeletelove,
Rebecca & Kabir
I've been reading everything you two have written daily and sometimes twice a day. You two are incredible. Your strength. Your love not only for each other but for your children and you faith is easily felt when I read the words you have written daily. I wish that I could take some of that weight off. Yes, God only gives you want you can handle and no more - but the two of you are quite a team. Your strength is felt by Chloe and by Olivia, and probably by everyone who reads all that you have written. You inspire me to be a better person, a better friend, a better wife and a better mother. I think of you guys every day and I send my prayers to the GUY up there watching you and all of us. I will be thinking of you guys tomorrow and pray that all will be well. I love you all.....Lady
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