Molly's surgery date is July 13th, but let me know how we got there.
Monday we received a call from Dr. Frim's nurse with a surgery date of August 1st. That seemed so far off, but we didn't have much of a choice. Dr. Frim, as a pediatric neurosurgeon, is only allowed a couple of days a month for adult neurosurgery. There was just no other time. His nurse told us they were trying to find another time sooner, but wasn't able to. We began to hope for a cancellation that might open a door for an earlier surgery.
Another issue with August 1st is that Dr. Frim would be there for a day following the surgery, but would be out of town after that. That means the other neurosurgeons would be there for the rest of the recovery time. That was acceptable (we liked all of them), but not ideal. Having Dr. Frim perform the surgery asap was first priority, so the recovery issues could flex.
I emailed Dr. Frim's nurse asking about the details and possibilities of an earlier date. Molly was a bit depressed about another month of struggles. She responded with some details. But she also said she saw that I'm a pastor (I guess from my email address) and said this...
Are you a pastor? I just returned from a mission trip in Reynosa, Mexico. God is calling me to mission work. I’m going to work about 6 more years until my youngest is done with school.
Lets trust God, he knows the best date for Molly’s surgery.
That was Monday evening.
Tuesday his nurse emailed us with a new surgery date of Friday, July 13th, the original surgery date Molly had a few weeks back. That means we now have the earliest surgery date, the doctor we originally wanted who is a specialist in the field, and we believe Dr. Frim will also be there for the entire recovery time. Aren't sure about that last one, but we haven't heard otherwise. We are very encouraged by this news, and by God's continued mercy.
So we think the schedule will go like this. A week from today we will be driving to Pontiac, IL to drop of the kids with my brother's family. We will come back home on Wednesday (11th) evening to get a good night's rest. Thursday we aren't sure about. Maybe we will stay in Woodstock another night or maybe we will go into Chicago to stay at a hotel. We think we will have to be to the hospital early in the morning, but we won't know the surgery time until Thursday the 12th.
Hospital schedule: Molly will be in ICU for 24 hours (overnight) and then 3-4 more days of recovery. I will likely sleep in the ICU visitor's (waiting) room the first night. I don't think I'll feel like leaving. I might spend the next night at home, or a hotel, or maybe even in Molly's room if they let me. I don't know if she will have a private room or not.
We think that we will have a family member drive our kids to our house to meet us sometime after we know we will be there. We hope they will be able to come to the hospital and visit as Molly recovers.
Enough for now. The idea of "independence" takes on a new meaning for us this 4th of July. Hopefully the surgery will go well and Molly's symptoms will greatly decrease. Thanks for praying.
One last thing. We just found out this week that our refrigerator/freezer is dead/dying. In the midst of all of this we are now trying to get a new one. Fortunately, since we live in a parsonage, our church will be paying. :) But it's still a headache looking for one.