Day by Day

It’s been awhile since the last post. To backtrack, our Thanksgiving was celebrated at UCSF. It just seemed like another day at the hospital; however, a nice family who lost their daughter 15 years ago, hosted Thanksgiving lunch complete with turkey, stuffing, you name it. They’ve been serving UCSF families since the death of their daughter and I felt really touched that they do this every year.

Mom and Dad brought over a complete Thanksgiving dinner and if you know my mom, she goes all out with her decorations, etc. We transformed Christopher’s room into one of the coziest dinner venues ever. Jason’s family came over, we thanked God for everything he has given us, and we ate up. It was definitely a day to remember.

The weekend was quiet. The only thing stopping Christopher from coming home was his fast breaths. There is still fluid in the lung tissue and they are using diuretics to flush it out. However, it’s not an easy feat.

I knew the weekend was the calm before the storm because Monday’s report during the doctor rounds was overwhelmingly dismal.

First off, Christopher’s biopsy on Wednesday confirmed acute rejection of the liver. No problem – the doctors upped the autoimmunosuppressants.

Secondly, Christopher’s blood cultures came back with staph in his PICC line. WTH?!? What are the odds? They just placed the PICC line (it’s supposed to last for months) last week and it was contaminated ALREADY! It had to come out meaning an IV had to go in. Oh, and blood draws would consist of poking him every time for labs.

In addition, his liver numbers from Sunday night have stopped coming down since upping the autoimmune drugs. The doctors would have to confirm rejection and carve out a plan but the only way to know was to biopsy the liver again.

And the icing on the cake, Christopher would need another central line to go in whether it was another PICC line or another Broviac line in his chest. I couldn’t wait.

Monday was a lot to take in but you know what, we were in survival mode. Just get it over with. What more could you spring on us?

Tuesday was a busy day. It was a month since Christopher’s transplant; a month stay at the UCSF; a month of indescribable emotions, stress, and uncertainty. It was also Nate’s 6th birthday.

The day started off with Christopher going down to ultrasound at 8am. The biopsy was performed by 9am. Remembering last week, I asked our nurse to make sure the doctors ordered the blood work right at 1pm so that we could feed Christopher soon after we got the results back.

My goodness, Christopher was cranky! And, I was cranky trying to console him. 1 o’clock rolled around and thankfully, the nurse drew the blood work. She was a sweetheart. She said she’d let me know ASAP once the results were back.

At 2 o’clock, I went to the nurse station to ask her but she was on the phone. Ok, I can wait. Fifteen minutes passed and I caught her in the hallway – her face was flushed and she was clearly upset.

She was on the phone with the lab. Apparently, the blood work clotted because the lab didn’t spin it in time. Christopher would have to be stuck again for another lab draw.

What’s the expression? “%R^$ hit the fan.”

I was speechless. Christopher was hysterically screaming for food, he would have to be poked again, we’d have to wait forever for the results, and I’d probably do something I’d regret. I was frustrated, angry, and truly sorry that my poor Christopher was the way he was at that moment. No more, please!

Christopher was pricked (all they needed was, I kid you not, what looked like 5 drops of blood). It wasn’t even worth the prick!

Finally, we got the ok for Christopher to eat at 4:30p. And eat he did! For half an hour straight, he ate chicken nuggets, pasta, green beans, chicken noodle soup, goldfish crackers, and half an almond croissant. He then passed out from food coma.

I took a break, surprised Nate at his party at Chuck E. Cheese (I wasn’t going to go because of Christopher’s procedure that day), and came back to the hospital.

Tonight, Christopher will be fasting again. No food past 12am. They will be putting him to sleep tomorrow so that his Broviac line can be placed in his chest. I can’t wait to tell you about that one.

If everything looks good by tomorrow night, Christopher will be supposedly discharged on Saturday.  I wish the doctors didn’t say that.

With everything that has happened, I won’t believe it ‘til Jason has the car running outside. I’ve lost all enthusiasm when I hear the d word. I don’t want to keep my hopes up.

I really don’t know how much more we can endure.  Christopher’s tiny veins are bruised up from all the blood draws.  The nurses don’t know where to poke him anymore.  After this morning’s blood draw, I was able to console Christopher; but then he started crying again and this time it was a different cry.  It crushed me.

Tomorrow will be a miracle if I can distract Christopher from starving for 12+ hours.

Day by day.

Count your blessings

This morning, Christopher’s biopsy went well.  More importantly, there was no lag; no waiting forever.  We were down at ultrasound at 8am and by 9am, the biopsy was done.  It’s nothing new to us – Christopher had a biopsy last year that diagnosed his biliary atresia.

However, my early optimism turned to bitterness by the end of the day as we waited to feed Christopher.  He was a bit cranky with nothing in his stomach since midnight but it was nothing new to him or me – it was tolerable.  The liver fellow told us that the standard procedure is that you wait 4 hours post-biopsy before you can eat.  Ok, somewhat easy.  Christopher would be able to eat at 1pm.

But as 1 o’clock rolled around, the pediatric doctor came in and told us he couldn’t eat until we got back the results of a blood test and possibly a second blood test.  If the biopsy went bad, Christopher would be slowly bleeding and to eat would bring more complications.  I was hearing but not listening.  He can’t eat yet?!?

As before, the communication between the teams of doctors was misconstrued and telling me that not only I had to wait to get blood drawn, wait forever for the results, and then do it all over again pissed me off.  Yeah, I’ve been a bit sensitive the last couple of days (can you tell?) but who wouldn’t?  Tell me one thing but do another.

The nurse, bless her heart who was on my side, drew the blood and took it down asap.  2 o’clock passed.  She came again for more blood.  Ok, results must have been ok.  3 o’clock passed.  Christopher was becoming almost inconsolable.  You could hear him down the hall.  Thankfully, Jason came back from work and it was his shift.

And that’s when I think I lost it.  I heard the cries but didn’t do anything.  I laid down and drowned him out.  Jason was mad at me for being apathetic and I was mad at the world.  I felt a physical pain in my chest bleeding for my son to eat and tears rolled down my cheeks.  When Mom’s not able to console her son, you know something is wrong.

My mom went to go look for the doctor who came back and wrote the order for food.  So casual was her tone (think she didn’t want to step on toes) – like no one waiting to hear about the results of the blood test.  I didn’t even acknowledge her because I was in my own world trying to cope.  You could cut the tension with a knife!  Christopher finally got to eat at 4:30p.  Haven’t seen a doctor since.

Walking down the halls I notice the empty rooms.  Our night nurse tells us they try to discharge before the holidays and I wearily smile thinking we were so close.  Must be nice to be home for the holidays.  But don’t worry about us – we have family coming over and we’re going to have our turkey.  It’ll be a story for my memoirs.  LOL!  ‘Til next time.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and never forget to count your blessings – even if it’s as simple as Thanksgiving dinner.

Too good to be True.

Sunday and Monday went well for Christopher.  Nothing unexpected was happening and Christopher was looking good so the doctors and nurses were hardly in our room.  Christopher spent some time with big brother, Nate and they were laughing and smiling.  Christopher really admires Nate and it was great to watch them – Nate is the only one who’s makes Christopher smile so easily.

Monday morning, during the doctor rounds, the doctors announced that if everything continued to go well, they’d want to discharge Christopher in time for Thanksgiving!  What a gift!  I was in great spirits that day.  We were finally going to be home!

However, nighttime rolled around and low and behold, Christopher spiked a fever.  38.3 degrees Celsius.  I tried turning down the thermostat, taking the blanket off Christopher, etc. but nothing could hide the inevitable.

I knew it was too good to be true!  How could I let my guard down?  I called Jason and he was actually being the rational one.  “If he went home, had a fever, we’d be back in the hospital anyways.”  Thank goodness he saw the glass half-full.  I was speechless but Jason helped ease my emotions.

I tried to sleep.  I tried to let the reality sink in that we weren’t going home and when I woke up this morning (after a sleepless night nevertheless), I was cranky and bitter.  I hate being that way!  I didn’t care what he had; what was causing the fever – I just didn’t want to see Christopher go through another procedure.

Tuesday’s doctor rounds had some answers to the cause of the fever.  It was either infection or rejection.  I’m not too sure which one was the lesser evil but either way, it meant we weren’t going home.  If it was an infection, they’d have to culture his blood for a couple of days, see what grows out of it, and administer the appropriate antibiotics.  Easy enough.

If it was rejection, which the doctors assured was common in newly transplanted patients, they’d treat it with higher doses of Christopher’s autoimmune drugs.  Phew, that was somewhat good news.  Rejection is reversible to some extent.

The bad news is that they’d have to do a liver biopsy on Wednesday morning.  Christopher will stop eating again at 12 tonight so that he won’t aspirate during the liver biopsy procedure.

We’ve been pushed to our limits and beyond and I honestly don’t know how much more he or I or Jason could take.  It’s a nice façade on the outside but deep down when I go down the list of everything that Christopher has endured, all I can feel is despair.  I know we’re not going through this alone (a lot of people sympathize with us) but it’s just not the same.  There are no words to describe the feeling of Mom looking into his sad eyes.  I cry now just thinking of it.

With everything that Christopher has been through – transplant, 3 stints in ICU, fasting before every procedure, IV placements (he has no more veins to give), infection, PICC line, etc., why couldn’t he get a break?

The Saga Continues

I know my last blog entry was very promising but the last couple of days have been, by far, the most difficult in our hospital experience.  The good thing is that I finally got to see Chris-Chris after almost a week of not seeing him!  Yes, it’s been torture and the moment I could breathe air through my clear nose, I ran over to UCSF.

Thursday started off with a bad start.  It turns out that on Wednesday evening, when I finally got to see him, he had a slight fever and fluid had built up in the lung tissue overnight.  First, Chris had an X-ray.  Then, he had an echocardiogram.  Third, the doctors made their rounds and poked and prodded at him.  Fourth, since the central line in his chest had been positive for staph infection and now, yeast infection, they had to take it out.  Fifth, TWO IV’s had to be placed (one in the top of the hand and the foot) and they missed a couple times.  Mind you, Christopher hadn’t eaten and is already sick of seeing strangers in scrubs and white coats.  The icing on the cake was the doctors deciding if they were going to poke a needle into Chris’ lung tissue to drain the fluid.  Oh, the drama!

By lunchtime, Christopher’s eyes were puffy and he was too paranoid to sleep.  He cried the whole time from morning until afternoon!

Usually, Jason and I had been pretty calm with everything but Thursday pushed us over.  We were not happy campers and it showed.  Every time Christopher tried to close his already small eyes to rest, someone came in to bug him.  I looked at the doctors with murder in my eyes.  How many times do they have to pull out the stethoscope to listen to him?!  Some doctors apologized blaming it on the other team.  Christopher has a team of doctors from each department: pediatrics, ICU pediatrics, surgical team, liver transplant team, infectious disease team, you name it!  I know they have the best intentions, but I just wish they had a plan!

By Thursday night, they decided to not tap the lung walls yet so I finally fed Christopher.  He was beyond happy with the pedialyte.  I kissed him good night before I left for home to be with Evan and Nate.

Friday was a day of anticipation.  The doctors wanted to place a PICC line – another central line that is more durable than a regular IV.  Christopher stopped eating at 4am and we waited for the 10am procedure.  10 o’clock came and passed.  12 o’clock came and passed.  Then the doctors said they’d take him at 2pm.  With a lot of bugging and temps rising, Christopher’s PICC line was placed at 4:45pm.  I don’t want to go into the details of waiting the whole day and trying to calm a starving toddler, but you can only imagine.

Christopher is doing better as of today.  He’s been eating really well and actually laughed again.  He loves it when Nate comes to visit.  Christopher has been playing with his sorting blocks and I’ll probably take him to the playroom this weekend.  He gets frustrated that he only has one free hand (his other hand is wrapped up because of the IV) but he manages.

There have been rumblings of discharge but as I told Jason, I won’t believe it until he’s parked at the circle bringing our stuff down.  I’m grateful for each day that passes and for each day that Christopher gets stronger.  It’s been a tiring ride and I’m beyond ready for it to be over.  And from the look in Christopher’s eyes, he’s cooked, done, and almost burnt to a crisp.

Please continue to pray for a fast recovery.  Lord knows we need it to keep our sanity.

My Lil Champion!

Jason scared the %^&* out of me yesterday. He called and told me Christopher’s heart rate was elevated and that he was breathing hard when he got out of surgery yesterday. He also told me that even with extra pain medication, Christopher was still crying inconsolably. Oh my…my heart sank. What could it be? I still couldn’t see him because I’m still sick and I don’t even have a car to get there but I was going to walk to UCSF to be with my baby! What if this was us running out of luck? Christopher’s 3rd time going to sleep for surgery (in two weeks) and was this it? I was very uneasy.

They did an x-ray and everything looked ok. The doctors reasoned that it was probably his body being stressed by the incision being opened and closed three times in such a short period of time. They watched him carefully. Around dinnertime, Jason called and told me that Christopher finally calmed down and was sleeping.

Phew! At least he can sleep through the pain. What a stressful day it was! Thank you God for looking out for us!

This morning, when I talked to Jason, he told me the night was uneventful (thank goodness) and that he had great news: Christopher was finally going to eat and was going to go to the regular room again! On top of that, the NG tube was going to be taken out as well as the Foley catheter. Woo hoo! With each tube that gets taken out, it signifies that we’re so much closer to going home. Something so simple can mean so much!

Jason came home for a shower and I realized how much I missed him! It was nice to hug and talk to my husband even if it was for a lil while. Evan was so happy to see his daddy too. With Jason being home, I yearned for life to return back to normal with Christopher at home. I kissed Jason good-bye as I daydreamed about spending the holidays as a family.

By dinnertime tonight, Christopher had already polished off some cookies and yogurt. He was starving! Manuel brought Christopher what he’s been dreaming of: a medium pizza all for himself! Jason told me that Chris-Chris finished half a slice and went to sleep. Oh, he’s back to his old ways! I almost cried when I heard it.

I just finished talking to Christopher and he’s in great spirits. Jason is making him smile and they’re just hanging out. It sounds like a lot of fun over there. With Christopher being a mama’s boy, I’m glad Jason and Christopher are bonding. I just hope Christopher doesn’t get mad at me when I see him soon.

My lil boy has been through so much and yet, he’s already smiling. Such a strong soul he has! I don’t know how he does it; everyone is amazed at how good he looks and how he carries himself despite the hospital experience. I have to say it again: Christopher is a fighter and there’s no doubt about that. Soon enough, he’ll be home and we can be a whole family again.

Thank you for supporting us at Rock the Bells! We’re done!

Skyline College hosted the event on Saturday, November 3rd and although we couldn’t be there as planned, I heard it went well.  Thank you to my sister, Jamie for being our sole representation!  Thank you to Nate Nevado for organizing the event and for thinking of us in the process!

It’s been a long, tiring fundraising journey, but we’re done!  We’ve reached our goal of $40,000 and more.  Stay tuned for a celebration event when all is said and done.

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you!  I can’t wait to tell Christopher stories of the family, friends, and strangers who are rooting for him and praying for him.  Your support has been our saving grace.

Love, The Padua Family

Wish I Had the Flu…

Why?  Because at least you’re miserable for a couple of days and it’s gone!

Instead, I’m home sick with a cold and who knows how long this will last!

I can’t tell you how Christopher is doing because I haven’t seen my baby in over 3 days and it’s driving me insane!  Because of the autoimmunity drugs helping Christopher’s body not reject the new liver, his immunity is weaker tenfold and a lil cold could compromise his well-being like flies to honey.  It’s pretty serious.

Given I have Evan and Nate to keep me company, my Chris-Chris needs his mommy and vice versa.  You just don’t know how sad I am to not be with him.  =(

On a good note, Christopher’s abdomen will be closed up tomorrow and we can start the whole recovery process over again.

My family and friends have been breaking Jason at UCSF who has tirelessly been mom AND dad for the past few days.  I couldn’t ask for more in a husband and the father of my children – we’re truly lucky to have him.  Jason gets home, takes a shower, talks to Evan and Nate, gives me a kiss, and returns back to the hospital.  He has banned me from Christopher until I get better and although it crushes my heart not to be with my baby, I know it’s for the best.

I’m focusing on getting better with lots of rest (very difficult to do) and determination to get well.

What’s the saying?  “When it rains, it pours.”

“We don’t understand why”

It’s been a rough couple of days. Christopher had his routine exploratory surgery on Monday and it went ok – nothing major to repair. However, he emerged from the OR with a fever (they found puss in the skin tissue) so antibiotics were started that night.

After staying in the recovery area for quite some time, we were wheeled back to our regular room on 6Long. Christopher would not sleep Monday night! The morphine and Benadryl did nothing for him and we later found out why the next morning.

Christopher’s tummy became unexpectantly taut on Tuesday morning and his liver enzyme numbers went up exponentially. His heart rate was up, too.

“We don’t understand why” is what echoed through our room.

My heart skipped a beat to hear those words. Ok, Jenille, stay calm.

An ultrasound was performed and they concluded that 1) the arteries to Christopher’s liver thankfully are still flowing (if the arteries were to clot, the transplant was in vain and a new donor would be needed) and 2) confirmed that his bowel had become obstructed causing him a lot of discomfort and pain.

Christopher was wheeled into emergency surgery after the ultrasound and luckily they found the problem – his bowel had rotated into a part of the body that it wasn’t supposed to be in, hence the bowel obstruction. Once they opened up his belly and the pressure was released from the bowel, his heart rate dropped to normal range and his discomfort became easier.

The surgeons had to then unwedge the bowel and make sure it wouldn’t go back there again by stitching the stomach wall to the liver. We were very lucky it was caught early. Again, God was looking out for us.

The surgeons need to wait for the bowel to subside (it’s inflamed) before they can close his abdominal wall. For now, they have a piece of Gortex over the bowel. Yes, he is still open but a dressing discreetly hides what you would NOT want to see (I did!). Another surgery to close the tummy is pending hopefully Friday or Monday.

We’re back in ICU. In addition to the new episode, blood cultures came back and Christopher has a staph infection! Antibiotics are being used to treat it and everything else is looking good. His liver enzyme numbers that skyrocketed yesterday are slowly coming down meaning the liver is working beautifully.

Christopher is still fighting through it all. His spirit is amazing! He has a very high drug tolerance and even the narcotics can’t keep him from moving. His nurses are finding it difficult to keep him down and I can only laugh. I just tell them that’s what he’s being doing since the day he was born – he’s my lil fighter.

How are we doing, you ask? Jason and I are taking it day by day; heck, even hour by hour. We’ve accepted that it (the transplant) has to be done and all we can do is be there for Christopher and for each other. We thank God it’s not any worse, it’s fixable, and we’re in the best care possible. It’s in God’s hands now.

We are truly thankful for all the well wishes, prayers, and visitors that have come by so far. It really means a lot to us to have the familiar faces of family and friends. We’ve spoken to other parents whose families live so far and we are grateful to be so close to those we love. When you’re thrown into an unfamiliar situation, it’s the support of loved ones that really get you through it by and by. We can always count on you guys for the support!

Yes, Christopher and our family have a long road ahead and I have anticipated more detours along the way. It doesn’t end with the transplant or the episodes and in fact, this is just the beginning. But I know that Christopher and Jason and I are up for the challenge. Where else do you think Christopher gets his fighting spirit from?

Christopher likes keeping us on our toes and I’m ready.

A “Normal” Day

I finally took a break from the hospital. I haven’t been home for two days and I missed Nate and Evan terribly, so Jason and I swapped – he stayed with Christopher and I went home to our other two boys. Oh, how I missed my boys and my bed!

It was nice being home but it just wasn’t the same without all my boys. The usual weekends would be breakfast and getting out of the house by lunchtime. It meant pilint the kids in the car and hitting the road without a real destination. Ad-lib on the way.

Today was gorgeous in San Francisco. Some people say it’s earthquake weather…haha…very funny. It was perfect weather to be outside and if you know me, I certainly appreciate the sun and try to take every opportunity to be outside.

I loaded Nate and Evan into the car and I that’s when I noticed the oddity. Usually Jason is the one to carry and load the boys but it was me, super mom, today. Mann, is Evan heavy! Then, instead of buckling three boys into their car seats, it was just Nate and Evan. I loaded the single stroller into the trunk and off we went.

We grabbed some food and headed for Gellert Park in Daly City. Just like last week, Nate and Evan went off to play. I helped Evan up the play structure and Nate helped him down the slide. We played in the sand, swung on the swings, and got some ice cream. It’s usually Jason and I tag-teaming as to which twin to follow because twins do not go in the same direction! Today I was helping Evan while still keeping an eye/playing with Nate.

After the park, we headed to Serramonte Mall. I felt really bad because I wasn’t able to shop for Jason’s birthday gift this week (his birthday was on Saturday) so Nate, Evan, and I were all over the mall. Just like Halloween, Jason celebrated his birthday at UCSF last year so the least I could do was get something he wanted. I picked out his presents and his thoughtful card. We headed home.

When I finally got to the hospital, Christopher was mad at me. He was crying when I walked in but it wasn’t long before I was able to console him. Jason left for home and Christopher and I talked about our day. He was babbling so much that we called Evan. I nearly cried when Christopher and Evan were “talking” to each other as if they knew what they were talking about. It was a cute moment. Oh, best of friends!

I tried to give Nate and Evan a normal day but it just wasn’t normal for me. In fact, it just magnified the situation. Aye, and it’s going to be like this for awhile.

Christopher will be going under again today so all the days of fast recovery this week, we’re back at square one. My poor baby! If only it could be me. He’s bearing so much on his little shoulders. And even though today will be null in comparison to his transplant surgery, there are always risks when you undergo surgery.

Please continue to pray for Christopher. He’s doing so well but it doesn’t come without pain: physical, emotional, mental pain. This hospital stay is chipping away at his spirit – maybe because he’s older? Who knows? Christopher is traumatized from all the doctors and nurses who poke and prod at him because even when the door opens, he’s on guard and starts crying. He’s losing sleep because of it! Sometimes, he’s inconsolable and I know it’s not from the pain. He’s not old enough to talk about his transplant journey and he’s not young enough to not remember. What’s a parent to do?

I look forward to each day that he recovers. It’s his milestone as it is ours. Each foot tap, each smile, each babble means we’re closer to going home. It means park rendezvous on the weekends. It means bedtime baths and good night kisses. It means two sets of foot stomps down the hall and three voices playing. It means five bodies in one bed. It means we’re closer to living normally as once before.

Christopher’s Transplant is a Success!

After 6 hours of anxiously waiting and of course every minute being the longest ever, my baby’s new liver was in place. Dr. Ascher and Dr. Roberts worked efficiently and without hesitation even though Christopher was Dr. Ascher’s first situs inversus liver transplant. Dr. Ascher told me they’d have to open up Christopher in about a week to check on scar tissue, etc. but in any case, it went well.

Seeing Christopher for the first time after surgery was a lot less stressful as this was the second time we’ve seen him post-operation. It wasn’t NOT painful to see my baby in so much pain but it was easier to see my strong boy endure so much.

I soon got the details about Christopher’s donor: it was a 7-month-year-old baby who died from SIDS. He or she was the same blood type, same size = similar sized livers (didn’t have to be cut), and pretty local. With Christopher’s blood type being the second to the rarest, he was pretty much at the top of that blood-type transplant list as healthy as he was. It was a true miracle! Please pray for Christopher’s donor and his family. Not anyone can donate a liver in death and so we are forever grateful to their family.

With the surgery being a success, Jason and I knew the transplant journey was still a long trek to walk. There would be possible setbacks and complications that we’d have to face: a lifetime of medications, a multitude of clinic appointments, blood draws, possible infections, etc. And that night, we had a whole new stress added: we had an earthquake! We later found out it was the Alum Rock earthquake that shook the Bay Area at 5.6. God saw me through the surgery and I knew he would see me through the earthquake. Me being the optimist, thank you for not rattling my nerves during the surgery!

In addition to the earthquake, Christopher also gave me a scare that rattled my nerves! Him being a tummy sleeper, Christopher drowsily woke up from sedation and wanted to turn over onto his tummy. His nurse walked away for a second and it happened: Christopher was face-down, butt up in the air! It was classic Christopher sleeping position. It took two nurses and I to flip him back and next thing I knew, he was turning blue in the face from obstruction of oxygen! The doctors and nurses rushed in and used the manual breathing pump to turn him back to pink. OMG, it was the worse feeling ever and I was there to witness it. It was like ripping out my heart. The nurses checked on me and left me alone with Christopher. I cried. Jason calls me the “Rock” for not crying and being so emotionally stable and I tell him that God has instilled strength in me because I know it’s in His hands. But in this moment, I feared the worst. My mom consoled me and I told Jason what happened as he walked in from having dinner. No words came out and I was still shaking. Yes, Christopher is truly a feisty soul and he clearly demonstrated it then.

Today is 3rd day post-op and we were moved from the Peds ICU to the regular floor. They ultrasounded Christopher’s abdomen and the arteries to the liver are pumping perfectly. His labs are great, his temperature is good, etc. A perfect patient! Christopher does become weary when someone in a scrub or a white coat opens his door, but he is doing very well with it all.

I finally got to carry him yesterday and today too!  Christopher and I shared a mutual feeling of comfort and love.  It was the strongest bond between mother and child.  I was able to console my baby and it meant the world to me.

Last night, Kuya Nate came to see Christopher and Christopher was such in a good mood that he smiled. Kuya Nate made a card and played with Christopher. It was a sweet moment. Evan will be able to connect to his other half once he gets over his cold. Yes, poor Evan doesn’t know what to do with himself and I’ve witnessed it firsthand. His partner is crime is missing. Soon enough, baby.

I am truly grateful for everything we have. I didn’t have to go under, Christopher got a second chance sooner than later, and I have a support system like no other. Thank you all for your support! God works in mysterious ways indeed.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and please pray for Christopher’s donor. Appreciate the people around you and the things you take for granted. And most importantly, trust that God will see you through it.

That’s what we do every day.

Love, The Padua Family