The White Mustache

We rose WAY before I'm used to rising on Monday morning to head up to Willis Knighton South for Evan's lip revision surgery.  Adam and I both found it to be bittersweet.  It was sweet because 1) Adam got to stay in town for longer than a weekend and 2) we were really excited to see Dr. Ghali work his magic.  It was bitter because the thought of my sweet, precious baby being put to sleep and going under the knife made my stomach turn.

Yet, we had just about the best prayer warriors behind us and felt God's peace the entire day.  We knew Evan would be in good hands...both here on Earth and from above!

We made it to the hospital on time...a miracle in and of itself!...and were admitted into day surgery.  We waited for a bit in the waiting room until we were taken into a little holding room where we waited for all of the doctors to come by and visit us, pre-surgery.  Now I woke up that morning with butterflies in my stomach.  The car ride to the hospital was quiet, probably because if either Adam or I spoke, we would both burst into tears.  I got ok in the hospital waiting room until one of the pastors from our church stopped by to see how we were and to say a prayer for little Evan before he went back.  Then it hit me...it hit me bad!  I was actually quite embarrassing because it was the ugly kind of crying that I was trying to hold back so that I wouldn't make a complete fool out of myself!  Mimi was so understanding and gracious though and said a beautiful prayer that once again cued the ugly-cry.  I am so thankful for my church family!

We saw doctors from Dr. Ghali's team, met the anesthesiologist, and got all of the preliminary stuff done with the nurse.  And all the while, Evan remained happy and alert!  One of the things that I was worried about was how he was going to handle not having anything to eat after midnight the night before.  And, surprise, surprise, our little chunky monkey handled it just fine!  When it was time for them to take him back, two sweet nurses came in and wrapped him in a big blanket.  Thank the Lord he was happy when they took him back.  Made the already dreaded departure more bearable...

pre-surgery...with his "markings"

Then we waited...

The wait actually went faster than I expected it to go.  We went to the cafeteria to have breakfast and our dear, sweet friends Don and Wendy Rucker came up to see us, which made the time pass quickly.  We had periodic updates from the nurses, which also helped.  Before I knew it, they were calling up to the waiting room for us to go back and speak with Dr. Ghali.  He reported that the surgery went well and that they were very pleased with the outcome...praise the Lord!  Evan was back in recovery and then they were going to transport him to our room, where we were going to spend the rest of the day/that night.  One of the neat services that was offered was this very kind lady who worked for Willis Knighton.  She was actually a decedent of Dr. Knighton, one of the founders of the hospital.  Anyways, she would go back and check on Evan and come back and report to us how he was in the recovery room.  She would say things like, "he's all bundled up and they're rocking him...he's very peaceful."  It was great to get little tidbits of information like that!

We were told which room to go up to on the pediatrics floor and they would bring Evan up to us.  They carried him up, all bundled in a big blanket.  I wondered how I would react when I saw him.  He looked great!  We were very lucky that he didn't need to wear a nasal conformer to support his nose so all he was sporting was a "mustache" of steri-strips over his sutures.

He was quite pitiful...all drugged up and whimpering.  All he wanted to do was lay on my chest so I kept him all bundled up and just rocked him back and forth.  It was a sweet moment.

The rest of the day was quiet.  He slept a lot and attempted to eat from a syringe.  We tried really hard not to step on his IV line and got comfy in the "hard as a rock" rocking chair.

We got to go home Tuesday morning.  Evan was much more alert and didn't seem to be in as much pain.  The swelling in his lip had gone down significantly.  I was really amazed at how he powered through this whole experience like a champ!

feeling the love from his loveys

Later that afternoon, Thomas came home from school and was so excited to see his little brother's "white mustache."  He kept talking about how "Bay Evan went to the doctor" and how the doctor "fixed his wip."  Thomas has also been sharing this neat news with all that he comes in contact with.  He thinks it's so cool that his little brother has a "white mustache!" 

This is just a small example of the overwhelming support we've felt from all of our family and friends.  From my dad taking the day off to come and sit with us all day up at the hospital to my mom being on full-time Thomas-duty and going on a wild goose-chase for me running the errands I didn't get around to before the surgery.  From my sister, brother, and sister-in-law coming to visit after work and making me laugh so hard that I was crying to sweet Wendy Rucker stopping by to visit each day that we were up at the hospital.  From my precious, precious friends, old and new, and wonderful family sending messages of support and encouragement all day long to the powerful prayers that we felt coming at us constantly giving us peace and strength.  We are humbled and so grateful for each and every one that walked through this journey with us.

As the week has progressed, we have watched Evan heal with lightning speed.  The swelling in his lip has continued to go down and with the exception of his rebellion against syringe feeding, he's his old self again!

Today, I noticed that his steri-strips were beginning to come loose so I ended up taking them off.  I was amazed at what I saw underneath.  His lip looks so wonderful!  I was so in awe, I couldn't stop staring at it for awhile.  It truly exceeded any and all expectations I had!

Even though we're sad to see the "white mustache" go, it's thrilling to look ahead at the continued healing and formation of his "new, improved" lip.  We can't wait to see how it's going to turn out!