So I am quite delayed in this post, but it has been quite a month! Mia had her surgery on December 6th. It was an intense surgery and was tough on Mia. They cut her on her right side, spread the ribs to complete a unifocalization of the arteries from her lung. That part was not fun during recovery. Then they went into the heart and did some work in there. Mia was very sick after this surgery, she was on a ventilator for 3 days and it was a tough one for her to go through. 1 week later we were home, and you would never know now that she had a surgery 1 month ago. She still talks about it and asks me why she has to go to the hospital. I tell her that her heart is sick and that Dr. Allada needs to fix it to make it better. Her response is always "it makes me feel scared and sad and I don't like it". Someday she'll understand, but it's hard for a 4 year old to process. Unfortunately she will need a minimum of 4 more open heart procedures, though they are preparing me that it will most likely be more than just 4. She's tough and we will get through it. Someday she will understand that she is alive and it will have all been worth it. One really cool thing that happened when we were at children's was that we got to meet the Pittsburgh Penguins! Mia had no idea who they were, but when they gave her a "Belle" doll, she was their best friend!
On December 19th, we had Mia for 1 year! We went out to dinner that night, for Chinese of course, and celebrated this very special day! It was very interesting because Mia refused to speak Mandarin to the waitresses, though she clearly understood what they were saying. She is completely Americanized, though we will continue to encourage her to embrace her Chinese heritage.
And then came Christmas! What an exciting time for Mia. She could not believe that there was a scary looking man who was so nice to give her presents because she was such a good girl! The boys asked me, and I told them the truth, about Santa, but they were so good about making this so special for their little sister. She got presents Christmas eve, Christmas day, and the day after, so of course on the 27 the first words out of her mouth were "do i get more presents today?" She's a pistol! Then it was Matt's birthday the 29th and it was "Is it my birthday too?" Can you tell she loves presents! But really who doesn't?!?
It was 1 year ago today that Mia had her first heart Catherization. I was extremely jet lagged and Mia was terrified. It was 1 year ago that the Catherization doctor, who we fondly refer to as the "snow bitch" or "ice queen" told me "There is nothing we can do for her. Enjoy the next 8 years with her and try to give her the best life you can". My response, as tears are streaming down my face "I can't do this again... I will not survive loosing another child". Her response "Well I am sorry, but there is nothing we can do." Then our knight in shining armor, Dr. Allada, said "Show her the pictures. We need to do a CT scan to find out for sure." And he has been with us ever since. When I had her in for her follow up, he remembered that we have had her for a year. He is so kind and vested in her care. Our last follow up, he was talking about making plans now for her to live the next 40 or 50 years! Unbelievable.... take that "Ice Queen"!!! And she has never cathed Mia again!
She is strong, brave, resiliant, intelligent, loving, and most importantly our daughter!
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