Strength

First of all, I want you to know Kayla made it out of surgery just fine. She is every bit of the rock star patient we all knew she would be. While in our stay in the PICU there is NO cell use. We can't use the internet or text at all. So, updates will be less frequent but purposeful. Don't worry, we are all doing ok considering.

Dr. Gupta did a fantastic job as we knew he would. He is almost positive they got the whole tumor out. She is alive and recovering. The pathology report wasn't clear so we just ask that all of you keep positive with us and keep praying hard that this is the end of "this" journey for Kayla and that once she heals she will be cancer free. 

After the doctor left, we were just so nervous and anxious to go and see her. We knew she would be swollen from laying face down for 9 hours. We knew about all the various tubes and drains and IV's that would be on her now. Still, until you see them, your heart just races and you long to have them flutter those eyes open towards your voice.....

Kayla was closely monitored by her PICU nurses all night long. Every hour on the hour she was cautiously checked. Her team continues to be incredible. I can't say enough about how great her care has been so far. She is starting to become a little more alert as the anesthesia leaves her tiny body. It made her quite sick at first, which was to be expected. She complains of neck and head pain which is also quite normal. The nurses are doing what they can to keep her comfortable-ish while she heals. The nurse said that she is the bravest little girl that she has ever seen after having had that surgery and still making the progress she is so quickly. She quickly comes out of sleep to tell the nurses exactly what she needs. She demands water or to have the lights turned down. It makes us beam when she shows glimpses of herself like that. She is incredibly strong willed and knows what she needs. When I asked her last night if she was hot or cold, she looked up at me with puffy eyes and said, "perfect".  That was all we needed to hear. She is, indeed, perfect!

Today, Kayla will have another sedated MRI to make sure that the tumor is gone and that her head is looking how it should. Hopefully that will be the most traumatizing part of the day. I hope that Denny can get a shower at some point and sneak a nap in. His strength during this has amazed me. He is courageous. Focused. Positive. and never ever looses sight of the big picture. When he sees me loose it, he gets stronger. He continually takes this one step at a time and I admire him so much for that. If anything, the pain and agony we have been through in the past week has made our love and our faith grow leaps and bounds.

Ok, I am going to go get to that baby of mine now. Sorry to make you all wait. I have been on that end and it is torture. Just know that we love you all and we can't thank you enough for keeping us strong. Without all the support out there, we wouldn't be as positive as we are. We are taking this one step at a time. Moment by moment.