Monday…today we got up early and had a delicious Indian breakfast in the hotel. We were a little nervous about heading to the hospital soon. Not sure what to expect for our little one today.
We are to meet with Dr Gopi for the first time and she will be evaluated. We expected to walk to the hotel, but Dr Gopi arranged a car for us. The hospital is not very far from our hotel…maybe about a five minute walk.
When we drove up to the hospital it is like most scenes you would see in India… A tall building jam packed in between other buildings. We were escorted through he hospital by the young man that picked us up from the hotel.
The initial lobby we walked into was packed with people, just like any emergency waiting room. However we were the only white people in the room, and we are carrying this beautiful Indian girl. You would have thought that some movie stars came through the way everyone was staring and the way we were madly being escorted through all kinds of doors to get to Dr Gopi’s office. Scott said, I feel like a royalty.
We were escorted into one room and was told to sit. Then asked to come into another room…the door opened and I recognized Dr Gopi from his picture online. He is very nice well spoken man. His English is very clear to understand which is nice.
He was very interested in why we wanted to adopt and why we chose India. I brought him some scentsy hand soap, because the stuff just smells so good. I told him his wife may like to use it. We chatted a bit more and talked about possibly getting together for dinner while we are here. He explained that today is just an evaluation and we would be admitting her Tuesday.
After meeting with Dr. Gopi he sent us on for her echocardiogram. This was done by Dr. Sunam, another wonderful Dr who seems to really be taken with our daughter. It is at this point that we learn Dr. Gopi won’t actually be doing her surgery or procedure but Dr. Sunam would be. After he took X-rays of her heart he said that she would only need an umbrella device to repair the hole in her heart.
We were so happy to hear this because that particular procedure is less invasive and after one night of observation in the hospital she would be free to go home…as in get on the plane and come home! (After we complete necessary paperwork in New Delhi) However Dr. Sunam wanted to verify his findings and to know her heart would take the umbrella device well. They had to give her anesthesia and put an endoscope down her throat to look at her heart.
The Dr. said, “She will need to do the fasting for a few hours before the endoscope.” I get tickled with their phrases. Do the fasting vs. don’t eat….it makes me laugh! Anyways, we brought her back to the hotel and let her nap to try to avoid her getting hungry for lunch.
We went back to the hospital early afternoon and got her ready for the procedure. I was pretty nervous about handing her off to people I do not know. It was indeed really hard for me to actually hand her off when it came time to do it, but I just had to trust and pray.
While waiting on her test, we met a family at the PICU waiting area that spoke English very well. The 3 month old son was having emergency surgery done by Dr. Gopi on his heart. They were given a 50% chance survival rate. They were heart broken. We prayed with them, shared scriptures with them, and talked to them about how Jesus is known for healing and he could heal their son. Please join us in praying for baby Shloak and his parents. Our prayer is that God would heal him, so that God could receive all the glory and this family could come to know Him. The mom told me she did not think God could hear her prayers, but then I showed up and prayed for her and her son, so she knew He must be real.
I can’t not tell you about the waiting room we were in… if you want to call it that. We walked up a flight of stairs to the PICU. There is a small lobby for standing room only, because at this lobby is where you can get the elevator, and there are tons of hospital workers coming in and out of the elevators and the steps. There was an officer standing at the door to the PICU and no one can go back unless summoned by a doctor or nurse. The officer brought me a plastic chair to sit in, and placed it in the middle of the “lobby” so everyone just walked around me, and sometimes I had to move if big carts were coming through. It just cracks me up how different things are. But overall the hospital is very efficient and clean, and the Drs were wonderful! We feel good with Lyla in their hands.
After sitting there for a while, we were escorted, like Rock Stars again, everyone staring, and the hospital staff getting us on the elevator before others…
We met with Dr. Sunam, who informed us that his diagnosis was confirmed and she only needs the device. They will insert it through an artery in her thigh, there will be minimal pain, she will be under anesthesia again, and her recovery will be swift! Please pray for this procedure. He told us there is a 2% chance it will not take, but not to worry if it did not, because they would just do the original surgery planned. But he said, “it is very rare for it not to work, and she could be playing football, running, and skipping.” I wonder if he was thinking soccer, or tackle football? 🙂
Lyla woke up from her anesthesia, but is still very out of it. Dr. Sunam told us she has become the darling of the hospital. He said all of the staff is in love with her.
The anesthesia has taken a bit of a toll on her…she vomited a couple of times and you can tell she does not feel well. We were escorted to another small room to meet with someone about the payments and reserving a hospital room for her procedure. This is when we find out they want to charge us double the amount than what we negotiated before we came to India. We hope to resolve the matter with Dr. Gopi in the morning, but he was in surgery with the little boy I mentioned earlier.
We were also given a prescription for her to take the next two days, before her procedure which will be done on Wednesday morning. When we got back to the hotel we had to force her to take it. I am not sure she kept any down, because she threw up again. She is like my Katy Pierce when it comes to medicine….very difficult.
Please pray for her little body, as she went through so much today. And be lifting her procedure up to Lord as well. It is on Wednesday. But please don’t forget to pray the little boy Shloak and his parents. We exchanged numbers with them before we left the hospital and we called to check on him… his dad said that he came out of the surgery successful, but will have to be watched for several days to see if his heart took to the surgery okay. I am praising God in advance for this little boys heart to be healed.
What a divine appointment with that baby and his family . . . I am praying for total healing, and for his parents to put their trust in Christ.