My sweet friend Jonelle wrote that in an email and I had to use it as the title (thanks Nellie) :)
Not sure why it is SO hard for me to keep up with this thing. I've actually had this post sitting here half done for a while and never finished it. I love having this blog, I just can't ever find the time to do it! But enough of that. Since this happened all the way back in May/June, it's a little outdated, but it was the biggest thing that happened to us this year, so I wanted to make sure it got documented. That is also why this post is a mile long...oy.
Jayne
is doing fantastically well and we are so thankful! Thank you to all who visited,
sent well-wishes, prayers and even gifts our way. We truly appreciate
it more than you know. It really is an amazing thing to have so many
prayers in your behalf. It's almost tangible and there was such a peace
in our home the whole week leading up to her surgery.
The night before...terrorizing Grandpa Frazier. Thanks again for staying with Max and Lucy!
We seriously feel so blessed to live so close to Primary Children's Hospital. They are amazing and we knew she was getting the best of the best. It is truly humbling to be there and see all the brave little kids who have to face so much in their lives.
In the waiting room.
Getting ready
Off she goes. One of her surgeons was nice enough to lend his iphone for the ride. We were surprisingly calm as they rolled her away. The surgery took about 3 and 1/2 hours. I did have some tears during that time of waiting, but like I said before, we mostly just felt peaceful and relaxed. Again, all the prayers at work.
Right after her surgery in the ICU. She stayed here the first night.
We had to stay at the hospital for 3 days for her to recover, which compared to many of the kids there was so short. Luckily, we had lots of things to keep her (and us) busy and distracted...
Bubbles...
...the awesome playroom...
She made sure to draw a little heart on her surgery doll :)
Max was in heaven at this place...he wanted Jayne to stay in the hospital forever :)
...the presents :) (thank you everyone!)...
This one in particular is one Shane and I gave to Jayne. We wanted to make something special for her and I have always wanted to give her some paper dolls. I found these adorable vintage ones
here for free! (I actually copied and pasted my favorite dolls and dresses into photoshop so I wouldn't have to print so much. If anyone wants those files let me know!) I put them on magnets too so they would be more durable and easy to play with. She loves them! Shoot, I even love playing with them :)
...lots of movies...
...and lots of this
The best distraction of all? The visitors! Thank you again for everyone who came to see us! (So sorry, I didn't come close to getting pictures of everyone!)
Siggy
Max and Lucy, of course
Aunt Patty and cousins Keri and Sara
And just some other pictures of our stay there
P.S. Andrea, she seriously loves that cat pillow...thanks again and good choice!
Going home! She was so excited to ride in her own wheelchair to the car.
I didn't know what to expect when we got home, but it really was business as usual except for caring for the scar and some meds. Jayne was bouncing around and back to her old self right off the bat. We did have an incident about a week after the surgery though. Max and Jayne thought it would be fun to walk on each other. ay ay ay. They had never ever played this game before and of course chose to play it after one had just had their chest cracked wide open. I was actually in the other room while they were playing it and all of the sudden heard Jayne cry out. I rushed in and found out what had gone down. Needless to say I freaked out a little. I'm thinking Jayne must have freaked out too while Max was just to her stomach and got him off because otherwise, I really think we would have been back to the hospital. Thankfully all was well and they are NOT allowed to play that game anymore :)
A couple of weeks later, we had to go in for a post-surgery checkup. Jayne had such a good experience there (she actually loves going to the hospital...that's how good they are:) and we wanted to show our thanks in a special way. Jayne has been able to bring home a couple of blankets from Primary Childrens and she absolutely loves them. So we decided to all help sew a blanket and donate it for some other kid to keep as a treasure as well.
Definitely one of the best parts of this whole experience was the outpouring of love that we felt from everybody around us. Our family and friends were amazing, our ward had a special fast for her among the other nice things they did and one of the most surprising was how supportive Shane's students were. When Shane first found out that Jayne had to have open-heart surgery, he was at school getting ready to start class. Through tears he told this particualr class the news. The next day, they gave him this poster (below) for Jayne and had all signed it. When the surgery was upon us, many of his students had a special fast for her and all along the way told Shane they were praying for her. My favorite story is of a boy in one of Shane's classes who Shane thought had pretty much checked out from day one. He kept his head down throughout most of the classes and never participated. On the last day of school, right before Jayne's surgery, Shane was saying goodbye to everyone. This same boy came up to him and said, "Bro Frazier, I really felt the Spirit in your class and learned a lot from you and I just want to let you know that I'm praying for your daughter." This touched us so much and made us remember just how many people were thinking of her and praying for her.
This picture was taken at the end September. It is actually even less noticeable today, just a little over a month later. Jayne is so proud of her scar, which I love. She is constantly lifting her shirt up to show it to people. I guess at some point in her life we'll have to put a stop to that :) I hope she is always proud of it...that she never worries about having a big scar and how it may make her "imperfect" in the eyes of some. Our scars tell stories and I hope that hers will always help her remember how strong and how loved she truly is.
