Preparation and (blood) Donation

The time nears. We're down to a week and a half before The Day. Some of you have asked how we are preparing ourselves or how we are preparing Micah. Life is full of getting things done right now in preparation for both of us being gone from our jobs for a period of time. Mentally and emotionally, I'm trying to do the best I can to both not focus on this all the time while at the same time giving myself enough time to just be, so that I do have time to process. There are times of high anxiety for me, for sure. But we feel upheld in prayer and know that we are surrounded by God's love and yours. We're trying to find time to have fun as a family, to make time for lots of cuddles and play. We haven't told Micah much about what is coming. Partly that is because of his age and developmental level--time to him doesn't mean much. What does two weeks mean when even tonight's supper is FOREVER away in his opinion. As we get closer, though, we will be talking with him more about what will happen. The other part is that, while we want to be honest, we don't want to scare him. He understands about going to the hospital, and so we'll build on that. And mainly we'll reassure him that we will both be right there with him and will take care of him. That's pretty much it, for now.

Many of you have also asked if there are ways you can help. Right now we are set, though the time will come when we may need help in various ways. We don't have appointments to go to since all our consultations and testing are already done. Micah will have an MRI the morning of the surgery, but other than that, we're just waiting for the day. One general way you can help is by donating blood, wherever you are. We tried very hard to do directed blood donation for this surgery, but because of us being in a different state from the hospital where the surgery will be, it was not able to happen. In spite of this, there will be two units of blood waiting in the OR during Micah's surgery if he needs it (it's unlikely, but they have to have it there as a precaution), thanks to other generous, anonymous donors. So, for Micah and for other people like him, donate blood if you can.