Thank you,
I started writing earlier this week with the intention to
finish the same day. The timing does not always sync with our craziness to be
able to do that, so I am writing what I feel, think, have done or may do, and
it may not be in any particular order, but are blogs supposed to be that way?
Every day is different as much as I try to make it smooth.
You never know what is down the street, what is around the corner, what is over
that hill. Some days we leave to UCSF and its smooth sailing all the way and
some days we’re not so lucky, someone may be broken down or in an accident, it
may be raining, flooded, and our drive is anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 ½ even 2 hours both ways, but that does not
matter. I adopted the “Traffic is My Friend” saying many years ago. Yes,
sometimes I get frustrated or irritated but our drive is something anyone would
do for their kids. I wanted to thank the people throughout my life that showed
me that with the love you have for your kids, you would drive any distance for
them.
Myself, and co-worker/commuter, friend/brother from another
mother, Elmer, would drive every day from Los Banos to Santa Clara. I am not a
morning person. In fact when we commuted, I would pull up to Elmer’s house and
before he got in the car I was already in the passenger seat asleep and would
wake up at work. At night it was reversed, I drove and Elmer slept, and we did
this for over a year and a half. He did it so his kids can eat, have a roof
over their heads (a new house like every 2 years LOL) and cool cloths on their
backs.
My Compadre, Pnut, when I first moved to LB he was driving by himself to Los
Gatos, so his kids didn’t have to go to what his daughter called a gang infested
neighborhood. They were able to be in a community where they felt safe, where
his children who I call my nephew and niece, can be kids and have fun and grow
up.
A friend of mine, Scott, drives every other weekend to LA to see his daughter,
even if it’s just for a short amount of time he gets to spend with her.
Sometimes he did the drive every week and sometimes he did it every third week
for a stint, but that hurt him; he wanted to see her, to grow up with her, to
be able to be by her side every day. We all know someone with split custody,
and I gave Scott big props from the beginning for making that drive as if it
was nothing and being a responsible father. For him it really is nothing, no
drive will ever stop him from seeing his daughter. Scott’s journey to see his
daughter makes me feel lucky that the journey we take to see Maia is so short. I
want to thank the three of you, for showing, teaching and inspiring me that no
matter the journey, no matter the distance, no matter the circumstances, I am
my kid’s dad and I will take care of you. I love my kids. Thank you.
I joke around and say sometimes that we should have named
Maia, “procedure,” because she has had so many that I would need more than one
hand to count them all. She goes in
today for her next procedure. It sounds
simple, a heart catherization . They inject a dye into her blood vessels and
her heart so they can measure the pressures and blood flow, and see how the
heart is working. I say it sounds simple but it’s not. They add dye into her
heart… how do they add dye, how do they get to her heart, how do they read it,
all that was explained and researched, it is not a simple procedure. I may be
thinking that it is simple, just because she has been through so many procedures
that the tension, stress, and emotions that come with having to sign a consent
form, and hearing your daughter is going under anesthesia again, is getting
easier on us.
Maia is a fighter!!!!! Back in a recent post when I was at the hospital
getting my cortizone injection for my sciatica, they actually injected a dye
into my sciatic nerve, and it hurts. They have a technician standing by to administer
pain meds at a moment’s notice. For me it is not that painful, no meds needed.
That makes me think about my high tolerance for pain, and Rizza’s. Maia is a
product of us and her tolerance is high too. I pray that she does great, that
there are no problems, that it all works out so we she can continue taking baby
steps in the right direction, the direction home.
One day she will come home. One day we will be able to hold her whenever we want.
One day she will wake up in our room, but for now she is at the best place to
keep her healthy and alive until she is ready. We really want to thank the team
at UCSF Benioff’s 7 East. EVERYONE that
makes that floor run. From the outside company that keeps the elevators running
so we do not have to use the stairs (I would actually like using the stairs for
exercise), so we don’t have to hear complaints about how long the elevator
takes. I do smile and reassure people
that it’s coming and sometimes it’s quick and sometimes it takes a while. (“Awhile” is an adverb meaning "for some
amount of time" or "for some duration"). Usually we get a sigh of relief and wait
patiently, since realistically, we’re not going anywhere and neither is whomever
you came to visit.
Want to thank security, making sure the right people are going to the right
places and documenting it. Within the first 24hours of Maia's birth they had a
code for lock down, ALL doors, elevators stopped; lights are flashing, alarms
going off and the staff ALL in action. The code was for a baby that may be in
danger, may be being abducted. It’s kind
of crazy yes, but they have a code for it and yes, it could happen. Turned out
to be that someone walked a baby beyond a certain area and it triggered the
sensor, and every baby is tagged so the hospital goes on lockdown whenever this
happens, Cool. We want to commend security, we have watched people coming in
with emotions all over the board and they handle it, efficiently, and with
great customer service.
We thank everyone on 7 East. From the servers that deliver food to Rizza so she
can produce healthy milk for Maia. To the staff that cleans the rooms, picks up
linens, removes garbage. All the nurses, doctors, everyone on the staff. Being at UCSF as long as we have now, almost
5 ½ months, we have gotten to know a lot of people. They are
nurses, doctors, cleanup crew, etc, etc, and they too have families, they have lives
outside of work, and they have feelings and emotions too. They sit in traffic
or ride the bus, they are sad when a kid passes away and happy when one does well.
The staff is knowledgeable, professional, kind and they have made it fun
throughout our journey.
They are all part of the “MIGHTY MAIA FIGHT TEAM”
