Ashlyn's oldest sister, Mariah, couldn't sleep last night. She overheard us talking about the surgery while she was laying in bed. She stumbled out of the darkness, squinting her eyes from the bright light.
I asked Mariah what she was feeling. She said she was sad and mad about Ashlyn's surgery.
She is mad at the doctors because they are going to hurt Ashlyn and "cut her head open." I explained to her that the doctors are helping Ashlyn, but that is difficult for an 8 year old to comprehend.
Mariah is still sad that they have to shave some of Ashlyn's hair, so I said that is will be ok and the hair will grow back.
This whole experience is difficult for a child to understand.
After we received news about the surgery about a month ago, we explained to the two older girls that Ashlyn's brain is too low and the doctors need to help fix it. We showed the girls the MRI to help explain Ashlyn's condition.
This journey has been tough on the older girls as well since all three girls are so close. Love, love, love my girls.
3 comments:
We love you guys and we're praying that all goes well.
-Jeremy & Mai Lei
Hi Jamie,
Interesting post as the experience of seeing your brother or sister having to undergo surgery for Chiari is difficult for a child to understand.
We added it today to the International Chiari Association's Facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/chiariassociation )and at the ICA Newsroom (http://www.chiariassociation.org/newsroom ).
Take care and thanks for sharing your experiences with the Chiari World. You, Ashlyn, Jerry, Mariah and Ambria are in my prayers.
All the best,
Pete
Pete Dal Bello
Founder/President
International Chiari Association (ICA)
Your blog is giving me the strength to process Sophie's brain surgery. Ours was an emergency surgery so it all went so quickly. We are all now dealing with PTSD regarding it all...so glad you get to process it before the surgery and thank you for sharing your heart. Sophie's head is very sensitive since her surgery. She just got another hair cut today and hated it but we are so thankful she is doing well. Bless you, Donna
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