She's Gone

Magalie left this morning, is in Port au Prince as of this writing. It was a sad time, but rewarding at the same time. She did what she came to do and is going home a very different looking child. May God bless her and protect her.

Magalie's New Glasses

Magalie and I have been hanging together a lot since Charlene got sick about a week and a half ago. One of the places we went (twice) was to Rochester to get her glasses fitted, then to pick them up. We also did Aunt Jennifers' birthday party last night. At the end of the day we were both worn out.

Kim Meredith is here now from Haskel Texas. She came in this afternoon and will accompany Magalie to Haiti on Friday. Our remaining time together is short.

Back to straighten the eyes

Magalie went back to surgery last Wednesday February 17 for outpatient surgery to make her eyes point in the same direction.



Listening to Grandpa's heart.



Getting her heart checked.


Doped up and headed to surgery.


Minnesota winter.

Magalie has a cold

Magalie has been alternating between feeling okay and feeling pretty miserable. Charlene has been in touch with her primary care doc at Mayo about it. Right now we are in a "wait and see" mode. Her surgrey is not until Wednesday of next week, so hopefully the cold will be cleared up by then. Here she is looking at the most recent snowfall. Check out the flamingo on the lower right, asking to be let in.

Update on Roberta

We have heard that the US Marines have taken over the airport in Port au Prince and some planes are flying. US embassy says US citizens can get out now. Ironically our citizen is trying to get in. As of this morning Roberta is in Tampa, still planning to fly in on Missionary Flights International. Lynn and Cynthia Parker have bought her some meat to take in with her.

No direct word on Marie Rose, Magalie's mom, but we figure she's okay. She was supposed to be at Roberta's house and everyone there except for Nicky is okay. If she were not there, she lives far enough away to not be affected by the quake. Still no phone service.

Magalie's neurosurgeon himself called here last night to check on her and her mom. Those people at Mayo are amazing!

Magalie Friday January 8

We went to Rochester this morning to see the docs. They said she is doing okay and changed her meds. She has been alert and playful all afternoon. The outside temp was -1, a full 20 degrees warmer that the -20 it was Sunday when we went down. We are hopeful the worst is over. Please keep us in your prayers. Here is a picture of the road to Rochester this time of year, and one of Magalie back at the house this afternoon.

Please Accept My Apologies

Mia Culpa! It has been almost a week since I updated the site. Magalie is recovering steadily but very slowly. We've actually been back in the hospital since my last report and I just got overwhelmed. I was in church last night for the first time in almost a month. Charlene hasn't been yet.

We came home Friday. Saturday was okay; we had a big gathering at the house - family game day, about 15 people altogether. Diane did the cooking for two meals. Charlene mostly cared for Magalie. Saturday night was rough. Magalie didn't sleep well. Sunday morning she could not be consoled. We called the neurologists and together decided to take her back to Mayo on the theory that her spinal fluid might be building up. We checked into the ER and they admitted her.

Monday she was released again on the theory that the spinal pressure issue will resolve itself. They said it was not uncommon for a patient to take this long and longer to recover from the kind of surgery she has had. She has periods of feeling good - playing and singing and dancing. And times of feeling really bad - needing to be held. Sometimes she eats very well and other times she won't eat or drink anything. Each day is a little better than the one before, but very the progress is very slow.

Magalie Surgery Day Plus 15

We are still in the hospital. The original projection was five days, we are now at three times that target. Still don't know when we'll get to go home. We are all three here now, but Charlene will go home this afternoon. She'll go to church with the boys tomorrow and probably stay long enough to get Ricky back on the plane to south Florida on Monday.

Here is the first "after" picture. Her face obviously has some more healing to do. I am also including a before picture for comparison.

Magalie, Day 10, Monday, Good News

Back at the hospital. Charlene and Magalie had a good night. Magalie slept most of the night, was snoring this morning and slept into the morning for awhile. The doc has been in and is allowing her to sit up. She is in Charlene's lap in the rocker and is about to transfer to my lap when I finish this note. Ricky arrives from south Florida tomorrow for the Christmas break. Magalie should be home by Christmas Eve.

Magalie With Santa

We missed the party last night because Magalie wasn't feeling well enough to truck down the hall. Soooo Santa came to us!

Today, day eight since surgery, has been an okay day. "Granny" has had to hang right with Magalie while Magalie had to lie flat to let the lumber drain do its work. That's hard on anyone. Especially, though, I think, on someone not quite three yet. She did perk up enough to eat - popsicle and ice cream. Here is a picture of Charlene feeding her - a rough life. She may be surprised when it is all over and she has to go back to feeding herself, sleeping alone, and using the toilet.

Magalie Day Four

It has been a layed back, slow day. She is still in pain when they let the morphine expire. The morphine makes her sleepy, and she is still not eating or drinking anything. She throws up ocassionally from the drainage from her head collecting in her stomach. So the recovery is going slowly.

The good news is the swelling is going down. They are taking tape off and tubes out. She has been in Charene's lap most of the afternoon.

The docs are still unsure when she will get out of the hospital. Two things are required: that she be off the pain meds and starts eating and drinking.

After the Surgery - Day 2

They got the tubes out this morning and Magalie is waking up. Charlene and I both got to hold her this afternoon. She looks like she got run over by a truck. She will not be able to open her eyes for a day or two yet because of all the surgery around them. They have been greased up, so don't look so good. With all that said, here is a picture.

The Latest Non-Report

We had to show up here at 6:00. Went to a prep room, answered tons of questions and got her dressed. She left there a little after 8:00. They put her to sleep between 8 and 9. According to the board surgery began about 10:00. It is predicted to go 10-12 hours, so it could be a very long day. I will attempt to keep everyone up to date via this blog.

Magalie's New Friends

Magalie makes new friends wherever she goes.

Marie B, our interpreter.


She thinks her sunglasses are so funny.



Dr. Bibovic, the geneticist.

Magalie Meets New Folks

Yesterday Magalie got to hang with Stacy Sikes for a bit. Stacy directs the House of Compassion in Rochester (http://rochesterchurchofchrist.org/hoc.html) and serves as a Chaplian for the hospitals there. It was Stacy who first directed Charlene to a doctor at Mayo, who directed her to someone else who directed her to someone else (you get the picture). We spent the night with the Sykes Monday night and he helped us get to our appointments Tuesday.

Magalie and Charlene filling out paperwork.

Magalie the TV star

Right now we are at the Starbucks in the Barnes and Noble in the Rochester Mall. it doesn't get much better than that. Magalie is napping, Charlene is reading, and I am blogging. We have second and third appointments this afternoon. This morning we met the primary care doc, a pediatrician named Dr. Phil Fischer (photo on the left).

Magalie was on local channel 5 Sunday night. Since then every time we go out someone will say, "We saw you on TV." It's a wonderful conversation starter. You can see the short version at http://kstp.com/news/stories/s1280263.shtml. They plan to post the longer version later in the week. When I catch it, I will let you know by posting the link here.

Magalie

Magalie Toussaint is an almost three year old girl from Haiti who is visiting with us for a few weeks. She lives in the hill country of northern Haiti. Evelyn Boyd of Haskell Texas discovered Magalie shortly after she was born with a tumor between her eyes. Evelyn connected Magalie with Roberta Edwards, a missionary in Port au Prince, Haiti, who in turn told Charlene about her. It is a longish story which I will probably tell in a later post, but Charlene was able to get the world famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to agree to take the tumor off for free. Roberta, Charlene and others got all the complicated paper work together to get the visa and Charlene flew to Port au Prince last week to bring her here. Kim Meredith flew here with them and plans to return for the surgery. I intend to chronicle her visit here. Stay tuned.