I Need a Favor from You

Three weeks ago, I wrote my last post and when I reflect on the time since then, I've a dozen posts I should have written.  Mia culpa, but I've been very busy.  My intent tonight was to update you on things, but in light of an upcoming family event, I've decided to hold off on all that and my reflection on my first year with AnD (yup, it's been a year now). 

Reina, that darling little girl who is nearly 21 months old, has a cyst on her left cheek; some of you may have spotted what looks like a small bruise in some of her photos lately.  Cysts are not normally a big deal and can often be left alone for years - decades even.  Unfortunately, Reina's cyst has become infected and this means our favorite young model on AnD must undergo surgery to remove it.  The procedure is not that big a deal if she were older - say 25 years older - but since she is a toddler, there is a bit more concern for her safety.  No matter how cool I may seem about the situation, it is merely a facade.

Today, I took Reina to the hospital for a chest x-ray and blood test to make sure everything is okay for Sunday's surgery.  Reina was fine until she had to lay down on the x-ray machine.  That's when she began to cry and I had to hold her down.  She was crying so hard she was shaking.  That was bad enough, but for the blood test, it took me and a nurse to keep Reina still enough while a second nurse took 5 agonizingly long minutes to extract 4cc of blood.  She wasn't slow, Reina's blood was.  Reina kept crying, "No, no, no, no, no," punctuated by the occasional, "Baba?"  As if to ask, why are you letting them do this to me daddy?  It was all I could do not to cry while singing to her.  When it was over, Reina and I were both sweaty from the exertion.

If you are unfamiliar with babies, they generally hate going to hospitals.  Then again, who doesn't?  This is because whenever they do, someone sticks a needle in them (usually a vaccination, or, in the case of China, an I.V. for medication).  Babies know once they get in the little examination room that something bad is going to happen.  From Reina's perspective, something very scary is going to happen to her on Sunday.  I know it is for the best, but at the same time, I hate that it must happen to her at such a tender age.

So please do myself and Reina a small favor and take a moment between now and Sunday to whisper a prayer for Reina, or send happy thoughts, or light a candle, or whatever your prefered method of well wishes may be.  It's a small gesture, but it couldn't hurt.