What is a life changing event ?

What is a life changing event? For some people it is changing jobs, getting married, birth of a child, losing a loved one. Many things can define your life changing event. For my wife and I it was the birth of our daughter Olivia. In March of 2002 , six weeks early we welcomed into our life a beautiful little 4 lb. 4 oz. baby girl. Little did we know just how much our lives would change. Within hours of birth she was rushed to our local childrens hospital. The next morning she would undergo her first surgery.
I can remeber the day like it was yesterday, the dr. coming in before and talking to us. The thing that stuck out in my mind the most was him telling us that this would be a very long road and that my wife and I would most likely not be married at the end of it. Wow this was supposed to be the happiest time of our lives and here was someone telling me that chances are I was going to lose the 2 most important people in my life. If this was not a life changing event I don't know what is. At the time I was a 10 veteran as a financial advisor and my wife worked in the legal field.
After the surgery we were told that Olivia was born with " short bowel Syndrome" basically she did not have enough intetine to absorb food to survive. She would need to be fed by i.v. We spent the next 5 months in the hospital . We spent that time by her side each day, learning how to care for our little girl with so many medical problems. We met some of the most compassionate nurses and Dr.s you could imagine. We also learned quickly that as parents you have to be a strong advocate for your childs care. I remember asking the dr after about 4 months what her prognosis was, he said to me point blank " Bill you are a very smart man, you will know what to do, take her home and enjoy her now" You see the problem was that the i.v. fluid that was keeping her alive was also quickly killing her liver at the same time. This dr. ws telling me to take her home and watch her die of liver failure.
My wife and I were now faced with the most difficult decision , take her home and watch her die a horrible death or fight for her life . To us this was not even a choice, we would do anything and everything in our power to provide Olivia with the best chance for survivial. We had another Dr. give us a referral to The Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh for a Transplant evaluation. By month 5 we were off to Pittsburgh for an evaluation for a liver , intestine and pancreas transplant. I will continue this in my next post. thanks for caring!