2022 was a year of growth, of miracles, of many new and old things for our family.
It started with my mother's surgery in the first week of January.
My brother Kristian called me to let me know she is in the neighborhood hospital in Sofia Bulgaria. She had passed out on the floor after going to the bathroom around 1 am Jan 09. He heard her fall and went to see what happened. The ambulance came and they took her to the emergency room to evaluate her. They said she was severely dehydrated and her kidneys had low activity, so they put her on fluids and started doing further tests. My brother and I were worried about her while speaking on the phone, complaining to each other about the fact that she never drinks any water or anything else and how she needs to start doing better when they get home.
After what I imagine was about an hour Kristian called me again with updates. They had done a further scan and discovered that she has a very dilated aorta and she needed emergency open-heart surgery. I was shocked and thought to myself that sounds exaggerated - an open-heart surgery? That day? What about getting a consultation with another doctor and hospital? Then learning that this was a life/death situation. I spoke with the ER doctor who said her aorta was dilated 10cm, which was much bigger than one they've ever seen and they were surprised it hasn't burst. He said the heart surgeon saw lacerations on it and blood was definitely leaking out of it. He said it was a miracle our mother was alive somehow because the cracks on aorta were clotting for some reason.
We created a group chat with Jane and Jonn (Daniela) and started doing research on the subject of aortas and whether this hospital was equipped to perform this surgery. We found the name of the heart surgeon, who happened to be the main doctor in the heart unit. He has a very extensive education and experience as a heard surgeon and we could not have found a better doctor.
My mom was awake the whole time this was going on, we spoke to her multiple times. She seemed weak and pale but was in great spirits. She was so hopeful and reminded us that God is always with her. She said she trusted the doctors opinion and wanted to go through with the surgery. My mother hates surgeries and hospitals with a passion, hearing her say that she wanted to get the open-heart surgery was out of the ordinary. She knew what it would do, they explained it in detail. The surgery got scheduled for that same day.
By this time it was day time for them and I had not slept much that night. When I learned about all of this it was Saturday in the US. When she was about to go into surgery I was at church, it was 9am here, so 12pm in Bulgaria. We were all scared, emotional and hopeful. I left sacrament meeting to go outside the building so we could say a prayer as a family for her surgery to go well. Kristian asked me to say the prayer. I don't like to pray publicly, and am so awkward praying with my family since we all have different ways of praying at this point (all follow different spiritual paths). I was outside of the church building, it was cold outside, I hid next to some bushes and leaned against the wall and sat down. While holding the phone I started praying. The words just came, I had such clarity of thought and surge of faith. I prayed for the surgeon and prayed that he could know exactly what to do. I knew Pres. Nelson had an experience where he was taught by the Spirit what to do on his open-heart surgery for Pres. Kimball. I knew the Spirit could teach this Bulgarian doctor what to do.
We all had hope and knew the surgery would go well.
We were told she would be under anesthesia for a long time and not to expect her to awake for 24-48 hours after the surgery.
The next day we learned the surgery was successful, though it had lasted longer than expected and she had lost a lot of blood and had needed a lot of transfusions.
24 hours later she did not wake up. It was ok the doctors told my brother, give it one more day. But the next day she didn't wake up either. Nor the day after. Our excitement for the successful surgery waned as growing concern that she can't wake up slowly consumed us. Day after day we called the hospital, only one person a day could call and ask questions. They never had real updates, sometimes they gave us hope, other times they told us to prepare for the worst. This went on for a month. So many prayers, tears, reminiscence was happening between me and my siblings in that time. We spoke every day.
Finally about a month after the surgery we learned that she had started opening her eyes. Slowly she started keeping them open for hours. She couldn't move any part of her body but she seemed to want to communicate. Eventually she started getting breaks from her tracheostomy and then was taken completely off. She started getting physical therapy in the hospital and slowly was able to movie her arms, then feet, then walk a few steps.
They sent her home at the end of February. Kristian was with her on his own at home for the first week. That was rough, she couldn't really walk to the bathroom and he would pick her up and carry her in his arms to take her there for showers and toileting.
Jane came next and stayed for 3 weeks. She was a miracle worker. During the time she was there my mom started walking independently and was able to sit and stand with not much help by the end of the 3 weeks.
Jonn was next on help duty. That was a rough time for her because my mom's paranoia had returned in full scale while Jane was still there, so Jonn was trying to figure out how to help keep her calm, while handling her own anxieties about being at home after so long. They had some good and bad days.
Elena and I came in mid April and stayed for 20 days.
This was Elena's first trip to Bulgaria. My mom was so happy to see her! This was the highlight of the year for both of us. I can't describe how special it was for me to have Elena see Sofia and where I grew up. To be with my miracle of a mom. I soaked up every single second of being there and wished I could teleport Kevin and the boys and just stay there. I can't wait to go there with all of them!
My mom was much better by the time my turn came to be there to help. She was walking independently and her medications were mostly sorted out. She was moving a lot slower and would get tired easily. We rented a car and moved with so much ease once we had that help. Jonn had planned her trip to be with us for that first weekend Elena and I were there. Sadly she got Covid somehow and was not feeling well at all. She was so worried about getting my mom sick. We tried to have as much of a quality time together as we could with social distancing. She was a great sport considering that she wasn't feeling well mentally and physically. Elena and Jonn have such a sweet bond! Elena was by her side as much as possible. We explored Sofia before Jonn got sick and once she was sick we went on some nature/city walks.
Jonn went home to London on Tuesday and Jane came back to Bulgaria to see me and Elie on that Thursday. Another amazing treat. That was almost all 5 of us back in Bulgaria together.
If only we could have somehow seen Izabela as well.
We did a few country visits - one to my mom's village and her mother's village. My heart aches just remembering how special that was. How beautiful those places are! Bulgaria is stunning! The green hills and mountains, the cinderblock homes. We visited my grandma's grave and met a 90 year old cousin of my mom's. We visited an old hot springs town. Such a beautiful place at the foot of mount Rila!
We also went to a monastery by Stara Planina (Old Mountain range). We even saw some storks. I had never seen them before! This was a fun trip although I accidentally locked my keys in the rental car and had to deal with figuring out how to get it unlocked. I was so mad at myself but we survived that too. Oh and that was on Kristian's birthday. He was a little mad at me for doing that on his bday...
We got a lot of work done on renewing passports for my mom and brother and getting my marriage to Kevin registered, as well as getting our children Bulgarian birth certificates and citizenship. Lots of small miracles came together to make everything work.
Amazing food, seeing old friends, going to church in Sofia again. I didn't want to leave.
Once we got home and finished the school year we went on some adventures.
The highlights of the summer were Bryce Canyon Camping and going to Lagoon.
We did a 2 day trip to Bryce Canyon - my favorite canyon in Utah. It is a magnificent and majestic place! We did some hikes and slept under the stars. The kids did so well. George made us nervous a few times, it was scary with the tall cliffs but we survived. It was hot on our hikes and the kids were very tired but they made it to the end of our hike through the middle part. That was a new place for Kevin and I - we never explored the actual canyon the last time we went (2009 or 10 I think?).
We swam a lot at our Lehi outdoor pool. Every day pretty much, after a long boring day for the kids at home, while I worked. But we survived. Next year I hope to plan some things during the day for them while I work. Praying for miracle ideas!
Later in the summer Jill offered to take us to Lagoon out of the generosity of her heart! She's a good soul that one! We spent the whole day together and riding rollercoasters. Literally 10+ hours there riding and exploring. Everyone had so much fun. Kevin's and mine favorite ride was Cannibal, Charlie and George was Colossal, and Elena's was Mouse Trap. We got rained on at the end of the day, which was perfect timing.
We did some other small hikes and fun place visits.
School started in August.
Elena is in 6th grade at Spectrum Academy charter school. That's going well so far although we worry she's not learning a lot as we don't see any homework come home and her handwriting has digressed dramatically. She has A's on all of her subjects though so that's good, right? She is also doing mostly ok on handling her emotions at school which is a huge win. She is growing and developing more mood swings. We've been doing Occupational Therapy for her and Charlie to help them learn how to regulate their emotions better. I am having George work on some of the stuff Charlie does as well because he is having a hard time with that as well.
Charlie is in 3rd grade at Dry Creek Elementary (our neighborhood school). He has been happy to be in an English speaking class (we did 2 years of French immersion at Belmont Elementary for 1st and 2nd grade). He was having a hard time seeing the board and it turned out his eyesight has declined significantly, so that was a great thing to learn and fix for him. He seems to be loving school and has a friend named Christian. He had a close friend named Declan at Belmont and was very sad to leave him, so we were happy he found a friend in the neighboring school. They've gotten into some trouble outside of school together but they're both good kids. We hope that circle of friends can expand soon.
George is in first grade and that has been a huge challenge. He does not like school and his teacher has had the hardest time knowing how to handle George. He is disrespectful and defiant towards her and his classmates. Not a great thing to learn as a parent. We've tried 3 different ADHD medications for him so far and have met with the principal and school psychologist a few times trying to find a good system to help George succeed at school.
Here is to hoping 2023 brings him more success!
Praying for more family adventures and especially for the kids to find friends and a sense of belonging where we live. Hoping they can develop new interests and hobbies that will give them more purpose and confidence.
I hope my mom can come be with us for a while so I can help her and love her from close by. I miss her immensely and worry about her being so far away.
So Happy New Year to all!
I hope we can go forth with faith and hope, recognizing the gift that life is, that family is, the gifts of miracles and strength. We've made it through another year, here is hope and faith for more growth, adventures, and strength in 2023!
