Here we are again at the Ronald McDonald House in L.A....

Hello dear Relatives and Friends,

One more "heart marathon" has just begun for us and especially for Luca...it has been a lonnnnng day and a lonnnnng week to be honest preparing everything for this day. Today we got to the hospital at around 10am and we went to surgery admitting and then to see the nurses for a check up and to answer 1 million questions. After that they sent us for blood work (where Luca cried a bit but at least the nurse found his vein on the 1st shot!). They had to take 3 vials and that blood did not seem to come out fast enough, poor thing. Lastly Gaetano took him in for chest x-rays and he did just fine.

Luca is very healthy right now...has not had a cold, flu, cough, vomiting or even runny nose in many many many months... well, part of it it's because we've been keeping him in a bubble away from sick kiddos and away from regular life basically... also we give him some wonderful supplements (Thanks to the tips of my great heart friend Rana!) that are totally boosting and helping his immunity! The nurses were very happy to see him so healthy... also he's 95cm tall and 15.3kg... ;o)

Overall we are veeeeeeery tired already and this is just the beginning....sigh...but we are actually quite calm (well, as calm as we can be given the circumstances) and very confident that everything will go just fine again tomorrow (13Jan2011). We have finally heard from the nurses around 3pm that we will need to be there at 9am (PST) and his surgery will start between 10:30am and 11am Pacific Time...and it should take a total of approx 3-4hrs from the time we leave him until the time he is ready and all connected at the CTICU (cardiothoracic intensive care unit). Tonight he cannot eat any solid foods passed midnight, only clear liquids until 8am (like apple juice or pedialyte) and after 8am NOTHING ELSE, not even water...poor little guy, I know he's going to wake up and start asking for milk right away...

Luckily we also got a room at the Ronald McDonald House which is a wonderfu place, all set up for children with game rooms, food, activities, etc...too bad Luca is only staying here tonight and then only Gaetano and I will come back the rest of the time. Everyone over here is also super nice, every guest is more or less on the same situation as we are, the whole facility is super clean and it's next door to the hospital...and they have a free shuttle too...can't get any better....We feel lucky... God has his hands over us ;o)

So this is it for now... Tomorrow I will try to update when I have some time again, not everywhere we can use a computer and/or cell phone at the hospital. Now I should get to bed since tomorrow is going to be TOUGHHHHHHH and so emotional!!!

Thanks for everyone's messages of love and hope... I am sorry I am not able to respond to everyone individually at this point...

Please keep us in your prayers...we totally need your support! ;o)

Love and hugs,

Helo ;o)

********** TRADUCAO RAPIDA EM PORTUGUES***********

Ola' meus queridos... aqui estamos indo bem, dentro do possivel e dentro dessa realidade louca q estamos passando mais uma vez...

Nao posso traduzir tudo q escrevi acima pois nao tenho energias suficientes...ehehe...so' queria dizer o horario da cirurgia amanha, 5a f dia 13 Jan 2011. Teremos q chegar la' as 9hr (horario aqui do Pacifico - 6hrs a menos q em Sao Paulo) e a cirurgia comeca entre 10:30 e 11hrs da manha. Tudo deve demorar umas 3-4hrs de qdo deixarmos ele com as enfermeiras ate' qdo ele ja' estiver no Intensivo ja' todo conectado, etc.

Estamos aqui no hotel Ronald McDonald House mais uma vez...eles sao otimos e temos mta sorte de poder ficar aqui novamente!

Luca esta' super saudavel e fortao como sempre....95cm de altura e 15.3kg... correu nos corredores do hospital hoje como louco... qta energia...eheheh

Entao e' isso...vou ficando por aqui pois tenho q ir dormir pois amanha sera' um dia DUUUUURO e bem LONNNNNGO tb... tentarei escrever amanha tb qdo puder e qdo der um tempinho.

Desculpe nao conseguir responder pra todos individualmente... SUPER obrigada por todas as mensagens lindas e tao carinhosas de todos...estamos sentindo o amor e as oracoes de todos aqui bem pertinho da gente!

Super beijo pra todos com mto amor,

Helo ;o)