June Update

Aaahhhh.....where does the time go? In the past few weeks it seems like time has stood still and the world just passed by me.

So here is a quick update from the first part of the month. On Friday June 10th I went to work and then went to a surprise party for a collegue and good friend of mine from work. Jessie's friend Lacey came with me since my mom was at the hospital all of the time with Jessie and I really need a little break. So we went to the party, met new people, ate some great food and then headed back to the hospital. At this time Jessie was staying at the neuro unit in the hospital. She was still having seizures and the her neurologist Dr Bigley was trying to get her meds figured out to stop the seizures as she kept having them on a pretty regular basis. Well, this Friday night Jessie had a major seizure. It was horrible! The seizure lasted over 5 minutes and she was then unresponsive for almost over an hour! The nursing staff had to call their rush team to work on Jessie and they didn't know what to do. Eventually Jessie came back around but it was just horrible for Lacey, mom and me. My mom always says that it is harder on the family than it is on the patient. The patient a lot of the times doensn't know what is going on and sleeps through a lot. But the family is aware and awake and see it all and it is just a mental and emotional anguish. Dr Bigley came back to the hospital at midnight to see Jessie and had her sent down immediately for a CAT scan. He said that he didn't know the cause of the seizure but would talk to the surgeon and see what the next step would be.

The next day (Sat) I headed back to the hospital. Mom was staying there 24/7 and was always by Jessie's side. When I got the hospital mom said that Dr Bigley and Dr Morgan agreed that surgery for a shunt is the only thing we can do at this point in time. They had to take Jessie off of the blood thinner meds so her body will be prepared for surgery. So that meant she would go in for the procedure on Wed 6/15. For the next few days Jessie didn't talk to us or eat or anything. She was basically unresponsive. When it came time for the surgery mom and I were at a loss. We didn't know what we could do. Dr Morgan (Jessie's neurosurgeon) explained the procedure and what was going to happen. He said it would only take 30 minutes to put in an external shunt. The shunt would drain fluid from her brain into a bag outside of the body. They would then test the fluid for tumor cells. If it was positive they don't want to recycle it back into her body. That makes sense. If the fluid is negative they will do another procedure and put in an internal shut. This would mean that the fluid would recycle back in the body and re-absorbed. Dr Morgan also explained that both he and Dr Bigley felt that the chances the fluid being the cause of pressure and seizures was low; the chances of it being related to tumor or tumor growth was high. With tears in my eyes, I had to explain to my mom what was going on. I then turned to Dr Morgan and said we don't have any options right now. Mom and I need to hear Jessie speak to us and open her eyes and acknowledge us. She is basically a vegetable to us and that is no way to live. Dr Morgan understood and said that he would do whatever he could. Mom and I said that we know that Jessie's in good hands.

So we left the pre-op room and said our silent prayers. We waited in the waiting area, wishing and hoping for a miracle - that God would turn things around for Jessie.

About an hour later Dr Morgan emerged from the operating area. He said that the surgery went well and that Jessie would be in the recovery area for a while and then go to the ICU for observation due to the external shunt. Mom and I smiled at Dr Morgan and felt a small weight lift off of our shoulders. Since we had to wait to see Jessie we decided to go to my in-laws to visit and grab a quick bite to eat. Mom got to meet my niece and nephew and it was nice to be able to get out for a few hours.

When we went back to the hospital, we saw the result of the surgery. Jessie was awake and talking! She was really upset and confused. She didn't know what was going on. When I told her she had surgery, she got really upset and wanted to know why. She had been so unaware as to what was going on, she thought she was still home. She didn't remember the seizures, the REMSA ambulance trip, the hours at the ER or her hospital stay. Goes back to mom saying we suffer more than her. She spent the next week in the ICU recovering from the surgery, saying crazy stuff due to the drugs. Sample of things she said:
* I know who is going to win the Super Bowl! Who?? Nobody :)
* Give me my rainbow drug monkey so I can push the button!
* What does the feed tube stuff taste like? A hotdog.
* Hey! I want to go with you help me out of this boat. Is my butt hanging off the boat? I don't want a crocodile to bite my butt. They can bite my leg since I can't feel that.

At least she has her sense of humor while on the drugs....

So last week Dr Morgan said that she would have an internal shunt put in as there were no tumor cells in her fluid, at least that is what Jessie said. I was confused since I haven't heard anything from anyone. The nurses didn't say anything, haven't seen the doctors so had to go with what Jessie said. And then, mom and I show up to the ICU and see a note in her room that she is going in for surgery Sunday (6/26) morning. Jessie knew what she was talking about! So mom and I and Lacey show up at the hospital bright and early and follow her to pre-op again. We talk to Dr Morgan and he says that they tested the brain fluid TWICE and it came back NEGATIVE!!! Being negative meant that they could proceed with putting in an internal shunt and work on getting Jessie out of ICU and hopefully back to getting some physical therapy and back home. We were so happy to finally hear the news directly from Dr Morgan I personally just wanted to jump up and give him a big hug. I think he knew how we felt because Lacey asked how long the procedure would be and he joked with us and said 14 hours. Then he laughed and said about 45 minutes. We asked if he could have them shave the other part of her head since she was sporting a Flock of Seagulls hairdo from the last surgery. He laughed and said he would see what he could do.

So Jessie now has nicely shaved head and is awake and alert. Dad and Uncle Steve came up yesterday and Jessie was really happy to see them. I don't know if Jessie or Daddy was more happy. Daddy even brought a cute bunny for Jessie. Dad was able to visit while I was work and said that the nurses said that Jessie might be moving out of the ICU by the end of the week. Yet another step towards the right direction.

So that is it for now. We are so truly grateful and blessed to have the small miracles we have had this month from God. Please keep the positive energy and prayers - we need to keep the faith going to build the momentum! Thank you all for keep us in your thoughts.

"Prayer is asking for rain ~ faith is bringing your umbrella"