Anxious much?!??

I'm not sure why I'm more anxious for this shunt revision than I was for any other previous surgery. It might be because I'm not in as much pain as I was for my shunt placement in June.

I was SO ready to be done with the high pressure pain and brain surgery seemed like the greatest thing in the world as it would put me on the road to recovery! I was begging for surgery!! But the pain isn't as constant these days as it was leading up to the last surgery.

Don't get me wrong... the pain is pretty awful by mid-afternoon and evening! But laying flat seems to fill up my ventricles again with CSF and I wake up every morning with a high pressure headache that goes away as soon as I get up out of bed. And then I have about an hour or three before I have to lay down again before I start vomiting from the low pressure headache pain. Once I lay down, though, at least in the morning and early afternoon hours, it's like a reset button and the headache calms down. But it doesn't do that in the late afternoon and evening.

Like I said, though, it's not as bad as it was before my last surgery. I even asked the Lord yesterday in my morning prayer if I was jumping the gun on this surgery. I wanted to know for sure that it was needed and boy, did He answer my prayer!!

Glen and I went to Costco without the kids (our second date this summer that wasn't to a doctor's office) and as soon as we pulled into the garage, I bee-lined it to our bedroom, laid down on the bed, and tried not to barf from the headache pain. Glen brought me dinner and I was, thankfully, able to eat it, but then the pain intensified to the worst it's been for several weeks. That's when a little voice in my head said, "Heavenly Father just answered your prayer. You need the surgery."

So here I am, laying in bed in my cool bedroom, anxiously waiting for tomorrow morning to come so that I can, hopefully, get on the road to recovery. My kids need their mommy back. My husband needs his wife back. Hydrocephalus needs to take a back seat while we play a more fun game of life.

Recovery Day 5

Oh friends. I'm filled with all sorts of happy this morning because I'm finally feeling on the mend! About 12 hours after surgery, we suspected that the shunt was over draining, but we waited a few days to see if we were right. And we were. My neurosurgeon's nurse adjusted the setting yesterday afternoon, and I'm feeling SO much better! The incisions still hurt, but icing them is helping. I still get random headache pain that totally wipes me out, but it's not constant. And with my mom here and with the help of my neighbors and friends, I'm able to just take it easy and enjoy the time I have to rest and heal.

Again, thank you for your prayers! We've been on the receiving end of the Lord's tender mercies throughout this whole process and a lot of these blessings have come because of your faith!

In other news... British scientists are ready to invent a cure for hydrocephalus

I think I'd be more excited about this article if...
(A) it didn't have as many (any) grammatical errors,
(B) it didn't imply that British scientists weren't ready to invent a cure for hydrocephalus before now, and
(C) the scientific explanation made any kind of sense.

But by all means! Feel free to invent a cure!

Ummm...

UPDATE: My surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:30pm. Hooray! 


1 or 9 day(s) until surgery - First of all, I am so blessed to have incredibly awesome family and friends!! You are all helping me to not just endure this trial, but to endure it well, or at least better than I would if I didn't have my very own beautiful army of supporters combining their spiritual strength to keep me afloat.

Secondly, my surgery is scheduled for the 24th or tomorrow! I received a call from my neurosurgeon's office last night letting me know that they are 90% sure that they can fit me into the O.R. line up for tomorrow. But if not, then the 24th it is. I will find out for sure later today.

And lastly, I've received dozens of texts, FB messages, and phone calls asking me what can be done to help. The best thing anyone can do for me is to continue to pray for me and my family to feel peace, strength, courage, and determination through this process. And please pray for the neurosurgeon, Dr Joel MacDonald, to have a steady hand and clarity of mind as he makes decisions based on what he sees in my brain.

My heart is so full of gratitude for each of you.