RIC update...

It has been 10 days since we arrived back at RIC and for the most part, things have been going well. My dear wife continues to receive the regimen of antibiotics as a result of the infected sponge. Every week they draw her blood to ensure all key indicators remain stable. So far, things look good. We had a little issue arise Thursday when they accidentally pulled the PICC line from Sher's arm which meant she would spend the rest of the day at NW Mem'l having a new line inserted. She did fine, but it was something she just didn't need.

Since arriving at RIC Sherrie has been becoming more and more alert every day. She tires easy and while I am no doctor, I think between the surgery, the drugs and a new environment, it is understandable. Her sessions in Physical Therapy have been very good. Everyday since she arrived, they have had her on her feet working on standing, balancing and walking. Through the use of parallel bars, a treadmill where she uses a harness to assist, and very talented therapists, she is taking steps on her own and making progress every day.

When she is not in therapy we spend time reading, talking on the phone to children and grandchildren, playing catch, drawing and lot's of exercises. It is not uncommon for Sherrie to put one of her legs on your lap when she wants a nice foot massage. We have seen several times when she will motion to sit up and will then use her arms to pull herself up. All are good signs she is getting stronger and stronger. For this and so many other things we continue to be very grateful.

This next week we head over to NW Mem'l to meet with the Infectious Disease doctors to get an update on when we might be able to reschedule her crainioplasty. We pray for continued progress and a result that will allow the procedure to occur as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we hope to remain at RIC where she will continue making progress.

I continue to see the hand of our Heavenly Father revealed in the life of my dear wife. I watch her during very difficult sessions and know she has been given an extra measure of strength and drive beyond her own capabilities. I know she is aware of her surroundings and is fighting very hard to regain the ability to be with her family.

Many, many thanks for your concern and prayers.

Northwestern back to RIC...

It has been almost a week since Sherrie went into surgery. She spent three days in ICU and then two days in a step down unit at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Along the way she was hooked up to three IV lines, one of which missed a vein and her arm swelled considerably, and tested and tested and tested.

Bacterial testing on the sponge removed from Sherrie started last thursday and continued for 5 days. She received the attention of Infectious Disease doctors, Neurosurgeons, Interventional Radiologists, Internists and Nurse practitioners all focused on making sure they had whatever might be growing in her brain under control. Our blessings continued as we found, day after day, that all tests were negative for the identification of known bugs. 

Although the tests results are good (no growth), the doctors do not want to take any chances so they will keep Sherrie on a 3 drug antibiotic regimen for up to 6 weeks. This is a very good thing, but is not without risks. She now has a PICC line inserted in her arm (flexible tube inserted in in the upper arm and advanced until the catheter tip terminates in a large vein in the chest near the heart) where the drugs will be administered. She will need to have blood drawn and tested weekly to ensure there is no damage to kidneys and liver and will require the attention of RN's. 

All along we had thought there was a possibility of being readmitted as an inpatient at RIC. While Sherrie was in the step down unit, the RIC doctors evaluated her and had originally decided keep her going to day rehab. Once they found she would need nursing care and regular testing, they decided to admit her today. While I will miss having her at home, I am grateful that she will have the care she needs and will benefit from daily therapy sessions.

The last week has been a mix of emotions and surprises. Memories of days we thought we had passed came flooding back as I saw my sweetheart laying in her hospital bed recovering from surgery. The outcome over the last week is not what we had planned, but we are grateful our plan did not come to pass. We have been blessed with the best outcome given the surprise found during surgery. I know without a doubt that Sherrie is being watched over by a loving Heavenly Father who knows perfectly what she needs. 

We don't know how long we will be downtown, but we pray that she will continue to be healthy, strong and benefit from her therapy sessions. As always, thank you for all your concern and prayers.

Our Surgical surprise...

Today was to be the day that represented another milestone in our journey toward Sherrie becoming more alert and whole. This was to be the day the surgeons would perform a cranioplasty and replace the portion of her skull that was removed with a titanium mesh.

We started our journey early knowing it would take a couple of hours to get down to Chicago and the hospital. I am always concerned about how Sherrie will take the ride knowing she can get nauseous fairly easily. This day she did great. We arrived at the hospital, got checked in and about 11:20p Sherrie went into a surgery that would take about 3 hours to perform. I left her feeling confident about the outcome.

About an two hours into the procedure, I got a page stating the doctor wanted to speak to me. My first reaction was "wow, that's great. It went better than planned and all is well". When I saw the surgeon, the first thing he said was, "let's find a room where we can have some privacy". My heart sank! He then proceeded to tell us that during the procedure they noticed a hard spot by her temple that was not really bone or tissue. After exploring further, they found a surgical sponge that had been left behind since her surgery in the Dominican Republic 4 months ago and it had become infected. The good news was that it was localized and didn't look like it had spread, but it put a stop to her planned procedure which could not continue until they are sure there is no risk of infection.

We also found, for whatever reason, there was no dura layer between Sherrie's brain and her scalp. This creates a couple of challenges. The first is that the tissue between scalp and the prosthesis becomes very thin and the second is that scar tissue can develop if the dura is not laid down properly after the craniotomy and can stick to brain tissue. When pulling back the scalp it can grab some tissue which can cause bleeding and we want no more bleeding! To fix this issue the surgeons place a bovine based tissue over the brain creating the layer that was once the dura. This is what Sherrie's surgeon did which when the crainoplasty occurs, will make it much easier to perform the procedure safely and effectively.

On the surface, it might seem like today's results were not good. They certainly were not what we had expected. It is important to understand, however,  that prior to Sherrie's surgery we fasted and prayed as a family that Sherrie would be strong, that all would be well and the surgeons would be guided during the procedure. We were blessed to have a result that would avoid a future disaster. As the doctor told me, "had we not found the sponge and the infection spread to the brain, it would have been very bad". All that we had requested from a loving Father In Heaven was extended. How can we not be very grateful!

Sherrie will be in ICU for a few days as they monitor her for swelling and infection. She will then spend a few more days in a step down unit before being discharged. The timing of her crainoplasty is yet to be determined. If she does not have any bacteria from the forgotten sponge then it will be sooner. If the infectious disease doctors at the hospital need to keep her on a antibiotic regimen for a few weeks it will be a little later. Regardless, Sherrie's doctor will try and get this done as soon as possible.

I end the this day very grateful. A potential disaster was averted, my sweetheart is better prepared for her future crainoplasty, we have a neurosurgeon who really cares about my dear wife  and prayers continue to be answered. Sherrie remains healthy and strong. She continues to be more and more active and is doing well in all her therapy sessions. Our prayers continue to be focused on her becoming more alert, verbal and stronger. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Thursday Surgery

Tomorrow is a big day for Sherrie!!

She heads into surgery tomorrow to have a titanium plate fixed to her skull to replace the segment that was taken out during her craniotomies. The segment that is missing is about 3’’x3’’. Two weeks ago she had an intense day of doctors appointments and testing to make sure she was healthy enough for this procedure. We are very grateful that the doctors think she is strong enough to handle the surgery. They tell us it is a routine, low risk procedure, and minimally invasive. To me, it seems strange to hear the words ‘routine’ and ‘minimally invasive’ when you are opening up a person’s head and placing screws into their skull. Welcome to the world of Traumatic Brain Injury! 

Right now, without the plate, she has to wear a helmet for protection anytime she is moved. No one will be happier to get rid of that helmet than Sherrie.  I think we’ll host a helmet melting party when she gets back. Another benefit is obviously aesthetic appeal and a normal appearance. Our Neurosurgeon told us that sometimes a patient will show dramatic improvements in brain activity after the operation. They don’t have conclusive information on why the change, but suspect it has something to do with the fluids in the brain flowing in a more natural pattern.

She will recover at Northwestern for 2-3 days, at which time our Doctor at RIC, Dr. Roth, will evaluate her to see if she is ready to be readmitted to the full time program downtown.  We want her to go back into the program. Ultimately, it seems like having her back at RIC would be the best thing for her. One of the biggest benefits is that she has consistent therapy that only requires a short ride down the hall, or can even be done in her room. Right now she goes to an RIC satellite rehab center 20 min away, three days a week. She has always been prone to motion sickness and still is. The drive can wear her out and cause sickness. At the RIC program she will be consistently monitored and her progress is measured. We know there are great therapists there, with whom we feel we have built relationships. We want Sherrie exposed to their influences as much as possible.  

There are a lot of benefits of having her at home right now: we can see her all day and every day, she is comfortable and in familiar territory, the family has a chance to be very involved in her care and stimulation, we can control and change her surroundings to make sure she is comfortable, and most significantly she is accessible to Ron for longer periods of time. She responds the best to him in therapy and interactions so having them under the same roof is a good thing.

We are not sure what the result will be; either coming home or being readmitted, and we pray that the Lord will direct the doctors and us to know what will give Sherrie the most benefit.  We would love your support and prayers with her progress. Our prayers are to  have the surgery go as routinely and easily as possible, to get her feeding tube out and have her be able to swallow. We also need her to become consistently responsive to therapy. She has made huge progress in this area but we need her to be even better.

So many wonderful friends have asked if they can visit and spend time with Sherrie. First off, we want to thank you for your love and friendship in being willing to help Sherrie and us. While we post on the blog the progress that she is making, it’s important to also emphasize that she is still in a very delicate situation. Exposing her to too many different faces and changing her environment too much still causes distress for her. At the same time, interaction is good for her. We are trying to maneuver the best we can to provide what is best for her. As she gets better and better, we want her to see more and more people! We ask for you to stick with us through the long haul because as she heals, she will want and need more support. We are four months into an unknown amount of time. We couldn’t have come this far without your support and I know we will feel the same way four months from now.

Love,

Carol

Labor Day Log...

It has been a little over a week since my last update. Now that school is back in session and Brittney is back in Utah, I am on my own in keeping our updates up to date. I need to be more diligent in my postings.

Even though I am with my sweetheart everyday, I see progress each day on this amazing journey toward recovery. While she has been very active with her arms and legs, she seems to be much more aware of what is going on around her. She is much more definitive in answering "yes" or "no" and most often is heard saying and audible "uh-huh" or "uh-uh"...a little tougher to determine yes or no, but a positive sign she is trying to use her voice. There is not a day that goes by that when I see her in the morning and tell her "good morning", she doesn't reply with the same. She regularly uses her lips to form words that aren't audible, but very discernible watching the movement of her mouth.

One of the big changes for me is the more and more frequent laughs and smiles. I don't always know why she is laughing, but I an grateful she is. There are times when I will be speaking to her trying to be funny and she will give me a grin and just begin to giggle. I think she is just trying to be kind when my comments just aren't that humorous. Regardless it is a wonderful sign and a great blessing.

The other night I asked her if she wanted to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. She nodded her head "yes" so we began. I counted to three and we both showed rock and she took her fist and gave me a bump as to say, "no winner". I counted again and showed paper and she showed scissors. The most impressive movement came when she moved forward and cut my paper! I asked her if she meant to do that and she gave me a half grin and nodded her head "yes".

We continue to pray fervently that she will swallow voluntarily so we begin introducing solid foods and move toward removing her feeding tube. This would be a great blessing that takes a away the concern of aspirating fluids into her lungs that could lead to pneumonia.

Therapy sessions continue to go well. After getting over a bout of nervousness when we first arrived home, she has seemed to settle in and is regularly standing and even taking some baby steps forward when assisted.

Our journey still has miles to go, but we are grateful we have already covered a good amount of ground. We are in a much better place today than we were even weeks ago. I long to have my sweetheart by my side and cannot wait for that day to come. In the meantime, I will be grateful for the many blessings that come our way that bring us great hope and a firmer knowledge that there is a loving God that is aware of all his children.

Thank you for all your concern and blessings on her behalf. They make a difference!!