Crainioplasty complete...

Today was yet another witness that our Heavenly Father has been watching over our family and very aware of the needs our sweet mother.  After a lot of waiting, mom went in for surgery at about 2:30 and received her crainioplasty.  The doctors said everything went just as they had hoped and were pleased with the results.  After a few set backs we are so grateful for the blessings of this day and to finally pass this hurdle in our journey.  Mom came out of surgery well and although it was hard to see her in the ICU I couldn't help but smile when I saw that beautiful round head.  She really is such an amazing woman and I am so grateful for her courage. Prior to the surgery, Mom smiled with Dad and me fairly often and did her best to communicate with doctors and nurses.  I am so grateful for the support of our friends and family and all those who are praying for Mom.  We have felt those prayers carry us many times throughout this journey and today was no different. 

We now pray that she will heal well without any hint of infection. We have been very blessed to have a great Neurosurgeon and Plastic surgeon to help mom. They too have been sent from Heaven. We need to get past these next three weeks with no issues and we can then close the books on this chapter of mom's recovery.

Another important day...

Today was an important day for Sherrie. We have been waiting for final approval from Infectious Disease doctors that she is ready to move ahead with her crainioplasty and we received their approval. Sherrie's critical indicators over the past four weeks have all done very well and tests continue to show that there is no infection. Her surgery date is scheduled for the 23rd of October of which we are very grateful.

Over the past several weeks my sweetheart has done very well in all her therapy sessions. Today, she walked with assistance about 200 feet. We wore her out, but it was amazing seeing her place one foot in front of another while keeping pretty good balance. As I have said before, her drive and courage continue to amaze me.

Our prayers over this next week and next will be focused on her surgery and that all will go very well. There is always risks that go with surgery. Placing a prosthetic device in her body has a risk of rejection albeit small. I could go crazy thinking about all the possible things that could happen, but I pause and remember how we have been guided and blessed and will maintain faith that the Lord will continue to watch over and direct Sherrie's care.

Next week is another milestone for my sweet wife. We pray this will be an event that will allow her to accelerate her recovery and increase her functionality. We remain grateful for well trained and caring doctors, therapists and caregivers and for you and all your well wishes and prayers.

A Thankful Heart...

The last 10 days have been important ones for Sherrie. With the good news received on the 2nd of October, we are heading to another visit with Infectious Disease doctors on Tuesday. If we have confirmatory results, we will head to a surgery date on the 23rd of this month. Our prayers have been focused on her body being strong and healthy so there would be no effect on vital organs as she continued on the regimen of antibiotics. Our prayers have once again been answered and we are closer to the surgery we thought would be completed almost 4 weeks ago.

It is difficult having Sherrie at RIC Chicago as an inpatient, but we feel very blessed with the therapy she is receiving. She has been more alert and responsive and will most likely stay at RIC until her surgery date. Each day we focus on things like getting dressed, brushing teeth, developing swallowing reflex, communication and walking. All can be very exhausting, but she is making good progress. She will begin as early as 7:30a and can finish her last session at 4p. By the time the day is finished she is a very tired girl. I continue to be amazed at her courage and drive.

I continue to see her ability to communicate increase each day. She is very good at responding to a question or command and this week I have heard her try to engage in conversation. Sometimes I know what she is saying and other times I just have to apologize telling her I don't understand. I know she is trying.

The other day I told her I felt blessed to be married to her for time and eternity. I asked her if she knew how long eternity was and was very pleased to hear her say "forever". I hope she said it as a blessing and not a burden! I had meetings all day Monday and did not make it down to RIC. When I came Tuesday, I said hello. She turned her head and in a pretty discernible way said, "where have you been?".  During a PT session, she was working very hard and wanted to stop. She turned to me and said, "help me please". I just wanted to cry.

We are approaching five months since this journey began. We continue to be grateful for many blessings sent our way. We know who is in charge and remain thankful my sweetheart is known by her Father In Heaven.

Brave Mama

Mom had another great day today filled with a lot of work and continued progress.  She started her morning with a little therapy and then a trip to Northwestern for a doctor visit.  The doctor took out her staples and said that her scar is healing nicely.  The infectious disease doctor said that moms blood draws look good and everything is going well so they would like to aim for surgery again in a couple of weeks!!!  We are so excited to hear the good news and once again recognize the tender mercies we are receiving.

After a visit with the doctors mom returned to the RIC for an intense session of physical therapy.  Today they focused on mom working hard at standing tall and walking.  She has been doing a lot of walking this past week but much of it has been with the support of therapist or harnesses.  Today was mostly mom!  She held tight to the parallel bars on either side of her and walked 6 feet.  She did this many times today and was pretty tired by the end of the session.

All in all the day was a success.  Mom continues to find the strength to work and progress everyday and we are so grateful for her determination and the tender mercies from our Heavenly Father.  Mom summed the day up best when I asked, "Who is brave?" and she responded "I am!" with her right arm flexed so I could see her muscles.  She is our hero!

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.