First off...please accept my apology for not getting an update done last night. In all honesty..I got caught up in my daughter's homework and was too tired to sit down and blog when we were done..So tonight will be a combination of Day 4 and 5.
Heather has been experiencing more pain than the last surgery. Not really certain why..but it probably has to do with the extra time Dr. Zimmerman spent trying to separate her Dura from the surface of the brain. Yesterday Heather spent most of the day sleeping...they did remove her IV's and put in a PICC in her bicep. All I can say is OUCH! She was telling me that they have to monitor the insertion of the PICC very closely..it is a dangerous procedure if not done correctly. I remember Heather's last PICC procedure. The hospital had to get my permission to do a PICC because of the risk. Heather was still incoherent and I was her Power of Attorney. Fortunately everything went well this time..except she did mention that the PICC line got too close to her heart and it made her heart beat over 150 beats/min...so they had to back it out and start over!! You may have also noticed from the pictures Heather posted that someone got into her room and tried to steal her computer...After a major fight, Heather won...but the intruder left her with a black eye. I would not want to see what the intruder looks like!! No one gets between Heather and her computer! :)
Today when I got to the hospital I was pleasantly surprised to find a glowing Heather..sitting up and typing away on her computer! Praise the Lord! She looked and sounded fantastic. The pain is still throbbing in her head...but it was controlled a bit better. We were able to eat dinner together. Heather has not been eating much..so to see her eat made me smile.;) We had a very enjoyable time with each other..took some pictures, talked about the future and even had a few laughs. That is actually not a good thing since laughing makes her hurt more..but from my standpoint it was fun...and in reality I know she enjoyed it as well. It's funny that when I look back on Heather's hospital stays in the past..many of the memorable nights are of us sitting together, holding hands and laughing. There are a few scary moments as well..but fortunately we have been blessed and Heather is always sucha positive patient that the good memories outway the bad.
The Dr's are going to begin to ween her off her epilepsy med's tonight. They want to begin the process of stressing her brain and reviewing the data from the probes in her brain. Fortunately both Dr.Zimmerman and Dr. Drazkowski are working this weekend..so she can actually progress with her treatment rather than just sitting in the hospital all weekend waiting for the Dr's to return!
I stand amazed and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to interact with so many amazing people Heather has as friends. As I'm sure Heather has mentioned..I am a bit introverted when it comes to new relationships...but this experience has really opened my eyes to the wonders of fellowship and God's perfect love. I look forward to furthering my relationships with you all and pray Heather and I will be able to personally meet many of you and express our deep appreciation for your sincere care for our family.
May God grant us all the ability to support each other in both good times and bad. We are a family through Him.
Until tomorrow...Blessings to you all.
Christian Siebens @flyingchristian
The theme for today is: Transition
I feel out of sorts. I am doing my best to transition between Dad, Husband, Employee, Christian...Then again..why do I think I have to choose? In all reality, I am all of these..24/7 365 days/year.
I was not able to spend as much time by Heather's side today. Our daughter Tory has developed a full body rash..and to the best of our understanding it is Stress related. Tory is 8 yrs old..and probably the most amazing 8 yr old on the planet. I might be biased..but truly she is a remarkable little girl whom God is grooming for his glory! I kept her home today and took another day off of work. After addressing her rash..we decided to head up and see Heather (this is truly what I felt Tory needed to help with her stress)..when we arrived at the hospital I found out because of the flu season, only children 12 and older are allowed to visit. By the grace of God, we were able to talk our way in. ;) According to the RN attending to Heather, she had a good night and the nausea has been less frequent. They are still giving her pain meds every hour..but she is finally transitioning to being more comfortable. She developed a Black Eye overnight and she is a bit swollen on her left side..but overall she looked fantastic!
We were able to spend an hour with her and even took some pictures! I believe she has posted these on her facebook account. She was very talkative and Tory got the opportunity to feed her which made her feel very special. Tory is very sentimental and she mentioned to me after we left that "Mommy use to feed me..I really wanted to help her like she helped me and feed her"..she was very proud. Tory is at that point in her life wher she too is transitioning to becoming a young girl...and the relationship with her Heather is more important than ever.
Heather felt well enough to begin to tweet today..you cannot keep a good woman down..and Heather is truly a good woman! I am proud of her that through her pain..she has remained true to her beliefs and has been an example of Jesus for the entire staff that has taken care of her. I have heard the way that others treat the RN team..or the things they say when in pain..I am happy to report that Heather has been a Christian example..every moment.
As we transiton to the next phase of her journey..I know Heather will continue to be the light she is...the doctors are going to stress her body soon..they want her to have seizures so they can monitor her brain wave activity...this is the only way they will be able to decide the next step and know what portion of her brain can be removed...but through the stress..she will glorify God.
I have heard from many of you and cannot begin to express my gratitude for your love and care for Heather, Tory and myself. I couldn't sleep last night in our bed..I missed Heather too much. But the couch provided a great place to rest and contemplate the future. I am confident that once Heather is home and recovers..we will begin our transition of helping others in a much bigger way. I know Heather has goals...so do I. We both truly believe that the best way to impact others is to live a transparent life..one which shows our failures, but glorifies God's amazing grace through it all. We are in transition...may God bless our present, use our past and expand our future.
Until tomorrow..God Bless you all.
As I sat in Heather's room last night watching her drift in and out of sleep and witnessing the pain she was in...it made me think about Psalm 40. Many of you may know Heather's story..but she has gone through alot in her life. Most of it without knowing the love, peace and comfort of Jesus. Her journey is still in progress and like all journey's...sometimes you have to go through dark places to find the promised land.
Funny thing is..although Heather is in serious pain..I truly believe she would say this is not a dark place...this is the path she wants..one that she feels she must pass through to reach the promised land of better health. Heather does not better health for her however...she would say she wants to be a better Mom, a better Wife and better witness for Jesus. Sure she would love the freedom better health would bring for herself..and there may be a little selfish desire within her...who wouldn't! But, honestly..Heather is about helping others..it is what drives her. I pray God grants her this wish.
Today was a day of pain. Pretty much all day. Heather has had to have pain medicine administered every hour or she was in tears. Pain and Nausea medicine. However thru the pain, there were some victories. We were able to get her out of ICU and into her Neurological room this afternoon. During that move, God allowed her to be relatively pain free and even smile and talk for awhile. I think most of you saw the pictures! She is an amazingly strong woman..but she has a smile that is infectious. She also had an opportunity to meet with her favorite Dr. of all-time. Her personal Neurologist Dr. Joseph Drazkowski. Fortunately Heather loves me and Dr. Draz is married..or she would leave me in an instant! ;) Just kidding. Dr. Drazkowski is the perfect Dr. for her. He listens to her with a kind heart, spends time with her when needed and cares like she was his own daughter. We are blessed to have such an incredible Dr. leading Heather's epilepsy journey. It sounds like they plan on starting Heather's testing Thursday. Pray her pain starts to ease and that she is able to rest tonight.
And do me a favor...read Psalm 40.
God is Great and so are all of you....
Until tomorrow...
In His Grip,
Christian Siebens @flyingchristian for wife @AliveinMe / @EpilepsyCures and our AMAZING LORD AND SAVIOR-JESUS CHRIST!
Heather has been in the hospital for 24 hours...and the journey continues. I will do my best to summarize the events and my thoughts for each day.
Day 1 - Feb 1, 2010
She was in great spirits heading into the hospital..In usual Heather fashion her sense of humor was strong about the entire situation and she appeared to have zero concern over the events to unfold. She is a strong woman..with a strong faith. I admire her so...
The surgery was scheduled for 3 hours with Dr. Zimmerman. The same Dr. that has performed her other two surgeries. I left her side at 10:00am and she was off with a smile. Her father joined me in the waiting area for a couple of hours and he was able to get my mind off of the things unfolding for Heather. I tried to do my best to keep all of you updated via my iTouch...I hope it made sense. This was the first time I have ever used this device. :) I am not quite as 'techy" as my wife..I guess I am just too old. :) I was finally called into a conference with Dr. Zimmerman around 3:00pm. His first words were..."It didn't go as well as I would have hoped". Not a good way to start the conversation. Apparently he had a difficult time dealing with the scarring from the previous surgery's. He wanted to insert 4 grids in her temporal and frontal lobes..but was only able to complete 3 of the 4. The Dura around the surface of the brain at her last surgical site would not separate from the brain itself..he told me he attempted to separate this for sometime..but gave up when it became clear he could cause permanent damage to the brain. He "hoped" he had not caused any damage in this process...but that was unclear since she was still recovering from surgery and not coherent yet. He left the meeting to go back to her and conduct some post op tests.
I must say the next 3 hours were painful as I pondered if her brain functions were damaged in anyway and if the lack of inserting all the grids would affect their ability to do the "true" surgery later in this journey. Finally i was able to see her around 5;30pm..which lifted a weight off my shoulders. She looked great. Minimal bruising..just a bit puffy..all her senses seemed to be working with the exception of speaking..however, I believe that was more due to the sore throat she has from the operation breathing tube than anything else.
Now that I have been with her all night..she is speaking fine..in pain..but it appears there was no damage done in surgery. Her pain meds are only lasting about an hour and her left ankle is hurting for some reason...other than that her vitals appear good. I am being told that by the end of today she would be moved from ICU and into a room on the neurological floor of the hospital.
I stand amazed at the incredible outpouring of love, concern and prayers for Heather and our family from each of you. Our faith is strong and I know the perfect will of Jesus will be glorified thru this journey...however, having the love of so many sure helps us draw continued strength.
On behalf of Heather, myself and Tory...may God Bless each of you.
In His Grip,
Christian Siebens @flyingchristian for @AliveinMe / @EpilepsyCures
