Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Healing

The incision is healing beautifully :)

I'm on a new medicine to treat the nerve problems. I got way too hypersensitive, it feels like my hand is on fire. Cold water helps, but it immediately returns when I take my hand out of the water :(

Doc says that happens when they manipulate a nerve... The trauma from surgery makes the nerve freak. It should heal over time... Hopefully soon, since my writing is at a standstill waiting on being able to use the computer keyboard (I use my Palm phone to do everything online - crazy, right?! No internet at home!).

Hoping it heals as well as the cut!

No pathology (I know, I'm going to have to call the lab myself to see wtf is going on)...

Kids doing fantastic. Audrey will be 5 (what!?!?) on 7/11... Oh my... I'm sure there will be a sappy blog post that day... I am so proud of that little lady ;)

The Hubs's still working like crazy. One day off a week and one half day off... He's next in line to get his store... Hopefully before August, since we don't want to move the kids once school starts.

I still can't believe I'm going to be a Kindergartner's mommy next year... My baby girl is growing up!

That's all for now - love to all!

Little Ones

Pictures of the little ones having lots of fun outside.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Super Sad...

I came across this from @Livestrong on Twitter.

Pray for this family as they face an unbelievable tragedy.

http://www.getwellpablo.blogspot.com/

Amazing... Just Amazing

That's all I can say about JT's progress. Amazing.

I can't even list all his words! If you recall, this little guy was NON-VERBAL even a year ago! No words... None.

He has so many... 50? 100? He labels, but HE HAS STARTED TELLING US WHAT HE WANTS!

In other words... We have COMMUNICATION!!!!

He can do animal noises. He knows food names (and uses them to request occasionally).

He has gotten super affectionate. He actually hugged his sister so much yesterday she asked me 'Can you make him stop mommy? He's driving me crazy!' That is the BEST complaint EVER!

Seriously, I have to give most of the credit to JT... He has put in the effort to make this progress.

His teachers and therapists are also due a TON of credit and kudos. They truly love JT and believe in him as much as we do (maybe even more!).

Anyway, awesome, awesome things. He is constantly talking and loving on us... I am just tearing up thinking about my little guy.

Yay!

Kitty in a Box

JT trapped Beezy (who has been extra-tolerant since we found her).

You can see her tail coming out the bottom left corner of the plastic box he's sitting on.

Surgery Details

I'm finally getting around to it... Most of them are in my previous post, but here's the whole boring (thankfully!) story...

I checked in at 5:30am, and by 6:15am had finished the admissions paperwork. They were waiting for me, and immediately took me to the 2nd floor - the pre-op holding area. The Hubs and my grandmother, Nanny, had to wait downstairs...

I had to do all the normal prep stuff (minus peeing in the cup - yay for hysterectomies!). I had to take *everything* off and put on their weird hospital paper gown. I joked with them about the necessity of taking my undies off for an armpit surgery (its because in long surgeries bunched clothing can cause sores, bruising and other issues).

I got my IV. My least favorite part!

At this point it was around 7am.

They let The Hubs come up, to say goodbye.

The neurosurgery resident came by and drew on Bob (marking the surgery spot). The anesthesiologist came by, as well as the assistant. We went over the risks and my health issues. He told me he was also planning on giving me lidocaine during surgery for my PVC's. He was awesome. Then the doctor in charge of the OR came by.

I noticed they were looking around, and the dr left. Then the anesthesiologist said it was time to go, and started moving the bed.

For the first time in any of my surgeries, I started crying. The Hubs kissed me goodbye and headed downstairs as they rolled me into the operating wing.

Just about then the goofy juice kicked in... There were tons of drs and nurses gathered outside the OR's in various hallways... The anesthesiologist was wheeling me, and I laughed "one point for nurses, two points for doctors!"

Next thing I know we're in an OR and all the people I met are scrubbed up. I move myself to another bed, and they put the oxygen on...

I woke up pretty pain free in post-op. The first thing I see is my anesthesiologist, another dr and a few nurses standing around my bed looking up at my monitor. They notice I'm awake and the anesthesiologist says "Your heart was freaking out a little. Don't worry, we gave you something and it looks like you're doing fine now."

Everything else was uneventful. My doctor apparently said I did so well I could go home that day if I wanted. I'm sure it had a lot to do with the fact the hospital was full (neurosurgery had no beds).

Roughly 7 hours... Procedure time was 4.5 to 5. Looooong time, but pretty much what we expected. When we left, my grandmother took me to Walgreens... I wouldn't stay in the car (she mentioned something about hard-headed...). I promptly threw up a ton upon my arrival at home. Bad choice, apparenly :P

Most of Bob is gone - he had to leave a little... Which means Bob may be back.

He had to cut a nerve fiber that was too involved in the tumor. We won't know the permanent affects of that for a few weeks - that's when the nerve starts to calm down from surgery trauma.

Right now, I have a little incision pain. I am hypersensitive in my hand - the middle and pointer fingers hurt horribly with any touch or even a breeze. The entire underneath of my arm is DEAD numb... Like I can pinch it and feel *nothing*. Hopefully all that resolves.

Other than that, normal surgery recovery. Tired, some nausea...

But Bob's reign is over!

Now if I could just get the pathology report... Its not back to the doctor yet :( I'll post as soon as I know anything.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Missing - Audrey's Cat

We are fairly sure she left Saturday or Sunday... And she's not the type to disappear. So, she is most likely gone for good - she ran away :(

Audrey is heartbroken. JT loved Beezy, too... So its a sad day here.

Beezlebubb Marie Duzan - we love you and miss you!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Naptime!

My little man conked out in our bed while watching Gerald McBoingBoing.

PS - Yesterday JT ran into the living room and I asked him if I could have a hug and opened my arms really wide. He ran up with his arms open and wrapped them around my neck. When he was done I said "I love you little man" and he looked at me and said "I wuv ooo". Meltmeltmelt.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

New Bob Photo

Here's a new pic of my neurofibroma/schwannoma (aka Bob).
Taken 6/6/2009.

The Week From Hell

This week has been a rough one. I am so glad its over and I can try again.

It all started Monday, when The Hubs and I realized I really lost our only set of keys to our car. We moved furniture, scoured the house... No luck. I didn't even remember getting home the day before - literally had no memory of it - so I couldn't backtrack.

The Hubs managed to use our (free) Roadside Assistance to get our car towed to the dealership, and they made him a (free) key. Still, we had to reschedule JT's appointment to get his tooth capped and Audrey's teeth cleaned for Wednesday.

Wednesday comes. JT has NEVER spit out medicine. So when the hygenist asked if I needed the dentist to administer the conscious sedation (liquid meds) I refused.

Yep, he spit it out - the first 1/2 of it. I managed to get the rest in. They can't redose since they don't know how much *exactly* he swallowed.

So he was only partly sedated. It took 5 people holding him down to get it done... But it is done...We all survived!

Fast forward to Friday. I get a call from surgery scheduling that my insurance company rejected the pre-authorization, and said I wasn't covered until 1/1/2010. They said I had to wait until the start of the next calendar year AFTER my year anniversary (6/1/2009).

I lost it. The Hubs called the insurance company and then HR at Dillard's. Dillard's took over and told us they were sure I did have coverage. After a FULL DAY of going over the contract with the insurance company, they apologized and said it was a mistake. That some person manually sets you back up, and that person has been on vacation.

Riiiiiiiight. So a giant company like Great-West/Cigna has manual updates? And that person that talked to the billing dept knew *exactly* what they were looking at.

Thank God Dillard's went to bat for us. I am sure it would not have had a happy ending otherwise.

Again, thank God its over.

Praying that next week is better!

Here's our schedule:
JT has summer school M-Th 8-11
Tues - Neurology 3pm
Thurs - Cardiology 1:30pm
Fri - preop - 9am