Today begins her fourth day here at Methodist. So far we have had good care and nice nurses. Dr. Einhaus just came in to check on her and told us that she was thinking about the cancellation last week and how that by having the surgery rescheduled when it was that Brittany had the cream of the crop in all support positions for the surgery and that probably would not have happened at the first scheduled surgery because of it being in the afternoon. While it was discouraging and deflating to have the surgery cancelled the first time, I know that God answered all the prayers in her behalf with a “not now, I have something better” answer.
She is doing as well as can be expected two days post op. She is having trouble eating because of heartburn and because her mouth and jaw are sore. Thankfully the nausea seems to have passed.
Last night she actually took a short walk around the hall at the hospital so we are making progress there as well. All motor functions and mental functions are fine and her incision site looks good. Her doctor used sutures and glue rather than staples. So far no fevers or anything out of the ordinary to be concerned with.
She was thrilled to see some friends yesterday afternoon for a short visit. Thanks for dropping by Kim, Christy and Wayne, Shelby, and Karen and Katie. Thanks also for the gifts but more than anything for taking the time to drop by.
The plan for today is to get off the morphine pump and to get the pic line out of her neck so that she can be more comfortable and more ambulatory. There will also be a lot of medicine changes today so we will have to see how that works out.
Continued prayers for smooth adjustment to new meds, appetite improvement, and pain management would be appreciated.
You may have wondered so here is a breakdown of what was done during the surgery:
Her herniation was into the c1 space which is not ridiculously huge but is significant. The doctor shaved off the top of the c1 vertebra to create more space.
The left cerebellar tonsil was shaved to make it smaller.
There was an arachnoid web (not something found in all Chiari malformations). This was removed resulting in an immediate reduction in her blood pressure.
The last thing was the dr found a tiny fluid filled cyst that was acting like a ball valve blocking cerebrospinal fluid flow in her brain. This was removed and sent to pathology to check for malignancy. The doc did NOT think that there was any need for concern. The doc had never seen this before.
Dr. Einhaus was encouraged that Brittany would get relief from her symptoms once she heals because there was a lot that needed to be fixed.
Sounds like great news. Prayers are continuing for Brittany’s complete recovery.
Continued prayers for Brittany. Glad to hear the doctors have been able to help her and that she’s doing well.
Coincidentally, just this past weekend, one of our relatives was rushed to the hospital, and a scan showed bleeding in her brain. The doctors won’t know what it is until they operate. So, I’m praying for two people now, both in the hospital with similar circumstances.