PRAYER THREAD~~~AJ29349

[selmaS]

Wear ur purple in support and awareness of chiari and for our Friend Angela as she heads in for her surgery...she beat me to posting a thread, but I had to post a Prayer thread for her too : )

Sending good vibes~~~ and prayers to u Angela, ur family and all in charge of ur care.

Know as u prepare to head out, u on on all our minds and in all our hearts <3

[Braintoobig]

Thank you for all the updates! I hope she continues to heal!

[selmaS]

I want to thank AJ's DD for the updates and wish her a safe journey to Florida....what a wonderful experience to intern at Disney...all the best to u  : )

The news of ur moms recovery is hopeful and we send prayers that the recovery process continues to be a smooth one for her.

[selmaS]

Phase 2
Sorry I haven’t updated in a while. I have been really busy packing and preparing for my Disney internship. I spoke to my mom several times yesterday and today. She saw a beautiful snow in Maryland this morning. She still has a lot of head pain. She was moved to the hotel with Doug and Grandmama this afternoon. I spoke to her and she was joking and very lively. She misses everyone and really appreciates everyone’s support, prayers, and encouragement. She hopes to come home on Tuesday but with the snow, she may have to delay her return. She is currently taking Dilodid for her pain. She said she is looking forward to watching a movie with my Grandmama tomorrow. Thanks for all your thoughts. Please pray for me as I make the trip to Orlando tomorrow.

[selmaS]

Still having a lot of head pain/pressure. She’s back on oxygen now - a little setback but hopefully the pain will ease up in the next 24-48 hours.

Dr. Henderson came in after lunch today. He removed the drain from her head, removed the lidocaine patch from her thigh and applied Steri-Strips to the graft. Medications readjusted to valium and Dilaudid by mouth and added Toradol injections.  I didn’t talk to Angela long due to pain. She had one of those moments where you know she’s on a lot of medications - she kept telling me they asked her to go do something in the parking garage but she couldn’t remember what!

[selmaS]

Surgery Details
The doctor performed a suboccipital craniectomy. He removed the lateral aspect of foramen magnum to decompress the Chiari deep down. The upper half of the C1 vertebra was removed but he left the lower half of C1 vertebra intact for stability. The patch was harvested from the right thigh, tensor fascia lata area and a large space was created in the posterior fossa to accommodate Chiari.


Update from Aunt Janet
Talked to Angela this morning. She had a pretty rough night - using both pain pump and valium. She sounds good considering what she’s been through. She is now starting to hurt in her thigh where they harvested tissue from the tensor fascia lata. Doug spent the night and Mother is on her way back to hospital.


Dr. Henderson came to room this morning and personally got Angela out of bed. She walked 25 feet down the hall. He switched the medications around a little because the valium was knocking her out to where she couldn’t use the pain pump so she’d wake up in a lot of uncontrolled pain. He’s allowing her to raise the bed a little versus being in a complete supine position – flat on the back.

So far, here are the previous symptoms that are now gone after the surgery.

No numbness, tingling or pain in the left arm. Angela says it feels like she has a new arm!

No ringing in the ears which in the past was nonstop.

Left side of face feels normal (just like the right side) whereas before, the left side of the face always had a full-type heavy feeling. Great relief!

She still has the blepharospasms around her eyes and nose area.

[rod44]

Sending prayers & best wishes for a continued good recovery :)

Ray

[n40066]

what a wonderful update!  so glad to hear all the good news, faith and support she has!  prayers from my end to add to the mix for a fast and uneventful recovery!!!
elizabeth

[selmaS]

Here r 2 posts on AJ's blog posted by her DD~~~~

I just got a surprise call from my Grandmama and my mom was on the phone. She can’t really talk much but she told me that her surgery went well. She is on a pain pump at the moment and is using it a lot for head aches. She has a lot of head pain at the moment. She will most likely be in the hospital until Friday. She absolutely loves her surgeon and the staff at the hospital. She told me that her surgeon informed her today that he and his wife prayed for her all weekend and he prayed for her before her surgery. She also said that the lady who admitted her today was very encouraging and prayed for her as well. She said that she really feels God’s presence at the hospital and knows that she chose the right place to have her operation. She is resting a lot. Look for more updates tomorrow.



I just got off the phone with my Grandmama. She said that everything so far is good. Dr. Henderson said the surgery went well and she looks well. They are watching her closely for the next two days or longer depending on how long they keep her there. Family has not seen her yet. She lost a few oz of blood, as expected. There was no trauma. When they went to see her before she went in to surgery, she told the two ladies that everyone was very nice from the very beginning. They were joking with her and the family. Things were light hearted before her operation. Someone should be able to stay with her. Family should see her within an hour. Thank you for your prayers. Keep them com

[selmaS]

Wow I forgot to mention the date...tomorrow Jan 4th....sorry...getting over a head cold and I am a tad slow....lol....

Know we r thinking of u tho : )

[thieb9]

In my thoughts and prayers!

[hdavids]

You will be in my prayers Angela,

Hdav