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| I'm free! |
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| Mom brushing out my hair after the washing |
We're home! Now the recovery can begin! Thanks to everyone for their support we'll be updating as her recovery progresses.
She'll take care of her OWN blog now. Rock, signing off!
-R
We are so close to home! The doctor and nurses said that tomorrow, if blood work is good we can take Shannon home. Just going to have to wait for the doctors final approval, which may take awhile.
Finally got some photos of the cut they made (thanks Jessi!). Sorta makes her look like a baseball with all those staples. She has alot of hair left which means dry shampoos and hair nets are in our near future. Probably be a few weeks till she can take a normal shower.
Well its not good news but its not bad news. Our doctor told us its a type 3 tumor. But its a funny type 3. It has developed arteries but its very slow growing. It is large but the cell density is very sparse. We are going to have radiation but chemo is in question. We are waiting on reference for confirmation, but there with be meetings with the tumor board. Doesn't sound pleasant.
Good news Shannon gets to go home tomorrow, as long as she behaves tonight. She's enjoying friends visiting, such as her friend Jessi from Anaconda.
-R
Well, this is the first blog entry written by me, Shannon (transcribed by Rock), since the surgery. The first exciting news; I show no problems! Yeah! All of my limbs, senses, and memories work as they should. My 6-8 weeks of recovery has been cut down to 3-5 weeks. I am also very happy to report that after 3 1/2 days I am out of the ICU. While i do get why i was in the ICU (it was brain surgery after all), i will not miss the ICU in the least: It was certainly "memorable".
Good memories
-sweetest nurses I've ever met
-visit by my extra quirky anesthesiologist
-friends sneaking in "unsterilised" gifts
Bad memories
-woken up every hour, on the hour, for tests of some sort
-a ton of IV's (literally)
-inflatable socks that exist solely to prevent blood clotting
-lack of a bathroom
-the "crazies" waking up in a room nearly
- laying, or sitting (sometimes), for hours with an ice pack. I love being able to see out of both eyes.
- people panicking because something became disconnected
- food ( at least edible food)
....to be continued (my fingers are cramping).
I have worn a hole in my shoe, didn't know it was made of metal! Shannon is in a normal room now and they predict that she'll leave by this weekend. She loves her Thanksgiving meal and ate it all. She already did three laps around the nurses station. She's looking forward to the lab results and taking a shower.
She's all for visitors, let me know so i can give you her room number. If you cannot make it but want to see her i might be able to Skype her or something.
We've really loved all the support and prayers we've received and our hearts are filled and overflowing for her surgery, recovery and future treatments.
-R
Today its all about getting to the next room. Shannon has slept for a whole two hours! And she is less blocked up thanks to some special medication. She's going for a walk later.
They readjusted her headband and gave her a sixties poof of hair out the back. We can see more of the surgery staples, looks like an upside down V starting from her left ear and ending around the peak of her head.
She has branched out this morning and has ordered cream of wheat AND applesauce. The in-laws are over for a few days, all it took was a brain tumor and surgery to bring the family together for Thanksgiving.
Shannon is doing better and better (and looking better). She very much enjoyed a few visitors though it was a short visit. She has many cards and flowers from students and staff in marion school. Still having an internal traffic jam that has no signs of clearing. She still has "fun" remembering the drain coming out. Still won't let me get pictures of the scans for our medical friends. Apparently there is some program needed to interpret them, obviously they haven't heard of JPEGs. I will see about ninja-ing them from someone who doesn't want to be here Thanksgiving.
-R
Shannon's drain was removed a half hour ago. She described it as the worst pain she's been in. Apparently there was a six inch tube, it was removed by the surgeon, whom while a very talented brain surgeon doesn't believe in local anesthetics. Even the nurse was frankly surprised.
Afterwards he did a single stitch, which was pulled tight and he snapped a new headwrap on her (as seen in the photo). And of course they let people in just after to see her.
She has ordered chicken strips for lunch. Sydney had lunch in the deli next to a crazy lady who kept laughing and talking to herself. I thought she was a nurse and was concerned.
-R
Shannon's swelling is going down and they should be removing the drain today! Hopefully we can convince a nurse to snap some pictures of her head when they remove the bandages. Delivered an awesome care package from a friend, she was very excited about ninja socks and fuzzy slippers.
-R
Shannon had some swelling in her left eye last night so they are keeping her in the ICU another day. She looks like she was in a prize fight. She is eating and has ordered food herself (more cream of wheat). She hasn't needed pain meds for awhile now. Afraid its another delay for visitors.
-R
Shannon already is eating (two bites of malt-o-meal, and two sips of OJ). Her bowls we're disgruntled and expressed them selves. She was having some irritating IV's so they removed the ones on her right hand and gave her a purple power picc line (no i didn't make that one up). From what they described they put an IV all the way up a vein and ran a tube into her chest so they medicine goes past her sensitive veins. Plus they can draw blood.
Pictures of her eating, right before the picc line, and of her hair. Still haven't figured out why they give you the hair in a baggie. Its not all they cut off, maybe they want to prove that your not bald, or not that bald. What would they do if you had no hair? Empty bag?
-R
2nd morning and Shannon is more alert than ever. She is getting breakfast and is being boring and ordering cream of wheat. I would have gone with walrus bacon.
She had a fun experience with a crazy patient they brought in last night. Her IV's went crazy so they're going to redo them today. Docs might keep her another day in ICU.
-R
And your little cat too! As if Murphy could be called little, Shannon is in ICU and talking, demanding more ice and chapstick.
-R
She is out of surgery and going to the ICU in about an hour. Of course I'm away getting jewelry when she is out. She did express wanting anyone who is able to drop by and spend time with her during recovery but we'll be updating you with that info when we get it.
We are out of the woods. Still not back in Kansas but the tumor portion has been removed, as much as possible. They report that the surgery is going very well and we are on track for a good recovery.
Called the OR nurse and all reports are good. They are starting the vascular work before removal can begin.
We met with the surgeon, looks like everything is as good as can possibly be. The surgery is supposed to last 3-5 hours. All of her left brained functions have moved either out of the way or have been moved to the right brain. They are hopeful that she'll be going right to a recovery room and spend little to no time in ICU. She is doing good and keeps telling everyone that she is a middle school teacher. She had a foot massage she rather enjoyed and has been wheeled off to the OR. I guess somedays your Dorothy somedays your scarecrow. I'll be updating as often as possible.
-R
She's got her first haircut for the stickies that let the machine know where her head is at. The anesthesiologist delivers jokes like a ninja, you don't know they're there until its too late.
