Saturday, December 29, 2012

End of 2012 Thanks goodness!

Well.... We have made it to the end of 2012.
 
It has been a very rough year for us...
(just start reading from Jan 2012)
You will see that we have been through a lot
and are ready for it to END!
 
a couple pictures from Nov & Dec ...
Thanksgiving with Amy, Chloe and Shavik
Our whole family
The girls
Blake wins!
Chelsey and her co-worker Janessa
Chad with his buddies... Tyler & Cheri 
This poor kid has been through HELL this year!
 
Ice on the swollen eye really helped but... GEEZ 2 DAYS SOLID!

Christmas eve.... we live where it snows A LOT!





Wednesday, December 19, 2012

We had a set back, but we are back on track... or we changed the track?

 
So things were going well until Chad said @ 6 am Sunday morning.
I think I am leaking brain fluid.
 
 
It seemed that indeed he was and the Dr. had us
do a test. Put some ointment on it and if
it was leaking it would bubble.
 
Sure enough it was bubbling. So we packed up our clothes
for the week and left for Seattle. We were supposed to go
to Seattle Wednesday anyway so they could turn the ABI on, on
Thursday and Friday.
 
So... off we went. Over the pass which was a snowy
night mare. We were told they closed it about an hour
after we crossed it because it was so crazy.
 
Got to the hospital where the Dr. met us and
admitted him. They needed to put in more stitches
and could not use any anesthetic because if things were coming
out then they could also go in, and cause infection.
It was extremely painful. Then they put in an IV, took blood,
gave him eye drops, and eventually a sleeping pill, he had a nightmare,
that scared him and he clenched his teeth so hard
it caused him a migraine, so they gave him something for that and
then he was so freaked out he could not sleep for a while.
 
It was a very bad night.
 
We are home now... 2 days later.
They are going to wait 3 more weeks to turn it on.
 
Hopefully he will heal quickly. He is having a very rough time.


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Had a good night!

Chad had a good night, (he might not agree)
He wants to sleep all through the night.
He is improving using less IV drugs gets him closer to home
Getting up out of bed is good for him but he is not fond of it.
 
His head is swollen today. They may or may not
take off the dressing today. He is not eating much at all.
 
 
He complains less that the last surgery, he was very
ready to go home last time. Now he is just enduring.
 
On to another day @ Swedish. :)

Saturday, December 8, 2012

It's done! ABI installed and tested well :)

Hi all,
We are in the hospital here @ Swedish.
Chad got out of the ICU at about 1 pm this afternoon.
 
He is doing well.
His Dr. wants him up and about.
More time in the Chair than in the bed.
He hurts alot .
They took the cochlea out and the Cochlear implant out.
 
Taking the cochlea out left a gap in his head.
So they took some fat from his stomach
and put it in his head. He thought
that they should take some from his butt so he could literally be a "Butthead".
 
He also had a question "If you are what you eat then I am drugs,
If I am drugs why don't I have alot of girlfriends who are
already addicted to me?"
 
So his sense of humor is not absent through this.
 
That is my update. Have a nice weekend!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

ABI surgery tomorrow Dec. 7th!

Hi all readers...
I apologize for not updating sooner, however I have been very busy.
The surgery was moved from the 11th to the 7th.
Which is tomorrow. (eek!)
 
We met with some of the surgical team last week
for our pre-op appointment and learned some
scary stuff. I will tell you about it after it's over.
 
This surgery has never been done at the hospital
we are going to. Swedish Cherry Hill campus.
 
Dr. Backous, Dr. Mayberg are the brain surgeons performing
this surgery and they have never done it before. (no stress here!)
 
However they are flying Dr. Marc Schwartz
from the house clinic in L.A. to assist or
teach is a better term to use.
 
The Cochlear America is sending people.
 
Needless to say the cold Chad has had for the past 4 weeks,
has been causing stress the last few days.
They don't want him to cough after surgery.
Apparently you can leak spinal fluid if you cough.
 
So... We are packing up and heading in out in a few minutes
to drive over there.
 
We are nervous! Wish us luck, or prayers on Chad's behalf would
be greatly appreciated!
 
I will update Friday or Saturday!