God is So Good!

Wednesday was hard...  no doubt about it!  Walking one direction in preop while they wheeled the love of my life in ther direction for a brain surgery that had multiple risks and no guarantee of success was the HARDEST thing I have ever done!

But...  God is so good!

In a nutshell, the surgery took 6 hours.  In layman's terms, they removed part of Mike's skull, removed his C1 vertebrae, opened the lining to the spinal cord and brain up to "clean things up", and then used a patch (or a hammock as Mike calls it) to put the cerebellum back where it belonged and keep it in place.  The surgery itself went very well and the neurosurgeon said the spinal fluid started flowing normally before he even closed up!  So no shunt needed!  AND his incision isn't NEAR as big as we anticipated so it should heal beautifully! 

God is SO good!

Recovery was a bit not so smooth.  He had a hard time in recovery and in the ICU not breathing well and got sick several times in the first 6 hours.  By the next morning he was holding his own though, and he was moved to a private room in the neuro step down area just outside of the ICU...  Less than 24 hours from the completion of surgery...  a day earlier than expected!

God is SO good!

First part in Neuro was a bit rough...  but Mike brought that on hisself!  He thought he'd be a hero and not ask for anything for pain until he was a 9 out of 10 and visibly suffering!  He learned quickly that stubbornness would get him nowhere!  Once he caved and allowed them to give him what he needed he did great!  He was awake for a good portion of the day and had a few visitors.  We were even able to have the kids over the first night in step down so that they could see Daddy was well. 

Again... God is SO good like that!

Friday was a little harder, but we expected it.  OK...  maybe harder isn't the right word...  it sucked!  Mike's surgical site was very sore and tender, muscles were angry at him, he was weaker and more fatigued...  and the biggest kicker was he had hiccups ALL DAY LONG!  They finally were able to get something ordered from pharmacy to get rid of them once and for all and things seemed to start to turn around by the time I left, though he was still hurting because of the hiccups all day thrusting through his head!

The "God is So Good" parts of Friday were that we were able to completely transition off of ALL IV medications to oral medications and off the oxygen....  2 days post brain surgery!  Way earlier than anyone expected!  He was able to get a good solid 2 hour nap in with very few "leashes" attaching him to medical equipment.  I couldn't take my eyes off of him while he slept ever so peacefully!

Saturday morning when the doctors rounded we were given Mikes' walking shoes....  3 DAYS POST BRAIN SURGERY! 

God is SOOOOOOOOOO good like that! 

We were home by 10am today, and both of us asleep by 10:30am!  Mike slept more peacefully than he has slept in the last several days...  in his own bed!  We got up a briefly at noon and 2pm for meds to be given, and then got up around 5:30.  He was able to take a very short walk (up the sidewalk about 2 houses and back), came back and ate, and now he's on the chase lounge watching a bit of the Reds game. 

He does have a long road ahead of him as his surgical site, and his brain and spinal cord heal.  There are also still a few serious risks that we have to watch out for - infection and spinal fluid leaks.  Either of these 2 could land him back in the hospital so we have to keep our eyes open.  He's very weak and fatigues VERY easily.  For the next several days we will continue the same pain regimen that they got him on in the hospital and then we will start weaning it all back slowly and see how he does. 

But...  God is so good and has carried him through this far in a miraculous way and I know that He will continue to do so. 

We could not have gotten this far without the prayers of so many!  We are thankful to every person who has walked this journey with us!