April 2008
I NEED YOUR PRAYERS
Next week is going to be one of the toughest weeks of my life. The love of my life is going under the knife. I am worried sick that something may go wrong. See, she has what you call a Chiari malformation. It is a condition in which brain tissue protrudes into your spinal canal. She is having surgery that will push her brain back up basically and cause relief from the all the symptoms and aches and pains that she has. If you didn’t catch last week’s episode of Home Makeover, go to abc.com and watch the episode. They gave a family suffering from Chiari malformation a home; and the story was unbelievable.
Everyday my partner is in pain. She has neck pain, migraines, and numbness and tingling of her hands and feet. Sometimes she has dizziness, chest pains, sleep apnea, uncontrollable twitching, and back pain. I feel so bad for her at times and often can only help by giving her neck and back rubs.
Without the surgery, the symptoms will only get worse. Chiari malformation occurs when the section of the skull containing the cerebellum is too small or is deformed, therefore putting pressure and crowding the brain. The cerebellum is pushed into the upper spinal canal and can interfere with the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid that protects your brain and spinal cord. This leads to a blockage of signals transmitted from your brain to your body and starts causing neurological signs and symptoms.
Without the surgery, the complications associated with this condition are not good. Paralysis is one of the major ones. Cysts can form in the spinal column due to the blockage and impair the function of the spinal cord.
My partner is getting posterior fossa decompression surgery along with a couple others. This is where the surgeon will remove a small section of bone at the back of her skull, which will in turn relieve pressure and give the brain more room. The covering of the brain, called the dura mater, is then opened and a patch is sewn in place to enlarge the covering and provide more room for the brain. Techniques vary on the severity of the case. The operation takes about 2-3 hours and her recovery in the hospital will be 2-4 days.
The operation has a high success rate. There are risks of infection and problems with the wound healing correctly though. She will be in a neck brace for a month and also have about a 6-10 inch scar down her neck. She is a deputy sheriff and will be off work for 3 months to recover. After the 3 months, I am hoping that she will be better and want to go back to work; but having the whole summer off, who WOULD want to go back to work?
Anyway, this is my worry for next week. I will be by her side the whole time. I plan on sleeping in the hospital with her. I do not want to leave her for anything. My worries, I know, do not compare to hers because she’s the one going through it. I can only be there for her and bend to her every need. This has brought me to a realization that we should not take the gift of life for granted. At any moment it could be taken away. I have restored my faith in God and asked him to hold her brain in his hands when they are inside her skull. James 5:15 states, “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.”
I am asking for your prayers as we go through this stepping-stone in life. I will keep you posted on any news.
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THE WEEK AFTER SURGERY
I never thought that I could love someone so much till I saw the person that I am in love with in so much pain. Kim, my partner, had her surgery for her chiari malformation Wednesday of last week. The surgery itself went great. The doctor said it was worse than he initially thought. He relieved the pressure on her cerebellum and placed a synthetic material inside of her that will prevent her skull from ever slipping down again.
Kim was in ICU for two days. There were only certain visiting hours so it was very hard to just sit back and wait till those hours came up. She was in soooo much pain. The suture on the back of her head looks wonderful compared to all the pictures we saw of it going in. It kinda resembles Frankenstein a little bit, but it’s a perfect straight line down the back of her neck. She was on morphine, muscle relaxers and steroids to control the pain; along with a lot of other medications. When the nausea from the anesthetic ceased, she could be moved to a regular room in the hospital with no limitations on visiting hours; so I spent all day and a lot of the night with her till she fell asleep.
She has a long road ahead of her. We got her home and she has to sleep in a recliner with a neck brace for support. It isn’t the most comfortable position to sleep, so needless to say she hasn’t got much, same as me. I am tending to her constant needs or cravings.
A few unforgettable moments, of course, happened while this whole process developed. I learned that I could cry at just the sight of her sleeping. Chairs are very uncomfortable to sleep in. A liquid diet is just that…and beef broth smells like vomit in the hospital. Vending machine and hospital cafeteria food sucks. It’s impossible to sleep with someone screaming out next to you all night long. Security and red billboards are posted outside the not so “well-behaved” patients’ rooms. When you hit your call button…. nurses do NOT come immediately, but if you pull the plug on your bed out of the wall…. THEY DO. If you don’t like being poked with needles you’d better get used to it, as you will go home with about 8 holes in your arm from the IV’s.
Poor Kim, though, you never realize how much pain you can withstand until you go thru it. She got to the point where it was so bad she couldn’t stop from crying. If she coughed, it hurt. If she moved, it hurt. If she breathed too hard, it hurt. If she shit, it hurt. One doesn’t realize what you use your neck muscles for until you have them in so much pain that you can’t use them.
Overall though, she is a trooper…and will be recovering slowly at home with me by her side. I have become the official house bitch. She is not allowed to lift more than five pounds and, food for thought, her boobs weigh more than that…. so guess who gets the privilege of bathing her?? Of course I don’t mind though. Nothing is too good for her. I am there for her every need. It’s going to be a long process; but eventually she will get herself back and we can sit back and laugh about the whole ordeal. Until then, I am exhausted and unable to think clearly so I will close for now.
Have a wonderful week, and thanks for all your prayers. They certainly made a difference.
