Here is a copy of an update Brad sent last week about my surgery. As of now, I have tried a new med for the spinal headache. The headache is finally lifting (I am dancing and singing "hooray") and at 2 weeks, I am feeling pretty dang good. I can tell I am better because I am annoyed by the soap scum in my shower. Yes, these are the really important things....I am sick and wrong!!
LLF family,
Sorry for the late update, but it has been fairly busy since the surgery.
The surgery itself went well but was tiring for Lauri. I stayed home from work on Wednesday, 10/31, but went back to work on 11/1 since Lauri’s mom was here. And because Lauri seemed to be okay…
(by the way Ethan had a blast Trick-or-Treating at my office and in our neighborhood. He was excited about being Superman…and the candy is just an afterthought)
Anyway, the whole time since the surgery, Lauri had a slight headache (that gradually got worse), and she was not able sit upright for very long. We hoped that it was just due to after surgery fatigue. However, when I got home from work on Thursday, and went upstairs to check on her, I found out that she had been vomiting for 3 hours and had severe head pain. There was no denying that she had a spinal headache then.
I tried to call her doctor, but it was after hours. Lauri’s mom and I then concentrated on getting Ethan to bed while trying to figure out what to do. I decided to take Lauri to the emergency room, which is a long story but can be summed up with: we had long wait after arriving about 10:30 pm, they helped her temporarily, and we got back at 2 am. Lauri started throwing up again an hour later. At eight on Friday morning, the pain specialist’s office called and told us to come in. I drove Lauri in, and it was decided that she needed a “blood patch” which is the only thing that really helps spinal headache. (they draw blood from your arm, then inject it back into the spine; the blood coagulates and stops the spinal fluid leak.) The specialist had several surgeries that day, and he squeezed Lauri’s blood patch procedure in between them. She immediately felt better (although it will take days for the spine fluid to get back to normal) and we went home about 3 pm.
Lauri’s doing much better. She having less and less problems with sitting upright and is able to eat. Now the issue is the pain of her incisions and all of the inconveniences of having had surgery. (which is normal)
We GREATLY appreciate all of your prayers! At times, I felt we were in a pitch black cave with no hope in sight…but God got us out the other side.
Lauri’s mom will be staying this week since her dad can’t come up due to his older sister’s passing this weekend. (please pray for the Pierce family; the service is Monday) Her mom and dad were going to switch off, but now her mom will be staying.
Ethan’s done great through this whole deal. (of course, he didn’t know everything that was going on) He’s been good at cheering Lauri up, of course.
See you tomorrow and church and hope that you are all doing well,
Brad
Today-I am praying for my friend Ali who has a baseball-sized tumor in her duodenum. She is undergoing testing to determine how best the surgeons can remove it. Also praying that the tumor is noncancerous.
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