Today we spent a long day at the hospital doing a lot of pre-op stuff. Lizzy started with a brain MRI ... they were mostly checking to see if she had hydrocephalus (which fortunately she does not, but CMI can sometimes cause that as well). MRI's are no fun anyway, but Lizzy said they put some kind of warming blanket on her to keep her warm and it was way too hot.
Next stop was the neurosurgeon's office to get final instructions for tomorrow. We talked with Dr. Menezes again and were again very impressed with him. He is so kind and shows a lot of care and concern toward Lizzy. His staff is excellent too and we enjoyed our visit with them.
This is how Lizzy thinks she's going to look tomorrow.
We made a quick stop at the vampire lab so they could take some of Lizzy's blood. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother her too much to get poked. She said she likes watching the blood get sucked out of her body and didn't complain a bit (she did better than I usually do when I have to have blood drawn).
We didn't have time for lunch, so we stopped and grabbed a cookie, then headed to the EEG lab. Here they were measuring how long it takes to get an electric current from her wrist to her brain. This was the least pleasant stop of the day ... Lizzy had to be shocked 2000 times and with each little shock her fingers and thumbs would wiggle. The purpose of this was to get a baseline measurement of how her brain is responding to the shocks. Tomorrow during surgery, she will be monitored continually for any changes in this response.
These are pictures of Lizzy before the shocking began. She wasn't smiling so much by the end.
Our last stop of the day was with the anesthesiologist. Nothing abnormal here ... he was just getting us prepped with instructions for tomorrow.
So, the schedule for tomorrow - we arrive at the hospital a little before 6:00 am and surgery starts at 7:15. The doctor has 6 1/2 hours scheduled for the surgery, but thinks it will be over in about 5 hours. We'll post updates as we know more.
Thanks for the continued prayers for Lizzy!
(p.s. I forgot to switch users ... this is Greg writing, not Tammy)
5 comments:
I'll definitely be praying for her and all of you!
When I was sharing this at school another teacher said her sister had the surgery at 14 and is 21 now and perfectly normal. This is Sue. We will be praying for her.
Just want you to know we are aware of Lizzy's condition and pending surgery and are keeping her in our thoughts and prayers (especially our two oldest: Campbell-6 and Bailey-3).
Hoping and praying for all the best.
Shaun & Angie Peterson
Praying for you ,Lizzy. She's such a trooper. Sending lots of prayers, love, and hugs your way.
What a long day for poor sweet Lizzy! That shocking things sounds dreadful.
I hope that time will move swiftly for you.
Love you guys...
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