Post Surgery

Brittany's surgery went very well! We arrived at the hospital yesterday (the 23rd) at around 7am and her surgery started at about 9:40am. They wheeled her out at around 3pm and we got to see her shortly after that.

Before we were allowed to see her, the neurosurgeon came to the waiting room and talked to us about how the procedure went. He said he was very pleased with how the surgery went and that they were able to accomplish all that they set out to do. He also explained that Brittany's Chiari was one of the most severe that he had ever seen. One part of the surgery involved widening the opening of the skull where the brain stem comes out (and where her brain was coming out) by removing some of the bone in that area. When he removed the bone in that area, he was surprised to see that the bone was very thin, paper thin in his words! He said that this was evidence that her brain had been exerting pressure on that area for a very long time, pressing it thinner and thinner. Because of this, he is convinced Brittany will notice a lot of relief from the new release of that pressure!

After surgery, she was brought to the NCCU (Neuro Critical Care Unit) where they woke her up. They kept a close eye on her, especially for the rest of that day. They checked in pretty often and did tests to make sure no unintended damage had been done. Luckily, even though she was still pretty groggy the rest of the evening, she passed every test with perfect scores.

One thing we were warned about when it comes to this surgery is that the recovery is very difficult. More so than most. Pain and nausea are big factors in this. She experienced a lot of nausea which caused her to vomit, which put pressure on the delicate areas that were worked on and caused a good amount of pain. Today, though, after receiving some medication that helped her sleep well through the night, we were happy to find that Brittany was feeling much less nausea.

It is now about 8:30pm on the 24th of January and we were finally able to get Brittany moved out of critical care and into Neuro Acute Care where she'll be for the rest of her time in the hospital.

She has just been sleeping most of the day today (boring right?) and we couldn't be happier! Surprisingly, they've had her on her feet walking to the toilet and even taking a very short walk down the hall today.

We have been amazed at the great blessings we've seen through this experience. We have no doubt that these have been a direct result of the MANY prayers and fasts that have been offered on our behalf. We have all (Brittany and the whole family) felt so much comfort and help from beyond the veil. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and love.