Recovery Day 4

Hi all,
Things are still going well, but slow. Yesterday Jess came to see Immi (and us!) It was a really precious time and was so lovely, there was fun in our little area with the wii in full use and Enoch a volunteer running the games with Immi and her pal in the next bed!
I think she may have overdone it a bit and was wiped out in the evening!

Today, when I arrived this morning she was still sound asleep, but had taken her dressing off. (Gory photo warning below!) She took a while to wake up (which isn’t at all unusual) and was pretty grumpy til I had managed to get some food in her and get her washed and into some clean pjs.
She desparately wants her hair washing but we can’t wash her hair for 7-10 days as her stitches are dissolvable, so I’ve (very carefully) brushed her hair out and loosely plaited it. She is happily sat now watching her iPad.

She will be reviewed tomorrow and we will know more then.

Recovery Day 3

It’s the weekend at the hospital which means the hustle and bustle dies down but it is more boring! Immis swellingseems to be changing through the day, much worse after lying down all night but then kind of moves down her face over the course of the day as she sits up! She’s amazingly not in too much pain, but is struggling to leave her eye alone, rubbing it quite hard (which makes my toes curl!!)
Mr Walsh came round yesterday afternoon and Immi quizzed him about which muscles he had cut etc (they cut through the Temporalis muscle at the top of the jaw if anyone is interested! It’s the one you feel if you put your fingers in your temple and clench your teeth.) He said he wants us to stay in over the weekend and he will reassess on Monday.
Yesterday we some wonderful friends drive all the way up from Truro to see us and today Immis ‘birthday twin’, Jess, is coming from Derby. We haven’t seen her since we were here last year so we are looking forward to seeing her.
Everything is going as well as can be expected and we are thankful to the whole team around her and us - and that includes all of you!
With love, K xx

Recovery Day 2: swelling

Morning everyone! We were warned this might happen; the swelling and bruising have started to come out, her left eye is quite swollen and sore and she is not happy with us at all! She keeps playing with her eye saying it feels funny and won’t leave it alone. The lad in the bed next to her and Immi are getting on like a house on fire, watching films, playing wii and chatting together. He is the same age and cognitively about the same level too, to it’s nice for them both to have a bit of company.
She is on ibuprofen for the swelling and paracetamol for the pain, she won’t take the morphine based drug as it can only be given in liquid form and she will only take tablets.
Think today may be a long one as she gets bored and fussy!

Recovery Day 1

After the Dr coming round and being a little concerned that she hadn’t woken or spoken, Immi woke up at about 11pm last night and had a little soup. Her head has swollen a bit but nothing abnormal. There is potential for this to increase before it decreases. She has walked to the loo this morning and is talking (but grumpy!) At present she is happy to sit and watch her ipad and just rest up.
I slept well at RMcDH and Murray has gone over now for a nap after a long night on the ward.
Will keep you updated.  Thanks everyone. K xxx

Back with us

She’s back on the ward. She VERY reluctantly opened her eyes for a sec and moved her toes and then went on strike. On half hour observation for a while now. Vocabulary and speech are the main concern now, as well as the actual biopsy results of course. Thank you to ALL of you for all your love and support. Xxx PS that top photo is me writing this!! X

Soul surfing

We are in that surreal moment where she is in surgery and there isn’t much we can do and tbh concentrating on anything (including prayer) is really hard but, it is at this moment that being part of God’s family comes into its own....

I feel like we are being upheld at the moment by your prayers. You know when a rock star jumps off the stage and is held up over the crowd and moves along above their heads. That is kind of how I feel at the moment, that your prayers are holding up and not letting us land on the floor in a broken heap. 

I’m not sure how you feel your prayers make an impact, you may not feel that you’re making a difference, but I want to let you know that every prayer, every message, every text is making a huge difference to us, to Immi, to the heavenlies.  I feel at the moment, that without your prayer I would be a crumpled, tears, snotty mess. 

In other news, we have just been given a room at Ronald McDonald House which is wonderful as it means we can tag team and have somewhere to rest, esp while she is on high dependency. 

It’s 5pm now, hopefully she will be in recovery soon.  Will let you know. Xxx

Oh my word I forgot how noisy it is on the ward! Immi had 3 short seizures during the night and the girl next to her had some too, a toy was playing over an over somewhere in the distance and a little baby coughed and cried all night. But we made it!
We have met Dr Bug and Tom the anaesthetists, said a quick hello to Mr Walsh (neuro surgeon), and now it’s just a waiting game until 2ish.
Thanks so much for all your care....xxx