A VERY BELATED "Thank You" to our Secret Santa!

Just before Christmas, several packages began arriving at our doorstep for the children. The kids were very excited, as there was no indication who they were from. In the back of my mind, I thought it might be my brother or sister, because I had done this for them last year. Once they denied it, I was really stumped! I asked some relatives and friends, but so far it remains a mystery. Therefore, I'm hoping the mystery person reads this & knows how much we appreciated the thoughtful, surprise gifts!!! Tyler and Alyssa were very excited and love their new gifts :)

The fun never ends!

I followed up with the cataract surgeon on Tuesday and he was very impressed that he saw no signs of infection, as he was worried to go in with my elevated white count. He did say that my vision was still 20/400 and it may become a little sharper in the next month. Unfortunately, it will never be good enough for me to drive again :( I will see my retinal doctor on Friday to see if there are any issues that HE can resolved to help improve my vision.

As for my neurological status, I have officially gone crazy - LOL. I have been experiencing an increase in headaches and muscle aches in my neck and head. Dr. Bendok said that a large part of it is due to the healing of the muscle that they cut through multiple times. He recommended different medication he thinks will relieve the pain.

Regarding my MRI scans of the spine that I had done a couple weeks ago, it describes two new tumors in the brain stem associated with a cyst. When I brought these to Dr. Bendok's attention, he suggested I run it by Dr. McCutcheon (the MD Anderson Dr. who did my surgery) & he also wants me to have another scan done next Thursday, which will include the brain, as well as the spine. Steve sent the report to Dr. McCutcheon and he was very interested to see both scans. We will send both sets of scans to him after my follow up scan next week.

Today I saw plastic surgery and infectious disease. They feel the open cervical wound is starting to heal and should be done in 4-6 weeks. They see no signs of infection, but they did do lab work to see if my white count went down.

Home once again!

Kim came home from the hospital today. She can see MUCH better at a distance than she could prior to the surgery! The odd thing is that now she cannot see as well close-up. The doctors say that it will take approximately a month for her vision to stabilize, so her near vision may improve over time. After a month of recouperation, she can be fitted for glasses. While her vision is definitely greatly improved over what it had been recently, she still has the damage from the macular hole which will never go away... Her vision is approximately 20/400.

Eye surgery went well!

Steve said that Kim's eye surgery this morning went well. Hopefully, when they remove the bandages tomorrow, her eyesight will be much improved!

Cataract surgery this Thursday!

Kim will undergo eye surgery this Thursday (tomorrow - January 21st) to remove her cataract. It will be done at Lake Forest Hospital, where she will stay overnight for observation. While this is a relatively simple & routine procedure, the doctor wants to take extra precautions given Kim's bleeding disorder.

Last week, her white blood cell count was high, so she started taking two different antibiotics. As of Monday, this number was still high, but the eye surgeon has agreed to proceed anyway. They are thinking that perhaps she just has a little virus.

Next week there will be MORE doctors' appointments (neurosurgeon, plastics, infectious disease) at Northwestern Memorial for Kim. She feels like she just can't get away from there! They are continuing to monitor the healing of her neck wound...

Please say a prayer that her eye surgery is successful & complication free! While she will still technically be "legally blind," she is looking forward to a noticeable improvement in her vision!!!

Eye surgery has been scheduled!

I had the drain in my leg removed last Monday. Then, I saw the neurosurgeon and he was still not happy with the amount of drainage coming out of my incision near my neck. I still continue with dressing changes twice a day and there is a wound care specialist that comes 2-3 times a week. I finally started physical therapy at home & hopefully that will relieve a lot of my neck pain and tightness of the muscles. I am no longer using the cane & feel pretty steady on my feet. The highlight this week is that I went to see a cataract surgeon in Lake Forest and got promising news! I am scheduled to have surgery next Thursday, January 21st. He said that I have a very severe cataract, so I should notice a significant improvement in my vision once he replaces the lens. If all goes well, I won't even need glasses for distance anymore. Over the next week, I will be having many more doctor appointments to follow up on my incision drainage issue. Hopefully, they will have some good news and be able to close this hole. After this very busy week, I should be up for phone calls again & would love to reconnect with everyone!

The saga continues...

Brief update from Suzanne - Kim returned home from the hospital on Wednesday night (December 30th). She is still not feeling well & rang in the New Year quietly. Her leg and neck incisions are still not healing properly. She still has the drain in her leg & while it is helping relieve the pressure, recent tests show that the size of the "pocket" where fluid (blood) is collecting is actually getting bigger. There is still fluid gathering near her neck as well. This is clear & they think it may be lymphatic fluid (which is not dangerous). Kim will see several doctors at Northwestern on Monday (January 4th) and hopefully they will come up with a plan. They may admit her AGAIN and give her more platelets to aid in her healing/clotting. We will post again with the outcome from those appointments...