I’ve put the updates here that I had sent out via text to our family as well as some of my thoughts as I’m processing this journey.

February 23, 2018  We’re here with JoAnn. She slept well last night. Her pain is a little less than yesterday but she also had a reaction to the one kind of pain medication. So they have to find a different one cause she can’t come home on morphine. She had a rash as well as a bit of a fever. They weren’t sure if the fever was from the meds or because of the surgery.
And we just talked to the doc. He is very happy with the MRI results and feels like he got 99% of the enhanced area. He wants another MRI done in 3 months when surgery after effects are gone. The cysts were over the ventricle area which is were the spinal fluid is made that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Because of surgery there is some open areas causing swelling and in time it should reduce and the ventricles close up. If not a shunt will need to be put in. So please pray that the swelling goes done and the ventricles close correctly. She has 26 staples in her incision which will come out in 2 weeks. The doc is not ready to send her home today possibly tomorrow.

February 24, 2018 We’re with JoAnn again. Her pain is better but she has more facial swelling and she’s still rather weak and tired. The nurse said the doc did not put a discharge order in and when she heard JoAnn’s got to go to the 3rd floor at home, she agreed with us that it might be better to keep her another day. So if you could pray for the facial swelling to go down and strength to build up. Thanks for praying.

February 25, 2018 We found JoAnn, 😏 they moved her twice since we were there last night. 😲She had a fairly good night’s rest despite the move in the middle of the night. We were told she could go home. The nurse got all the paperwork and discharge instructions and she got dressed and we are headed home now. Her facial swelling doesn’t seem to be as much as it had although both eyes are a bit swollen instead of just one like yesterday but her forehead isn’t as swollen either. Please continue praying for healing and thanks so much for your prayers.

We are home now and I think she is resting well; it’s hard for little sisters to play quietly especially when they are so excited to have big sister home again. We do have an appointment for the staples to be removed, as well as a check-up in about 2 weeks; as well as needing to schedule another MRI in about 3 months to see what that enhanced area is doing to know what to do from here. Thank you for continuing to pray for us through this journey. As I was processing my emotions the past couple of weeks through all the uncertainty of brain surgery. I had this very real fear that it might not possibly turn out like we hope. (So much so that we did some paperwork taking care of JoAnn’s financial and medical needs if things don’t turn out well.) And it sure didn’t help the early morning check-in paperwork listing all kinds of risks: seizures, coma, along with lots of others, even death. And then the doc says, “And for you, since this is your second surgery, that increases the risks a bit more”. Oh!! be still my heart remember… remember the message of the cardinal. And then to see the cardinal painting in the surgical waiting room. How awesome is our God!! There is no doubt in my heart that Papa God is good and is for me and He is quite okay with my emotions and feelings my heart experiences in these hard, difficult and painful places and times. But what do I do with them, Do I face the pain head-on or do I seek relief? Do I put trust in that paperwork we did or do I choose to trust His heart?

I very much identified with this song “Whatever You’re Doing” by Sanctus Real

Whatever you’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there’s peace
It’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see
but I’m giving in to something heavenly

We talked with her surgeon and he was pleased with how everything went. They took out a softball sized cluster of cysts and as much of an avocado seed sized enhanced area as they safely could. This enhanced area  is what causes the cysts to grow. He also ordered another MRI to check for bleeding which is routine and also to better tell how much of this enhanced area is still there. She is in a fair amount of pain it seems at the moment and is very drowsy but otherwise is doing well. Thank you so much for your prayers.

This is part of the one painting I saw hanging in the surgical waiting area.  I was surprised but I really shouldn’t have been, God is so much more than we can even begin to imagine.  And I couldn’t help but remember seeing the real cardinal in my city backyard and the message I heard that day. God is so good.