Tuesday, November 25th was a very momentous day. It began with Johanna and I in MCH awaiting the arrival of all the family members who were in Florida driving across the state to Miami. Jon and the family at our house had to stop on the way to pick up an MRI that Johanna had done in Cape Coral in July. The team at MCH wanted to compare it to the ones they had just done to see if there was a change or if all this seizure activity was showing on the earlier test. Jon called to say that Joel and Kelsey were coming for the day. I was amazed but happy that our family would be together. They actually arrived first and brought Johanna a get well balloon. When Jon, the children, Nathan, Hannah, their two girls and Katie arrived I just scooped up my little Lydia and she and I delivered the MRI cd to neurology. She clung to me and I clung to her. I missed her so much and she sure filled that ache in my heart for her. After that we all spent the next 3 hours together just enjoying the fellowship. The surgery before Johanna's ran an hour late so they did not take her until 2pm. But up till that time we all ate, talked, laughed, and loved on each other. Of course Johanna could not eat, but she never complained. I wish we had taken a group photo around her bed, and one of Johanna being wheeled away, but we never thought of it. Fortunately Katie did take some so here are a few she snapped.
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| Katie and Johanna just before surgery began |
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| Johanna being wheeled away to surgery |
There is a wonderful family center where everyone went. Jon and I went down to pre-op with Johanna and finished up the process with her. We rejoined the group in the family center and had a very relaxed, comfortable time. They called me just before 4pm to say that they had just made the first incision. Cell phones are great! It made it unnecessary to wait in the waiting room, making it much easier to relax. The younger family members played video games, read, colored on the tables (covered with blackboard paper), watched a movie, took a nap in a wagon, etc., while the older members talked, watched the children, drank coffee, watched the Duggars on TV, and fellowshipped together. Right around 8pm Dr. Hyslop came to find us in the family center and told us the surgery went very well. They were uncertain whether they would get to do the surgery, or if they would just place electrodes on the surface of her brain to determine exactly where to cut. But, the area was "continuously seizing" and the surgeon, Dr Bhatia, resected it. After placing the electrodes on there was still some seizure activity, so he resected a little more and then the area was "quiet." Doctor Hyslop even took photos of the area with her phone and showed us the entire side of her brain, and then one where they held up a tape measure where they had cut. The entire portion they took out only takes up the first segment of my thumb. We were overjoyed. Praise God for answering the, literally, hundreds of prayers being said for her that day all over the country and the world. One friend shared the request with some believers in Ukraine and they prayed for Johanna. God was so merciful to us all. We felt the peace that passes all understanding.
Due to shift change of nurses, we never did get in to post op, but the PICU nurse told us she woke up crying. My heart certainly broke for her then. They gave her morphine for pain and she went to sleep. We finally caught up with her just after she arrived in PICU. All the family members who were age 12 and older got to go see her, 2 at a time, before they left, including our dear friends from Miami, Steve and Kathy Hills. They all left around 10:30pm for the long drive home. I stayed in PICU again. It was very noisy and she was getting lots of medicines every couple hours, so that did not allow much sleep for me. She had anti seizure meds, pain meds, antibiotics, steroid for swelling, and Zantac to protect her stomach from the steroid. She got sick to her stomach from the high dose of steroid. For the next 3 days she could not keep anything down, again. Once the steroid was decreased from 5mg to 2 mg, then she could eat, which began on Friday.
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| Johanna and Abby headed to the playroom on Friday |
She was moved back up to the third floor in the neurology department on Wednesday afternoon. Thanksgiving she spent resting and then playing for 4-5 hours on the big WII that was brought in for her (physical therapy). There was a Catholic church that had a large group of high school and college age kids who volunteered to bring Thanksgiving meal to those in the hospital. I was one of the blessed ones to receive that. Another volunteer had brought in a big poster with Johanna's name painted on it the day before and taped it on the wall, so I had all the volunteers sign it. Later Thanksgiving day Jon, Katie, and Abby drove over and spent the next days and 2 nights with us in Miami until we were discharged to go home on Saturday. Abby was good medicine for Johanna and the two of them giggled and played WII for hours. When Johanna finally got the big turban bandaging off her head, we were able to wash her hair and let her go to the playroom for the first time since we arrived there. For one reason or another she could not get there, between being too drugged up, being on video EEG, having a test done in radiology, waiting for transport that never came, etc. We were determined that this last day we would indeed get there. The photo of the the back of the two sisters walking down the hall is them heading to the play room. Because it was Black Friday, they gave each of the girls Monopoly money to "shop." Abby selected a car (remote controlled) and a watch. Johanna selected a remote controlled truck and some earbuds. Both girls were able to select a pillow case too and they both chose cute Christmas/winter scene ones. They are both using them.
The two nights the 3 stayed over, we were privileged to use a one bedroom apartment that are made available through MCH if a family has a child in the hospital. Our friends that we met while waiting for the injection before the spect scan let us stay in the unit that they had rented for the week. I took the opportunity to let Katie stay the last two nights in the hospital with Johanna, as she was pretty stable, and slept for two nights without a nurse coming in to dispense medicine or take vitals. That was really nice.
Going home almost did not happen as we had to have authorization to fill one of our prescription drugs, which is extremely expensive. The insurance office was closed. The social worker found a Walgreens that would fill it and turn in the paperwork on the following Monday. At last we were able to leave around 2:30pm on Saturday. Joel and Kelsey had prearranged to bring pizza for our homecoming so they arrive just after we did and we all enjoyed pizza. The next day we celebrated our Thanksgiving. First we went to church, then had a family photo with every member of the family present for the first time since Nathan and Hannah's wedding in 2009. Our neighbor took them for us and we took one of the best ones to use for Christmas cards. Johanna is just 5 days after surgery here.
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| Blikstad Family, November 30, 2014 |
We have so much to be grateful for. God had mercy on us and answered so many prayers. Praise the Lord!
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