Thursday, August 21, 2008

2:00 pm

Yesterday the Dr's came in with Kirshner. There's a Dr. here from another hospital that has more experience in giving spinals to children who have high intracranial pressure. After reviewing the MRI, he believes that with extreme caution, they can do a successful spinal on Brandon. So in less than an hour, they're going to give it a try. All the Dr's know that Brandon is high risk & hopefully they know what they're doing. We came here so Brandon could have spinals & we're extremely relieved now that they think it is still possible for him to have the procedure. The risks include severe spinal headache, vomiting, & nausea. We told the Dr's that under no condition will they tell us to give Brandon "just Tylenol" if he complains of a headache like before. We want Brandon to be as comfortable as possible & we do not want him traumatized by having the spinals. The Dr's have agreed to give him something stronger if needed. So we have our fingers crossed that this will be successful. I think several of the parents are planning a trip to Jimo again on Sunday so that will give us something to do. Almost everyone on the 8th floor will be heading home soon. Tami & Tyler leaves tomorrow - I'm happy for them but will miss them dearly. Miles & his dad leave Monday - Savannah & her family will be leaving Thursday. Kameron & her mom leaves a week from tomorrow. Then Corey & his dad Mark leaves right after them. How sad!! We have gotten to know all the families here so it's literally like one big family here. I never thought I would ever say it but I've gotten used to the smell. The first week here was horrible & we were ready to come home just because of it. Now we're getting tired of eating the same things. Pizza & chicken. Pizza for lunch, chicken for dinner. Sometimes we have pizza AND chicken together. Last night I had chicken & John had pizza (Brandon found brownies at the RT Mart so he's happy to eat those for dinner). I ordered smoked chicken last night and when I saw it, I was scared. It was kinda slimy and glazed with something. I asked Tami if she would like to try it so we had a stand off on who would try it first. She went first and since she didn't fall down dead, I figured it would probably be ok. It was brown meat (someone thought it looked like duck). It tasted "okay" not great. I ate one piece and half of another before I gave up. I just couldn't fool my body into believing it was chicken or that it was good. So today for lunch we had.....pizza. Tonight.....pizza. If we never look at pizza again it will be too soon. I would normally make Brandon eat something healthier than brownies for dinner however that's probably the safest thing for him to eat here so until we get back home, brownies it is!! Well 30 minutes before he has the spinal so I need to go & get everything ready. I'll update on how things are going afterwards - hope everyone back home is well. Sorry I haven't been doing individual e-mail very often. It really has been hectic here. I'll try to do better!! Photos: 1st - Brandon & the nurses today as they start his IV bag. 2nd - Brandon & John go walking around the 8th floor before the spinal treatment. After the treatment he has to stay on his back for 6 hours so we try to get him tired before the treatment. 3rd - A few of the parents out in the day room ~ the famous comfy orange sofas. 4th - The door to our "home" 5th - John & Brandon hanging out on his bed before treatment today.




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