a morning out...

Little Katie being the perfect hostest to helping Abigail and I have some playtime and fun in the sun. Although Abigail wasn't quite as into the mud bath as little Katie was she still looked adorable all messy and muddy.

The Bit helping to entertain and amuse little Anabelle while she dried off in her birthday suit. The cute little dance had that baby giggling!

I mean....she got into it didn't she!?

Abigail's been ready since January to put her bathing suit back on, she's such a summer bunny

She didn't look that happy in these pics but she really was having fun.....until mommy and Mr. Chris chased her down w/ the hose. :)

Well we've had a good week. Brian's doing well, still taking it slow and having some trouble w/ vision and tasting. His energy is slowly improving but we have a way's to go. He's not in any pain which is wonderful! No more head aches!! And off the percocet, which had been entertaining and made for some....interesting conversations let me tell you!! My boy's a wee bit of a cheap date. :) Abigail and I are still just trying to help him w/ the little things and keeping the house quiet so he can rest and relax. Soooo, er go the out side pictures at "Kayyydee's house" to get us out into some sunshine and playtime this past Sunday. Chris and Natalie let us come up and relax on the old porch for a few hours which just felt good to us both.

We are getting there...

Well Brian's doing remarkable still. He has been up a couple times this morning, even a little walk to the mailbox to see the beautiful flowers that welcomed us home this week. His incision looks great and we'll get those stitches out on Sunday. Folks have been wonderful to help us out with the Bit who is having to be more quiet then she's used too. This morning she tip toed around like Ace Ventura through the den while "Daddy [was] sweeping!". She whispers like a sensitive adult and I just can't believe how she's both grasping and helping with this process. Her first words this morning were "Mommy how's Daddy doing this morning??". She's so sweet.

As far as how is systems are doing he's about the same. Some sweet taste buds are firing slowly again. So I've loaded him up w/ little kid cereals and Deana brought over donuts this morning. We'll give him what he can taste if he'll eat it! Hearing about the same and vision about the same. If the vision isn't better beginning of the week next week we'll use our prescription for some occupational therapy to help him adjust and adapt. All in all we're doing good. Our jobs, families and church friends are bringing us meals which is really helping. And like I said folks are helping by taking Abigail out of the house for a few hours each day just so she can be loud and be a kid. Today her Aunti Dee is treating her to her first professional pedicure! All I asked is that she get pictures. :) Thanks still for your continued thoughts and prayers. They are working!!!

An unbelievable week...

there's daddy's little helper w/ our first dressing change

sorry I know it's a little gory to look at but man oh man is that impressive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hadn't seen this yet so you can imagine it took my breath away when I removed the dressing. It was Bri's idea to take the pictures.

Thank you all so much for all your words of love and encouragement on my blog. I've enjoyed reading all of them to Brian over this recovery period. We are home now, which is just incredible I know! But the truth is all they were doing in the hospital was oral medications and allowing rest. I can do that here and keep him much cleaner and at less risk for getting an infection. The more time he spent in that busy unit w/ MRSA patients everywhere the higher risk he was to pick something up. All in all though we really had incredible care at UVA. We couldn't have been more pleased w/ the hospital and it's staff. Every nurse, aid and even our docs were just so sweet and compassionate. The neuro surgeon came around eventually and the truth is we really don't care about his bedside manor, just that he's good w/ a knife inside the skull right?!? Brian's up and recovering because he's a skilled surgeon and God was with him in that OR. Sooooo, Brian is loving his new staff of "the best looking 2 nurses he's ever seen" w/ me and the Bit taking over his care. :) We got home yesterday afternoon and had an uneventful commute which was a God send. He slept for most of the evening and has been comfortable on his own couch ever since. His pain's doing great, his vision is slowly improving but will take time and his taste buds are well still about the same. He's just learning things that have some flavor. He has said he has some fleeting echo sensations in that left ear which we are encouraged by that he's hearing some voices at all although distorted. We'll see, time will tell. They told us at least a week for the swelling to go down and we can have any idea what may be left. His spirits are so much more up now then before and as we speak he's answering a morning assessment questionnaire w/ a Bit on his belly and watching what he can see of Fox News. Good mental picture huh!? I'm enjoying it too. :) Abigail is being so precious and gentle w/ him. She just loves to sit and snuggle up next to him. She'll bring him his little cup of meds and a drink when I hand them to her. And in a minute we are going to do her first dressing change. What a nurse she is already! So thanks again for all of you who have carried this with us. It's meant a lot to read your thoughts and know we had so much support through this. Brian and I love you all lots and want you to know we thank God for our sweet friends and family!!!!!!!

Boy does God work fast!!

can you believe this guy!?!


Well we not only are enjoying our private room now but my incredible husband walked to it himself!!!! He not only walked to it himself he stopped just short of his chair to do the conga dance the last few steps. And yes I bawled like a baby from the shock. I can't believe how well he's doing, it's just amazing. His vision is improving through the morning. He is just going to have to retrain his brain from the difference in his visual acquity on right side vs his left. They said occupational therapy is going to come by to talk to him about some therapy he can do now and maybe see someone back in Roanoke when we get home. Well we feel like a new family from 8:30 this morning to now. Brian's had a bed bath and a change into normal clothes. He's looking and acting like his old self again. We are much happier now so thanks for the morning prayers. They worked!!! Love you guys.

well it's a new day and a new set of challenges today. Brian got moved finally out to the main floor last night. Deana and I spent the night in the H. house and slept good. But Brian's having a hard time resting now which is NOT acceptable, d/t his wandering roommate. Brian looks good and his pain is really doing good today. His big issues are, he's exhausted since his roomy either had his TV blarring all night or was wandering over into bri's side of the room. Grrr. Don't worry, Deana and I are all over this!!!!! I've spoken w/ the nurse and she said the charge nurse is working on the problem. Also a wonderful news is the residents rounded on Brian early and told him if he continues to do well they may discharge him as early as tomorrow! Again, Deana and I are all over that. If Brian just needs quiet clean rest and oral pain meds we can soooooo do that at home. Brian's a little frustrated at his dizziness and double vision but that will hopefully improve with time. Also he has some numb taste buds which are also frustrating him but again, hopefully temporary. At least he suffered through the bacon on his tray anyway. :) We'll let you know what happens but pray they get crazy old Joe next to us either tied down or moved and that we'll be able to help Brian get ready to go home so he can sleep! Love you all. Alli

Well here ya go folks, this should make you feel better. Look at that good lookin man!!!! He has done incredible this afternoon. His pain is so much better. He got some steroids on board and some muscle relaxers to help w/ the stiffness in his neck and he's doing a lot better. So far miraculously no nausea still! We've given him some meds a few times to head it off but it's not been yet cause he felt nauseated per say. His big hurdle this evening is his dizziness. He says the room just spins and he has some double vision in his distance vision but other then that he's done great. The little stinker even surprised us an hour ago and got up to a chair and sat for a while. Talk about stubborn, we had our big male nurse, a physical therapist, me and Deana all to help him and he scooted stubbornly w/o any help. Got to love that strong will. He didn't stay long in the chair before the spinning room got old but he did great w/ moving. I was proud as peach of him (shown above). He's out like a light again now but it's ok, we told him he completed his exercise regimen for today so he can pass out for the rest of the night now. We're still waiting on a room in the step down unit. There just aren't any beds available yet. They warned us that he might have to share a room which sucks but we'll deal. We did get a visit by Dr. Hashisaki this morning which I was SOOOO greatful for. He talked to him about the surgery and some options if his hearing is as damaged as we suspect. It was good to see an official face. Then for the most part Brian's slept for most of the day. I know many of you have fussed for me to rest, I'll get there. Maybe tonight, we'll see what kind of nurse and room he gets. If he's in a good situation I may go back to the H. house tonight to get some sleep. But I won't leave him if he gets a groaning granny or a crackpot nurse for the night. There's another prayer request for ya. I've talked to the Bit a couple times today. She's having a blast and doesn't seem to mind the long stay at smith mt lake....big shocker with all that sunshine, candy and Mickey Mouse clubhouse to boot. Thanks to mom and dad for making that part of this week that much easier. It helps to not have to worry about that one anyway. Well, I'm going to curl up in my chair here and catch a snooze for a while. Hope you all feel a little better after hearing some positives. It was a good day. Love you all. Alli

morning

Hello everyone, here we are post op day 1 officially now. Brian is doing great. His pain is much more under control now. He just dozes a lot then wakes up for more medicine. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to call out or take any of your calls. We aren't allowed to have cell phones we can only do text messaging while in ICU. As soon as I speak w/ his surgeon I will step out and make some calls. I just am scared to miss his call if I tie my phone up. The ding dong hasn't spoken to me yet since the surgery which is pretty poor. I've only heard from his 2nd yr resident on a 3 minute phone call. Our nurse today said he's going to take care of it and make sure I get a call soon from him. I'd kinda like to know what he did in my husbands skull for 8 hours!!! So back to the boy, he's doing much better this morning. He did ok through the night. It was a long night for both of us. His blood sugar went up (they say that's normal) and w/ his hourly sugar checks and hourly neuro "who and where are you" checks and his hourly pain administration it was a busy night. We had a precious nurse so THANK you for praying for that one. We have another good one today so we've had great nursing care. We are just waiting on a bed now and they'll move us to a normal neuro unit for the rest of his recovery. They said it might be a while we just have to wait for a bed to come available. Brian's spirits are ok today. He's very alert when his Fentanyl wears off, post dosing he's pretty groggy and gets to sleep. He's disappointed about the loss of hearing I can tell. None of the docs here are addressing it, they are more excited that they saved the facial nerve which is very important but Bri needs to address the hearing at some point. Its a big loss that we need to talk about.
Ok, well half way through this his neuro surgeon called me finally. Good report. He said it all went well on his end. He said the tumor they left behind is so small a lot of times it will go ahead and die on it's own and never need anymore intervention other then annual screenings to monitor it. He said the pain Bri's feeling and where is normal. He said the spinal fluid will leak out some during surgery and air gets around the brain and will cause that frontal pain but it should deminish quickly. So that's good. Ok, I know this post is sketchy and scatter brained but that's where my brain is today. :) I have some calls to make now so thanks again and love you all.

I got my squeeze!!!

Well he's out and in the ICU now. He looks wonderful , like a million dollars to me! A little pale but otherwise really good and much better then we expected. He lost only 50 EBL from surgery which is pretty good. His big issue is pain. The stinkers don't want to give him pain meds cause they don't want him to be sleepy....grrrrr!!!!! They are only allowing 50 of Fentanyl every hour. My L&D buddies know that's weak!!!!!!! His nausea is so far only from the intense pain so I guess that's good. We thought he'd be spinning and pukey from what they did. His wit is intact, he's smiled at me and is even a little sassy. His dressing looks ok, not too bad. I think if they can fix this pain he'll be good. They are going to let me stay overnight and the chair even leans back a little. I'll be peachy. I'm soooo much better now after seeing him. We can't take or make cell phone calls from in here but I can text so some of you may hear from me tonight. They told me not to expect for him or me to sleep. Because they worry about swelling they have to wake him hourly to check if he knows where he is...(that's where he's getting sassy). :) Thanks so much for all of you who carried this with us today. Wow, what a day! God got us through and after a few more days hopefully he'll be well on his way to his old self. I promise to give him some smooches from everyone who's cared and prayed for him today. Love to you all and probably this is it for tonight. Deana and Christine are heading out here in a minute. Keep the prayers coming for this booger to recover quickly, good night and God bless.

scoop from Neurologist #1.....

Ok I just spoke w/ the Otoneurologist, they are close to finishing up. They should start to close here soon which will take an hour. He seems to think he'll be able to be visited by 6 o'clock. Brian's doing well. He was pretty sure they weren't able to save his hearing in the left ear. He said the tumor seemed larger then originally thought, it was nearly an inch in diameter. They were able to remove most of the tumor but will be leaving some behind that is wrapped around his facial nerves. They are pretty certain that the nerve is intact for now d/t the monitoring system they have to check it. He told me the other neurologist will discuss our options of dealing w/ the remaining tumor down the road but probably will treat w/ radiation if it grows. He said Bri may have some temporary weakness on the left side of his face but that should normalize over the next few days. All in all a mostly good report. Brian will be disappointed about the hearing but we'll look at options to help him later. As we hear more reports as surgery comes to a close we'll post more.

update

ok, the latest word is about the same as the last. I just spoke w/ a nurse and she said same thing, still ok, still no where near done but no problems as of now. We're doing fine. I'm a little tired but we're hanging in there. I tried to get her to give me even a guess as to how much longer, all she said was "a while". Thanks for hanging in here w/ us gang. Long day for sure but I'm glad Dee and Christine are here w/ me. I'll get the good update when they start to close. She said that takes an hour just to close and maybe the surgeon will call me before he's closed but still no clue when that'll be. I'll let you know more when I do.

update

Well we got an update it's not much of an update but it's something. He didn't get started until just after 9 this morning and they said things are 'going as planned and on time'. Whatever that means esp since they've said anywhere from 4-10 hour window. They said they'll try to call again sometime around 2 so I'll try to actually talk to the nurse for that call and get more specifics on how much longer. But technically we're only 3 hours in so we could be a while longer. Hopefully not but at least things are "going as planned" so we'll take that for sure!!! I'll write again once we hear more.

ok we're here and on

Well here we are the start of our long day. Brian is in and going now. He didn't sleep much last night (big shocker) but he was ok. A lovely Waahoo young couple decided to fight out their problems on our hospitality house lawn in the wee hours of the morning and that kept him awake. By some miracle (and a good dose of benadryl) I slept like a log. We had a lovely chilly 10 min walk over to the hospital this morning at 5:30. They got him in and set up w/ his 2 martini's in his IV and we said our 'see you laters' by 8:00. Now we wait. I felt good about his OR nurse. Sounds like the rooms going to have around 8-10 people in there watching and monitoring his nerves and hearing while they mess around. The length of surgery they now say can be anywhere from 4-10 hours so it could be a long one for him. The good thing is he will be oblivious to time now for a good while. It's me and miss Louise and Christine who are in for the wait. The circulating RN was a sweetie and said she'd call me every couple hours to keep me up to date on how he's doing. So for now we are sitting here in this lovely cafeteria (their waiting room sucks!), bellies full of candy and reading smut hollywood magazines. I promise when we hear an update I'll post again. Love you all, Alli

good day

We had a good day today. Got some good information and some details that made us just feel more comfortable knowing what to expect. His surgery will start by 0730 Friday morning and will last 4-6 hours which is better then the 6-8 we had originally thought. Still one night in the ICU (which PTL they told me I get to stay with him in the ICU d/t a new policy, yeah!) then any where from 5-7 days all together before discharge. The big hurdles they warned us of are nausea, (cause the tumor is near the center part of the brain that affects nausea) and stability and pain. He had a more in depth nerve/hearing exam and that lady told him he didn't necessarily have damage already to his hearing organs just an interruption in the nerve communication to his brain from the inflammation around the tumor which could possibly improve once the tumor is removed. Still no certainties of course but there's hope. They said they would remove all the tumor they could safely and what they couldn't they would just leave behind but shouldn't cause him any more problems through the years. They will keep an eye on him w/ it w/ MRI screenings. His and my spirits are up tonight. We're back now with the Bit at my parents house for one last squeeze then off tomorrow night to UVA. Deana is bringing a laptop through the weekend and I found a medical library w/ computers today so I can keep my blog up to date on his status. And we made sure to scout out a suitable place to get a good cup of coffee for his stay which is a big deal for us. God's taking care of all the details isn't He!!??!? :) Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!!!

ok, time to write about this....

(and, no this isn't his MRI but his looked similar to this image I found online, just on the wrong side)

Well most of you know what new and interesting craziness has taken hold of our home this spring season. I waited to post about it cause I just wasn't ready to discuss it openly. Now just for the official annual record that I order of my blog posts we can't leave this one out!! So here's the deal, Brian got diagnosed w/ an Acoustic Neuroma which is a benign tumor that grew behind his auditory nerve in the left side of his brain. We got tipped off after some bad persistent head aches since Christmas this year. A routine CT scan found the tumor in January and it's been a wild ride ever since then to determine treatment options. We are scheduled for surgery this Friday. My sweet mother and sister in law will be there for the event and some of his recovery. They anticipate a 5-7 day hospital stay and an additional 3-4 week recovery once he's home. I'm planning on posting blog updates on his status for a while while I have access to a laptop hopefully. Our spirits are up and we are ready to face this hurdle in our lives head on. God had been so good to us to turn this situation from scary to fixable and He's given us daily strength to handle this trial. We've had our ups and downs but all in all we are ready to get this over with and behind us. We appreciate all your prayers and thoughts as we head into this week. We love our church and our family and friends for all the support we've received. Thanks and we'll keep you posted on how it all goes.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40: 29-31

small group buddies....

This past weekend we had a much long overdue get together w/ our buddies from New Century Church. We've been on a bit of a break after almost the entire group decided to spit out a baby in the past year. We had some laughs pizza and a good prayer time for Brian to complete the evening. It was a great time w/ everyone. Lets do it again soon!!!