Post Op Visit with Dr. Roberts

I have really gotten out of the habit of writing lately. I am really trying to seize every moment that is not complete chaos and sit on the floor and just enjoy my babies. Believe it or not its hard to just put everything aside and sit on the floor and accomplish nothing. I'm trying not to care that things are a mess and that some days we stay in our jammies. This is just one of the many ways that God is working on my over-achieving heart.

Henley had her 8 week post op appointment on Friday with Dr Roberts. For some reason this time Henley was not her normal self around the Dr. She closed her eyes in attempt to be invisible to him when he tried to interact with her. This was the first time for her to see him since being in the hospital so she may be a little gun shy of him for a while. On the other hand we were glad to see him because he has helped change our lives! 

He asked us how she was doing and if we had any concerns. We told him that since surgery she had not thrown up (except for one time that was self induced but I am not counting that one). We said that within a week she started talking twice as much as she had before. She seems happier overall and her walking got somewhat better. Our only main concerns were the fact that she has seemed to complain of some
back pain, foot pain and head pain off and on. In addition to that over the last week or so we have noticed her blinking a lot more when she seems to be concentraing on things. It doesn't sound like a big deal but it seemed to raise an eyebrow with Dr R. He told us to watch the patterns of the blinking and that some blinking episodes could be potential seizure activity.... Fantastic.

He told us to try to wait out the complaints about pain and see if they resolve themselves. If they do not, then at our post op MRI in 6 months they will scan the lumbar spine in addition to the brain and cervical spine. She had all three done in October because we were looking for just about everything at that point. Originally those lower scans were normal, so we will just see if anything changed after the surgery. 

At this point Henley is cleared of the "two feet on the ground" rule. However she will have some lifetime restrictions for things like riding roller coasters and other things that are rough on the head, neck & spine. The Thomas family will sadly never have a trampoline either. Which makes me a little sad because I've been waiting my whole life to have my own kids to buy a trampoline for so that I could jump on it! 

Her next MRI is scheduled for September 5th. Let's hope and pray we just get to do all of her therapies until then and no more crazy hospital visits!

On another note, I really want to thank everyone who has brought food and helped out in some way. You have NO idea how much peace that has brought our family just knowing that we didn't have to plan & prepare a meal one day. I have tried to sit down so many times and write thank you notes to everyone and it just never happens. I am so sorry, so please know we are so grateful for every bit of help we receive!

Thank you most importantly to those of you who have been praying us through this journey. There is no way I could every thank you enough for spending time and energy lifting us up to the Lord. We have truly felt prayed for, and it is so humbling.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!