Brain surgery and recovery

 
 
 

Well friends,
here are some pics I took of myself, certainly not too flattering, but at least gives you a good "picture" of what I look like today and tomorrow...I take off my crown/ turban tomorrow...my neighbor thought it would be fun to have the neighbor kids come over and do a gentle signing of my head dressing, like a cast. Since the kids are so curious about it, that might make me a little less scary to them. But, really little kiddos are doing great, and Addy was especially relieved to give me a Hello Kitty band-aid for my wrist, that is pretty bruised up from 2 different art lines (you can see my battle wound that I am so proud of) I had in it...it looks way worse than where my IVs were, and since it was not covered up, she was glad to have a job to care for Mommy...and all the kids are doing great with me...very curious about my head, but sweet and gentle too. They are having so much fun with the cousins and playing out on our patio...our new grass was just put in, so that is off limits for a few weeks, but our neighbors are so generous with their backyards.

I am so happy to be home, with carperted floors, access to my bathroom at all hours, dvds to watch and books to read, cookies to eat, and actually feeling good enough to read (and I really am not much of a reader, so I did not think that would be a great recovery activity, walk around the house some, hug my kids, sit on the couch for short periods of time and visit my brother and wife... they are TRUE therapy for my soul. We continue to be brought food in abundance, play dates, friends to walk Maya and play with her. Maya's summer school teacher is even spending some afternoons this week with her, what a blessing! Holly has now "mastered" Maya duty and gave Dean a whole night's rest...I am certain he is so grateful!

I slept well last night and am so happy to not have 2 hour periods of time staring at the ICU walls thinking about everything you never get to think about when you are busy with 3 kids all day and super exhausted.

Tomorrow, I get to see what my head "really" looks like and wash my hair, which seems a bit painful to think about...but then I can move on and figure out how to accesorize my new hair do...hat, bandanas, scarves...any suggestions, I am game...not sure I want to shave my head, but you never know!If I do, I will send out a picture of my new look!

Marty being admitted on Wednesday

So after my appoitnment on Monday I received good and not so great news...nothing horrible. The main dilema my fmaily is facing is that I will be admitted tomorrow morning for a pre-surgical procedure that i am not at all excited about. Apparently on the MRI they found some very obvious blood vessles on my Meningioma, that could cause bleeding complications during surgery if not taken care of. So tomorrow morning I will have a procedure called an Embolization (not sure on the spelling), but it was explained to me that this will be a catheterized procedure that will use some pretty amazing technology to keep these blood vessels from filling my tumor/mass with lots of blood). So this means my hopsital stay is now Wed-Sunday rather than Fri-Sunday, which is okay...family will be here to help with the girls, and lots of friends, and church folks are all pitching in. The girls are in good spirits, Dean is getting some breaks for jogs and errands, and at times I am able to settle down enough to rest...my biggest struggle is to not let the "laundry list" of things to be done, overwhelm my brain and heart. I will wake up early in the morning with a lot on my mind, unable to go back to sleep. With my Mom and Dean here, the kids, and house are in very capable hands...this weekend my sister-in-law will be here to help, so Dean and my Mom can swap hospital time with me. My mom is going to stay here until Dean's parents arrives later this month (they were already planning a visit, so they are coming a few days early...such a huge blessing to us). My friend Emily Bosh is coordinating my schedule and care-needs, so if you want to contact someone, she is who to go through...752-0320. She is doing a fantastic job and sends me an updated schedule daily so I do not need to answer every phone call and e-mail which can get overwhelming. However, if you really want to contact me, e-mail is great, I am on Facebook some, and will try to get Emily or Dean to do e-mail updates. Emily's e-mail address is emilybosh@yahoo.com, if you want to e-mail her to make sure you are on all large e-mail updates. She is so awesome, and wants folks to feel included in all this, as I certainly do not want anyone left "in the dark", but must admitt, even typing, talking on the phone, and dailing phone numbers is hard to do right now. I can get a bit jittery and shaky at times, and even occasional head aches...my medication is great for my pain relief, but is making me rather loopy. Addy wanted me to spin with her fast to music today, and of course I am not quite up to that right now!

We love all the suport and prayers. We are definitley feeling the presence and peace of Christ this week and you all are certianly amazing hands and feet of Christ to us this week, and we so love you all and appreciate each and every one of you!

Prayer Requests:
Marty- patience with hospitalization time, calming my mind, and not going crazy with hourly neorlogical checks on the hour from tomorrow afternoon until Sunday...I assume I will be rather annoyed and exhausted...so fair warning if you choose to visit!

Trust that my kids are in the best possible hands, particularly Maya who I have the hardest time letting go of ( with her care!)

Routine surgery, that the Meningioms is truly on the outer surface of the right frontal lobe of the brain, and is not in the brain at all or looking at all concerning to the Doctor...not likely, but always possible.

Dean-
To get breaks, like jogs, throwing a frisbee, checking in at work, getting a walk with a friend or a kiddo. Keeping up with his summer school program that he facilitates this time of year.

Maya-
Will be well cared for, does not have anything scary happen to her or get sick, which won't scare her, but could be nerve-racking to those caring for her.

Addy-
My very sensitive 2 and 1/2 year old, who is trying so hard with all her strength to make "Mommy feel better"...she really cannot grasp the situation, which may be for the best, but 5 days without mom will be very new to her!

Teya-
Was cut off suddenly from breast feeding, as she cannot have ANY of my medications as they are very strong! So good rest and sleep for her, and me as we transition to "cow milk" and big toddler food!

My mom and Dad-
My mom's back has been bothering her, and we are so hopeful it is not another kidney stone...she has been having trouble with mulitiple kidney stones, and this would just be terrible timing...we are assuming it is more just strain from lifting the gilrs and playing so hard with them, and doing a lot of EXTRAS! She truly is super-grandma, and it is just as hard for her to let go of things as it is for me! My Dad is doing a lot of travel between Tacoma and Portland this week...so safe travels for him.

Our neighbors & church-
Are truly awesome and are helping with meals, caring for the girls, watering the lawn, doing our laundry, our groceries, cleaning the house, and everything you can imagine...our community is such a blessing!

Again, thank you for support, prayers, and love, we feel so well cared for from near and far away and would be a mess without you all!

If you decide to visit me please note:
I will be in the ICU a lot of my hospital stay so they can keep a close eye on me, which is great, however, this means that if you visit, you will be asked to probably come in 1 at a time, without kids, and withou making noise, and withou being at all ill. On Sunday I should be on the floor and able to see people better, but may appreciate the kids staying home:-) I may need an Addy or Maya cuddle, but loud noises have not been fun this week, so I imagine they won't be next week either.

Once I am home:
I will limit my visits to about 20 minutes, not becaus eI do not love you, but becaus eI do not do well keepin ggood boundaries for myself. Also phone calls are best between 9AM and 9PM, and e-mailing, texting (253)720-4176 or 253-677-2388 are best and less overwhelming. I am not the only one in the house that sleeps in right now, and if my kids sleep in, that is a huge blessing to all the adults...and I will have 2 more kids here for the weekend and my brother and his wife, who need their sleep too. Thanks for understanding!

Marty Kelly and Family

I will try to have someone, maybe not, me send out updates either through facebook, my blog here, or Emily will send out an e-mail.

Marty is having surgery on Friday

I sent out this e-mail last Friday so it is a bit over-due...so sorry to those who are feeling out of the loop!

Well, as some of you may know I battled some pretty terrible head aches this past week, and had to drop out of some of my scheduled activities, like VBS on Thursday and Friday (vacation Bible School leading at church), and then Maya's HANDLE evaluation Friday afternoon. This morning (Friday) I had an MRI, since I never get headaches, and the one I was dealing with had lasted for 10 days without relief. I did not enjoy my MRI, and was wheel chaired to my car since my head was spinning, and I had been throwing up some from the headache prior to the MRI. Then, I called my Dr. for follow up and was told to come in and they would fit me in. Then, we received a call from another Dr. office stating that he wanted to see me...they did not say why or what kind of doctor he was, all I overheard was that he was fitting me in after his afternoon surgery...so I gathered he was a surgeon, so I got a bit concerned. They told me to come in at 2:30, so Emily Bosh came and drove me to the appt, while my mother stayed with my sleeping girls. Unfortunately, the surgeon never made it back for my appt. as he was on call...HOWEVER, I really got concerned when I read that he was not only a surgeon, but a Neurosurgeon (not a good sign)...As I told Emily I never thought I would ever enter a neurosurgeon's office, she stated that I could cross this off my "to do before I die list" and I made sure she knew, that this would not have been on my list...maybe finishing a marathon, climbing Mt. Rainier (and those would most likely NOT be on my list either:-) )

So, since the doctor never made it back they sent me to my primary care physician, who explained to me the results to my MRI...since no one had yet. My friends are so great...Emily had to get back to her family, as her daughter would be waking up soon to nurse, and her husband was home watching the kids AND he had pnuemonia. SO, Julie came to be with me when Emily left. So, I have what is called a meningioma (Dean found a few links below so you can read or see what one is). It is attached to the front of my brain and is growing, causing a great deal of swelling and pressure on my brain and giving me massive head aches. The good news is that they are rarely cancerous, the bad news is that because it is growing and causing swelling near my brain, it needs to be removed, which means surgery next Friday!!! EEEKS! I am at a higher risk for seizure because of it, so I cannot drive and I am on some hard core medicine for the swelling to go down, to decrease pain, and to keep me from having seizures.

My medicine has kicked in and I am feeeling MUCH better, but a bit loopy from my pain killers:-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meningioma
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meningioma/ds00901

Tomorrow we have the HANDLE presentation for Maya at the church, and then we will see how to go about next week...Dean is looking at his schedule to see when he can help at home, since I will be on medication, unable to drive, and probably not the greatest play mate for the girls. So if ANYONE wants to play with any of our three girls next week, they would LOVE it! Maya has school Mon-thursday mornings, but Addy and Teya LOVE play dates!!! Addy is abit sensitive right now, so she will most likely bring her binky and blanket along to soothe her, and I will not be pushing the big girl underwear either:-)

Thanks for all the suppport this week, hopefully other than surgery next week will be a bit less dramatic!

Marty

Happy Birthday Maya

Well Miss Maya is officially five years old! I am overwhelmed with joy at how healthy she is at age five. When Maya turned 1, she had just learned how to sit up. At age two she took her first steps, at age 3 she started pre-school, at age 4 she had her first friend birthday party. On Friday, we had a big day and she did great! We did some of her very favorite things. We took her to the Pt. Defiance Zoo where she got to look at the fish in the aquarium...which she loves, and then let her ride the merry go round...another favorite. There is very little that really sparks interest in Maya, so I made sure she had some favorite experiences for her birthday. After a short nap, we had her b-day party with close friends and family at the sprinkler park...a VERY happy place for Maya. It is amazing that she loves it so much...there were a TON of people (which she normally would withdrawl from, and there is a lot of startling water that sprays at you without much notice). Maya just giggles and tries to pull us along with her through the sprinklers. I noticed as a few kids tried to interact with her, which I thought was so sweet...kids who do not know Maya...one tried to give her a toy, and she seemed to never really even see the gesture made by this child. Another girl came up to her, watched her for a second as if thinking "what is this little girl up to?" and then very sweetly said to Maya "Hi, little girl", and of course Maya cannot hear so I explained that to the little girl who just shrugged and walked away.

Maya got to actually experience some of her birthday this year (as opposed to us trying to make it look and feel like a party whether or not she participated much in it)...tastes of ketchup from my hotdog, she LOVED tasting the popcicles Grandma brought for dessert...since cake is not really a good food for her to taste right now. But she sat on my lap and explored her "lemonade" flavored popcicle and proceeded to drip it all over me...I felt really sticky by the end of her popcicle exploration. She even got a few presents that were in bags which made it easy for her to reach in and pull out! Then she got up and started walking around and exploring the grassy field where we picniced. I do hope some day for Maya to actually have interactions with other people at her parties. And, I am certain her favorite part of the day is when her friends gathered around her and signed the "happy Birthday" song...she just smiled and smiled...I know she felt important at that moment.

Happy Birthday to Maya...you are one amazing little 5 year old, and a big year is ahead of you! We are so proud of you and grateful for your health, and your ongoing desire to explore the world around you and teach us all patience, gentleness, and determination.