Written 2/1/08
We were encouraged by the social worker at Duke to begin this page, as it will be an easy way to keep everyone updated at the same time. Please don't stop your wonderful, supportive phone calls, as we love these.
As those of you who know us already know, we have recently switched health-care providers from Charlotte to the Robert Preston Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke. I encourage you to visit their website. We are extremely excited about this switch, as we finally feel that we are in capable hands. We feel as if the world has been lifted off of our shoulders, and we don't need to make these crazy, life-altering decisions on our own or uninformed any longer.
For those of you who don't know, Andrew was scheduled for his second brain surgery on Jan. 14th. Both Rick and I were extremely hesitant and scared of this surgery, because of Andrew's experience with his first surgery, and because of our amazing Lord putting fear and hesitation into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. In the last few months Andrew's dizzy spells have increased in number, both at school and at home. He could usually recover from these, by sitting on the floor and waiting for it to pass. Unfortunately, right before Christmas vacation, Andrew had a bad spell at school, which he was unable to recover from. Rick picked him up from school, and during vacation, Andrew got progressively worse, finally unable to walk at all.
Andrew was extremely ill, unable to walk, and spending his days at work with Rick, using his wheel-chair for mobility. This is why we agreed to the surgery, which his surgeon had been trying to get us to agree to for some time. On Jan. 11th, 3 days before his scheduled surgery, Andrew got out of his wheel-chair and went outside to play at the shop (Rick's car-lot). The next day, while home with me, Andrew went outside to play basket-ball with Brooke, where he spent most of the day. The following day, Jan. 13th, we went to church, where our pastors and elders annointed Andrew with oil, and we laid hands on him to pray for healing, and a succesful surgery. Andrew later told us that little Joshua's idea of laying hands was to repeatedly push on Andrew's cheek with his little fist.
That eventing, at home, Andrew was dancing in the living room, while Rick and I looked on in amazement. These three days were extremely hard on Rick and I, as we battled the Doctor's advice with what we were witnessing. We talked, we prayed, we cried, we laughed, we fought, and we prayed some more. Sunday night, we spent over an hour in the car (where we have most of our adult conversations. The only place out of ear-shot) parked in our own yard, and tried to put into words what we both were feeling. Monday morning, the day of Andrew's surgery, we woke up at 4:oo am, both of us praying for clarity. We got Andrew ready, and loaded him into the car. while on route to the hospital, we came to an agreement. We knew what we had to do.
When we got the hospital, at our scheduled time to begin the anesthesia process, we told the receptionist we were cancelling the surgery. After speaking with the doctors, knowing we were doing this against medical advice, we gathered all of Andrew's medical records and MRI's and headed up to Duke, not even knowing how to get there. TGF verizon navigation option on our cell-phone. When we showed up at Duke, without a referral or appointment, crying for them to take our records, we know how we must have looked. When we called our family and friends, we know how we must have sounded.
They granted our appointment! The two week wait was agonizing. Fortunately as you may know, when we finally got our appointment, all of our prayers were answered. We were told that the cyst on Andrew's tumor had imploded, and that if we had gone through with the surgery, the results would have been devastating! Thank-you Lord Thank-you Lord. Thank-you Lord.
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
About Us
Contact: iamdoodlebelle@gmail.com
We are a blended family with 7 children, one of whom has a brain tumor. The DoodleBelle's are: Heidi, Kyley 11, Rainia 9, Jacob 5, and Joshua 5.
The Big Mac's are: Rick, Brittney 13, Brooke 13, and Andrew 10.
We are so glad that we have eachother, and God, love, joy, humor, and fun are what get us through this crazy life of hospitals and treatments, step-family issues, financial hardship, and parenting such a large family.
I, (Heidi, a single mom) and Rick (a single dad) met when I bought a car from him in April 2003. We dated for some time, and decided to introduce our children. The kids hit it off immediately, enjoying eachother's company and loving doing things together. Throughout this time, Andrew was sick, getting severe headaches, and losing weight. Rick took him to many doctors and hospitals, who kept saying that Andrew was upset over his mother, who struggles with mental illness. Andrew got progressively worse, having vision problems, refusing to eat and vomiting after every meal. Finally Rick got a doctor to refer him for a CT scan. This was August 8th, 2006. The next day, Andrew was in emergency surgery to remove the huge (baseball size) tumor that was growing on his brainstem.
When Andrew awoke, he was paralized on his right side. He had a trachiostomy, and a feeding tube. He had a permanent shunt put in to drain excess fluid on the brain. Andrew struggled in the PICU for three weeks. When finally able, he was transfered to the hospital's rehab center, where he finally after two months, through shock treatments, gained back the use of his gag reflex, allowing him to swallow food.
Throughout this time, Rick never left Andrew's side. Brooke and Brittney, Rick's daughters, moved in with me and my four children. Still unable to walk, without the use of his right arm or left eye, Andrew was released on Oct. 17th, 2006. Because he needed homebound school services and intense rehab three times per week, I quit my job at Rick's car-lot where I was working, so that I could take care of him, and Rick could return to work. Rick and Andrew moved in with what had become the seven of us, making nine.
Andrew rapidly learned to walk, and returned to school in Jan. 2006. He continued to have PT and OT, through the school, and through private practice. How wonderful he did, until the tumor started to grow again. Andrew had 28 rounds of radiation-treatments in March and April of 2007. Unfortunately, around this time a cyst began to form on his tumor, creating more and more pressure on his brain, bringing us to the first update entry.
Oh-Yeah, plus we are engaged as of Christmas Eve, 2007.
We are a blended family with 7 children, one of whom has a brain tumor. The DoodleBelle's are: Heidi, Kyley 11, Rainia 9, Jacob 5, and Joshua 5.
The Big Mac's are: Rick, Brittney 13, Brooke 13, and Andrew 10.
We are so glad that we have eachother, and God, love, joy, humor, and fun are what get us through this crazy life of hospitals and treatments, step-family issues, financial hardship, and parenting such a large family.
I, (Heidi, a single mom) and Rick (a single dad) met when I bought a car from him in April 2003. We dated for some time, and decided to introduce our children. The kids hit it off immediately, enjoying eachother's company and loving doing things together. Throughout this time, Andrew was sick, getting severe headaches, and losing weight. Rick took him to many doctors and hospitals, who kept saying that Andrew was upset over his mother, who struggles with mental illness. Andrew got progressively worse, having vision problems, refusing to eat and vomiting after every meal. Finally Rick got a doctor to refer him for a CT scan. This was August 8th, 2006. The next day, Andrew was in emergency surgery to remove the huge (baseball size) tumor that was growing on his brainstem.
When Andrew awoke, he was paralized on his right side. He had a trachiostomy, and a feeding tube. He had a permanent shunt put in to drain excess fluid on the brain. Andrew struggled in the PICU for three weeks. When finally able, he was transfered to the hospital's rehab center, where he finally after two months, through shock treatments, gained back the use of his gag reflex, allowing him to swallow food.
Throughout this time, Rick never left Andrew's side. Brooke and Brittney, Rick's daughters, moved in with me and my four children. Still unable to walk, without the use of his right arm or left eye, Andrew was released on Oct. 17th, 2006. Because he needed homebound school services and intense rehab three times per week, I quit my job at Rick's car-lot where I was working, so that I could take care of him, and Rick could return to work. Rick and Andrew moved in with what had become the seven of us, making nine.
Andrew rapidly learned to walk, and returned to school in Jan. 2006. He continued to have PT and OT, through the school, and through private practice. How wonderful he did, until the tumor started to grow again. Andrew had 28 rounds of radiation-treatments in March and April of 2007. Unfortunately, around this time a cyst began to form on his tumor, creating more and more pressure on his brain, bringing us to the first update entry.
Oh-Yeah, plus we are engaged as of Christmas Eve, 2007.
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