Untraceable Paths: The Day After

Early Easter morning, four and a half years ago, life for our family changed forever. I awoke to the sound of an otherworldly noise and Tina’s body convulsing uncontrollably. That event began us onto a path where we would discover that Tina was suffering from late onset Epilepsy. That path would include long periods of Tina being home-bound and a non-stop roller-coaster of trying to figure out which medications would strike the best balance between controlling her seizures but also limit the debilitating side-effects of chronic fatigue and loss of focus – that effort has only been marginally successful.

On July 14th 2010, our path took another turn when Tina underwent a five week long surgical procedure where doctors at University Hospitals in Cleveland Ohio implanted multiple electrodes into her brain in the hope that this would allow them to locate the spot in her brain that is responsible for her seizures and then surgically remove that spot in an attempt to control her seizures without medication. Unfortunately after 3 surgical attempts to locating this seizure focus, the clock ran out and the risk of continuing this procedure became too great, so they removed all of the electrodes, and sent her home with very little to show for our 5 weeks in the hospital.

When we left Cleveland two summers ago we couldn't imagine that we would go back anytime soon. Those five weeks in the hospital were very disappointing for Tina and difficult for our kids. However, over the course of the last year and a half, Tina's seizures have become progressively more frequent, and medications have become progressively less effective at controlling her seizures. So, after consulting with Tina's neurologists, it is clear that we are in for yet another turn in the path of life.

We will once again be making the trip to University Hospitals in Cleveland, and on Wednesday January 11th, Tina will once again undergo the same procedure to implant electrodes in her brain to monitor seizure activity in the hope that they can determine the physical location of her seizures and surgically remove it.

This is not a path that we went looking for nor did we anticipate how sharply our lives would change literally over night when four and a half years ago these seizures began. There have been days when we have wondered as to why these things were happening and what God was up to in this. What we have learned is best summed up by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Rome where he said that the paths that God lays out for us are "beyond tracing out." We may not understand this path or where it’s leading us, but what we do know is that we would rather follow God’s untraceable path than to follow any path we could lay out for ourselves. This blog is our attempt to bring others along with us as we walk along God’s untraceable path.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Day After

After almost 10 hours of sleep last night I'm feeling much better. Unfortunately the one that matters didn't sleep so well. Much like the night before surgery the night after surgery is constantly interrupted to make sure that all is well. Fortunately Tina's been able to get a couple of good naps this afternoon.

Tina is in more pain that the previous two surgeries, but I guess that the trade off for not having to remove more of her skull is worth it. (Easy for me to say.) We spoke to the neurologist this morning and once again they are extremely hopeful that Tina will be able to have surgery for her seizures and that the surgery will result in Tina not just reducing her seizures but ending them altogether with no adverse residual effects. However, as before, they cannot proceed with surgery until her brain has produced a series of seizures that show very precisely where her seizure focus is centered in her brain. Once again we would ask for your prayers that Tina would have the seizures necessary to do just that. I am confident that much of the success that we have seen thus far with Tina's seizures are a result of so many faithfully lifting her up in prayer.

We are excited about Tina's parents coming down to Cleveland for a bit. They are due to arrive sometime this afternoon. It will be good to spend time with them and to enjoy their company. I think Tina is getting sick mine being the only familiar face to look at.

2 comments:

Marcia said...: As always we continue to pray. Hoping Tina has a seizure yet tonight, and this journey will be almost over. Tell Tina to hang in there the end is in sight!!!!; July 27, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Mike said...: Saw Patti's email this morning. Praise the Lord! We love you guys. Praising the God of the Universe that He is still in the miracle business!; July 28, 2010 at 6:39 AM

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