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.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

She's In: Take Two

No sooner did I call my and Tina's parents to let them know that surgery would be later today rather than this morning, than did the nurse inform us that transport was on their way up to get Tina for surgery. She is in surgery now and it will likely go about 4 - 5 hours. This time there is no need to do an MRI prior to the surgery so that should cut down on the total time but the actual surgery will be about the same length as the last surgery. At this point I'm unsure how long she'll be in recovery but they are saying that if all goes well she'll go directly back to the EMU from there.

Tina is in good spirits this morning and feels like she's actually slept pretty well the last few nights - which is a good thing because she'll likely be going through another sleep deprivation later this week. It is truly amazing the amount of peace that she has had through this whole thing. I'm probably more anxious about this stuff than she is and I'm not the one getting my brain cut out, but in the end we all know that when it comes to medical stuff I'm a complete wimp.

We would once again ask for your prayers for Tina as she undergoes this surgery. We feel confident that it will go well and that God would provide his hand of protection upon her, but it is a bit more serious than the last one given the fact that this time they're popping the lid off... I mean removing a section of her skull, and so we would ask for your prayers as the surgeon performs this procedure.

I can not express enough gratitude for everyone who is praying for Tina, we have certainly felt carried along by the Holy Spirit as we have spent this past week in Cleveland on our own. We are thankful for good friends who have made the sacrifice to travel to Cleveland to spend time with us as well as Tina's friend from Newaygo who now lives down here and surprised her with a visit last night, but in the end being so far away from home has been difficult for Tina. All the same, we have felt God's presence in our lives, and have not felt alone.

Please pray and I'll keep you posted.
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3 comments:

Kathryn Jones said...

Grateful for the peace that Tina has! Praying for the same for you, Matt. I sometimes think it's harder to be the one who loves the patient than to actual be the patient. Praying for my dear friends!!

Kath

July 21, 2010 at 10:27 AM
Brenda Jefferis said...

I just prayed for you and your family this morning, Tina. I'm thinking that the dear friend who visited you may have been Jill. If so, what a blessing I'm sure she was to you guys and I hope it lifted your spirits. I will continue to hold you all up in prayer.

Brenda (another friend from FBCN)

July 21, 2010 at 11:15 AM
the Hunters said...

Popping the lid off?????? Matt you're killing me... praying for you guys... salt and light, salt and light...
Jeralyn, the PT who works with people who have lid damage.

July 21, 2010 at 10:24 PM

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