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, August 11, 2010

She's Out: Take Four

Dr. Miller just came out and said that Tina is all done and everything went very well. She's got all the hardware out and the bone is back in. Please pray that they would be able to work it out so that Tina can go back up to the EMU for recovery. Normally they would send her to the Neuro Surgical Unit (NSU) and then to a step down unit after her surgery, but given the fact that she has been given her own PO box in the EMU, everyone is pulling for her to go there for her recovery and then be discharged directly from there. It all depends on bed availability in the EMU but the neurologists, the surgeon, the nurses, and the EEG techs are all trying pull the strings to get her back there.

One of the head nurses told me last week that the best thing to do was to leave all our stuff all over the room when we left for surgery and not come back until Tina was done with surgery. If our stuff is still in the room they can't clean it and if they can't clean it they can't move another patient in, so that's what we did - it's a way to work the system.

As of right now Tina will be in recovery for a couple more hours and then will be moved either to the EMU or the NSU and as soon as she's strong enough and feeling well enough we'll be out of here. For now I'm not speculating on when that might be but we're hopeful that it will be sooner than later.

Thanks for your prayers, and we would ask that you continue to do so in the days and weeks to come as Tina recovers and as we come to grips with the results of this untraceable path we've been walking for the past month.
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8 comments:

Christa said...

God is good all the time; all the time, God is good! We love you!

August 11, 2010 at 11:22 AM
Anonymous said...

In II Corinthians 12:9 it says "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" We pray while Tina is recovering that she will find strength in Him and He will make her strong.

Thanks for sharing this journey with us.

Praying for you both and the children.

Ron and Shelia V.

August 11, 2010 at 11:28 AM
Dana Linderer said...

Thanks for the update. We are praying for you both.

August 11, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Dana Linderer said...

Thanks for the update. We are praying for you both.

August 11, 2010 at 12:23 PM
linusvpelt said...

Glad things went well. I know that about now you have one thing on your mind - getting home to see your kids. However, as you read back over your blog the past few weeks I hope God reveals to you how you were used by Him to bring Him glory during a time of great testing. I thank you for your friendship, but most of all for both of your character and perseverance. You have been used Greatly of God to impact and renew my faith and I suspect that of many others as well.

Mrs. V, That is the very same passage God gave me this morning. I shared it on my FB page.

August 11, 2010 at 1:02 PM
the Hunters said...

Thanks for the update, praying for you and your bride.

August 11, 2010 at 2:45 PM
Anonymous said...

Looking forward to seeing you soon. Praying for a quick recovery and safe trip home.

Jennifer and Dan

August 11, 2010 at 8:58 PM
Anonymous said...

Matt and Tina,
we are praying for a quick recovery for Tina and a safe (and soon) trip home for you guys! We love you!!

G-Dude and Kathy

August 11, 2010 at 11:28 PM

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