Update V (didn't publish last night)

We are still at the hospital, and most likely will be going home tomorrow. Yes we have heard this before but we feel like we're really close to getting the pain management figured out. It's frustrating because it was a solution that had been agreed on by a Dr and us some time ago, but was somehow lost in the shuffle of doctors and nurses or stopped by hospital politics. Things went very well throughout the night and Jess's pain was kept In check. Unfortunately early this morning the medications Jess is currently taking all tapered off within 35-40 minutes of each other, and although she took her next round of dosing, her pain had come back too severely for the medication to help. This is one of the main issues facing Jess. The medication's effectiveness is greatly reduced if it is administered while Jess is in a high amount of pain. On the other side, if the meds are administered while Jess is relatively comfortable they make her feel much better and last much longer. There was slight adjustments made to Jess's dosing schedule that we are all very optimistic about. Hopefully this new regiment will be successful throughout the night and she can be released in the morning. She is comfortable right now and as long as we stay on top of the schedule I believe she will remain comfortable throughout the night.

*Special Note From Jess*
Jess wanted me to make sure everyone knows she is having trouble with her words and typing coordination, which is not allowing her to respond to people in person. I will do my best to channel Jess's voice and respond to people, but please forgive my tardiness. Thanks again for all your support.

Update IV

We are still at UCLA and Jess is currently doing very well. Previously there had been talk of her being released this morning, but we are still attempting to gain control of her pain medication. The main issue is that Jess's pain management is dependent upon a drug that is administered through an I.V. In order for Jess to be released she needs to be on a pain management regiment that can be administered in pill form, thus allowing us to administer her medication at home. We attempted to reduce her I.V. medication last night, and ended up in an whirlwind of pain and frustration. I will allow Jess to revisit the ordeal in detail once she regains control of the blog. To sum it up, protests were made, higher ups were talked to and a nurse was barred from entering our room. It was very disappointing and frustrating for Jess's family and I, and extremely painful for Jess. We are now taking a different, more gentle, approach to the reduction/changing of her pain medication. Once we have a successful regiment to control Jess's pain we will be allowed to leave the hospital.

At this point I would like to send out a special thank you to Tia. She is a close family friend to the Oldwyn family and helped guide us through a tough situation last night. You saved Jess a tremendous amount of pain, and for that we will always be appreciative. Thank you.

*Special note from Jess*
Due to my ineffective blogging, I failed to mention that Jess received a "total and complete resection". She wanted to make sure everybody knew that.