Feet In The Sand.

We had another successful night of keeping Jess's pain to a minimum. She's getting good sleep, even if its only in three hour segments. Today Jess went on her first walk outside of the hospital. She was determined to get to the beach and get her feet in the sand. The beach is roughly one half block away but I've seen Jess run 10K's with more ease. It definitely wore her out but she was very excited to accomplish it. Unlike the hospital, the sidewalk and sand required much more concentration and dexterity. She was napping within 20 minutes of getting back. It is a delicate line between beneficial rehabilitation and overworking to the point of detriment. Having gone through a similar, if not more severe, situation with the first surgery we have a better understanding of the saying "it just takes time". We now understand that some of Jess's deficits will return on there own time frame and that we do not have much control over them. Things that came back quickly last time may be the last to come back this time. Everything seems to be coming back at an expected rate, and for the most part we are very excited about Jess's recovery. She still has lingering cognitive issues with word finding, spelling and reading. As well as some physical issues regarding her right arm, right leg, and general coordination. With that said, all these issues are steadily improving, and I truly believe they will come back to the same level they were prior to surgery. Dr. Liau actually said Jess's right arm had more response after the resection, and that it may improve over pre-surgical form. Thanks again for all the support you all have provided, even such things as friends picking up Jess's parents at the airport. All of this support adds up to make Jess's situation as easy as possible. Thanks again.

New Home

I'm sorry that last nights blog didn't get published till this morning. I tried to blame it on the blog, but I'm now convinced it was user error. Of course shortly after I finished that post yesterday everything changed. Around 6:00pm last night we were asked if we wanted to go home or stay another night. This caught us by surprise because we were under the impression that we would be at the hospital throughout the evening. We all agreed that it would be better to get Jess to a place where her medication will be administered with the punctuality necessary to maintain the desired level of pain tolerance. With a ratio of 3 nurses (Bob, Bonnie, and myself) to one patient (Jess), as compared to UCLA with a ratio of 1 nurse to 5+ patients, we knew Jess would get her medication on time and consistently. We are in our rental home now and Jess is doing extremely well. Her pain has gone up and down but not anywhere close to what was happening at the hospital. I was forced to relinquish my nursing duties, and although I tried to convince everyone I wasn't tired, apparently I snored throughout my entire shift off. I'm only mentioning this to beat Jess to the punch, as i'm sure she was going to tell on me later, and with utter delight.

She is doing much much better than at the hospital now. This place is much more peaceful and relaxing then the hospital, and she is thriving from it. Walking to and from the bathroom unassisted, eating real meals, teasing her father, and generally being a happy person. Every half hour or so she wants me to continually check and see if there are new comments from the blog. They bring a smile to her face every time. I truly can't thank everyone enough.