Jess's next step

This is Dan,

Last night Jess was moved from the ICU to a neurological step down room. This was an expected step and is a step that every patient who undergoes head trauma at UCLA goes through. It was something that had been approved since yesterday morning but we had to wait for a room to become available. This has been a mostly a good move, with some slight hesitation and concern. On the positive side, the move means that Jess is progressing accordingly in her healing and that she will be in a room that is much more calming and private. The nurses do not come by as often and her regiment of medications has lessened. For the first time since coming out of the surgery Jess was able to sleep for more then a few minutes at a time. The room is bigger then the ICU and allows for me and her parents to all have a comfortable seat and room enough not to step on each others toes. The room also has a window, which although just shows surrounding buildings, allows sight to the outside world and natural light.

On the negative side, is STRESS. Jess had to endure a fair amount of pain during the travel 200ft down the hall to the corresponding wing. Any movement is tough on Jess and this was a big one in her present world. The same freedom that allows Jess to sleep also causes her significant stress. She is haunted by the memory of the surgery at UW and the need for a second surgery. She worries that she will begin to deteriorate and no one will know. This is in spite of the fact that between me and her parents, she is never left alone, she is hooked up to every monitor available to the facility and is periodically checked on by her nurse. The memory of the pain and exhaustive rehabilitation caused by her emergency brain surgery at UW is so prevalent that every time she cannot control her right hand or cannot find a answer she fears she is slipping backwards again. She easily forgets that it has been less then 24 hours since her surgery was completed and she still has a vast amount of recovery to do. The nurses and caregivers here are wonderful and Jess has quickly found her favorites and made each of them laugh. It is rare to have a nurse leave her room without a smile on their face. Her deficits are severe, but we see small changes daily and even hourly that are encouraging to us. We also see negative changes when she gets over worked or exhausted. My personal opinion on these changes is overall positive. I feel that if we see changes, good or bad, then it means that particular aspect is not permanent. If this aspect is not permanent, it is possibly fixable. When dealing in this realm, possibilities are always positive.

Jess In The ICU

I am very sorry for the delay in getting information out to you guys, I realize I left you out on ledge with no answers. Again, sorry about that. Jess is recovering in the ICU, and by all accounts is doing as good as can be expected today. Almost immediately after writing my the last blog we got a call in the waiting room saying that one of us could go and see Jessica. Bonnie and Bob were gracious enough to ease my eagerness to see her and allowed me to go first. Or maybe I just left...When I arrived at her room, my heart sank. I found her screaming in pain, nearly hyperventilating, with tears streaking down her face.

Jess has an incredible tolerance to pain medications. It has been an issue with every single brain surgery. We thought we took steps to eliminate this prior to the surgery by informing anyone and everyone who would listen, and showing documentation the on her charts, but it did not help. Either the information never made it across departments or no one can fathom that Jess needs the same amount of painkillers as a women literally twice her weight. After entering Jess's room I quickly relayed all the information that we had already told so many people and after 45 excruciating minutes she started to feel the effects of the painkillers and began to level off. The nurse stated that she did not think anyone in the room would still be conscious after taking the amount of painkiller they administered to Jess. Needless to say this was extremely difficult and not what I was expecting. This experience started the cycle of me not leaving Jess until this exact moment. This is why I was not able to write an update blog and give everyone the information they were seeking.

Once Jess got her proper dosing in order, things have been going. The staff has been incredible (besides the obvious) and Jess is quickly becoming friends with every single person who enters the room. It is important to explain what 'good' means in terms of a craniotomy recovery. First off, I will say that she seems to be doing better then the previous surgeries relative to the same time frame. unfortunately what this looks like for Jess is; occasionally slurred speech and word finding issues, blurry vision, loss of motor skills and decrease in cognitive abilities. Lots of tears. Lots of stress. Lots of worry. Some of these deficits are an expected byproduct of surgery, but none are guaranteed to diminish. We all hope they will, but nothing is certain. There is an tremendous amount of healing that still needs to take place. There are going to be hard days in her future, but if there is one thing I know, it is that she has done it before and she can do it again. Amongst all this pain and worry Jess still manages to be polite and caring to everyone. After the tears comes one of those smiles, the type that somehow reassures everybody in the room. Just as quickly as she gets sad from not accomplishing something, she is elated at one of her tasks conquered and puts both hands up in the air as if she won the ICU rehab championship.

I only mention her deficits to ask everyone to be cognizant of her healing and remember that the work will continue long after we leave California. Please continue to send your love and prayers her way, she is very moved by the amount of support she is receiving. Thank you all so much.

Here is the girl..