Taking Steps Back To Move Forward

We met with Jackie’s neurosurgical team Monday morning.  They are still keeping an eye on the pressure in Jackies head.  They decided to do a spinal tap.  Pressure was a high normal. PTL.  Follow up spinal taps will occur with plans of action ready to take place based on the results.  Jackie also had PT stop by and they did some stretching in bed.  Early Monday night Jackie’s muscle spasms and elevated heart rate intensified. With the help of many drugs, we were able to get him calmed down.  He was on the schedule to get another Peg (feeding tube) put in on Tuesday and we did not want anything to get in the way of the surgery.  Getting another peg in is one of the steps back we had to take in order for Jackie to move forward.  He needed nutrition badly and also had been unable to take some of the meds he needed by mouth.  The IV nutrition he was on was a bridge to the peg surgery and although it helped sustain him does not have many calories and has some risks associated with using it.

The last we had heard we were the final surgery case for Tuesday so anticipated a mid afternoon surgery time.  Ultimately, Jackie was able to get bumped up to the 1st or 2nd surgery of the day.  By 7am on Tuesday, we accompanied him to pre-op for his third surgery within a week.  This one was much shorter than the other two but he still would be having a tube inserted in his throat.  It was the best and safest approach for Jackie. The surgery was quick and successful.  PTL We were able to sit with Jackie in recovery and then followed him up to his room.  He rested for a while but then became agitated.  He was clearly in pain and the muscle spasms were starting to return with a vengeance.  By early evening Jackie’s spasms continued to worsen. He had to be transferred out of the Intermediate Neurological Intensive Care Unit to the actual NICU.  Many staffers worked on Jackie to get him back to a stable condition. He also had a CAT scan to make sure his head was ok.  It was. PTL

It was going to be another long, tough night for Jackie.  Through med management we were able to get through most of the night without major spasms.  Many blood tests were taken so we can start the process of finding the catalyst for the spasms.

Tomorrow I’m sure more tests will continue with hopefully an answer and plan to help Jackie get back on track.

Thank you for your continued positive thoughts and prayers.