Tis the Season for the Nutcracker to Crack some Skulls

And the beat goes on...

I think I've typed this sentence over and over a dozen times; where to begin? On Thanksgiving, Kevin flew to California to be with his family because his dad had Colon Cancer surgery. His dad is doing well, and it was great to be with family. But, it was also an emotionally grueling trip, and Kevin was glad to be home. His mom also has some unknown medical puzzle, and the first "test" results are looking promising thus far.

Today, we finally got an appointment with the pediatric neurosurgeon for Kass. She had been on the migraine medication for 3 weeks, but the headaches have seemed to increase in both intensity and the areas affected. She has them morning, noon, and night - and they still never go away. Based on this, the neurosurgeon suggested that the next logical step will be brain surgery to see if this will help the headaches. He was very clear not to give us any certainty that the headaches will be alleviated. Basically, he'll take off a portion of her skull, drain the cyst, then peek around under a microscope to see if he can figure out any other tiny reasons that might be causing her pain. She will be in ICU for a day or 2, and on the floor for another day or 2 - hopefully. :) It was a really hard decision since there are obviously a lot of risks, and we don't know if it will even work. On the flip side, she has essentially been unable to do homework - or diving - for over 40 days; the couch cushions certainly need a little fluffing!

The doctor suggested that we do the surgery in January, but I asked if he had anything in December because we've already met our insurance deductible. He consulted with his nurse, and bottom line, she goes in for surgery next Tuesday, December 13. Yikes! Kevin is on the phone with my sister as I type booking her flight for Monday night. The plan is for her to watch Kimber so Kevin and I can be at the hospital. The nurse sounded positive that the new Children's Hospital in Temple might let us both sleep in the ICU.

Overall, we are doing well with this overwhelming turn of events. On the way home, Kass wanted to go to Target to buy red KoolAid to dye a strand of hair on her neckline ... before it gets shaved on Tuesday. She had to sit down and perch on a few displays, which kind of reassured me that we have to do SOMETHING if she can't even make it through Target.

Now, for the blessings! Kevin and I were just talking about how he was going to loose his accrued vacation time...no more! We get to see Auntie, and she gets to come for Kimber's school presentation. We get a few $1000 discount since it's in 2011. Kass gets to delay her midterms. Kass has been studying Job, so there's not a lot of self-pity or pondering questions. And best of all, when she's most miserable, she doesn't mind resting her head on my shoulder.

...wonder what the next blog will be...