| October 2, 2007 Dear Friends and Family, Many of you know, and some of you don’t know that we’ve had a rough weekend. Thought I would type out the story, so you could rejoice with me that Chris is home with me today, and we could marvel together at God’s beautiful plan, and his grace. Last week Chris mentioned headaches that asprin wouldn’t touch, and it seemed to me that he got a little wobbly as the week went on. Chris has hydrocephalus, which means fluid builds up in his brain instead of draining naturally. He has been dependent on a shunt all of his life. The first one was put in a few days after birth, and he had 3 revisions over his childhood, the last one being at age 19 in 1988. We thought his symptoms might be due to allergy/sinus issues or migraine headaches. But Thursday morning, I found him sound asleep in the den, instead of getting ready for work. He insisted on going to work anyway, but at lunchtime he called me to say he was going to the doctor. Dr. Joseph Rowland has been Chris’ neurosurgeon for most of his life. Chris has not needed a check-up in a very long time, but we have maintained our relationship with Dr. Rowland because we house-sit for him. I met Chris at the clinic, and found that his boss and another co-worker had driven him there. Dr. Rowland couldn’t tell if anything was wrong with the shunt, so he scheduled a ct scan for the next morning. The next morning, while Chris was back getting his scan, Dr. Rowland called (on my cell phone – how many doctors do you know that will do that??) to check on him. I mentioned that he was very unsteady on his feet and had been quite sick that morning. He told me to wait there, he would call and find out what the scan showed. So we waited a few minutes, until his call to go straight to the emergency room. He called ahead for us and told everyone what was going on. We saw the on-call neurosurgeon, who did not seem very concerned, told us to make an appointment for Monday, that possibly we could find someone in Memphis or Nashville to do a shunt revision later this week. So we went home. Dr. Rowland called to check on Chris several times that afternoon. Chris napped and I kept an eye on him, periodically rousing him to talk, sip water, etc. About 6 pm, I couldn’t rouse Chris. He was breathing, but he wouldn’t wake up. I called Dr. Rowland, who told me to call 911 while he phoned the ER. The ambulance arrived, and got Chris loaded up just as his parents and Dr. Rowland arrived at my house. Dr. jumped into the ambulance, and would have opened him up right there if they’d had a scalpel. He followed the ambulance to the ER and took charge as soon as we arrived. He kept telling people to act now, that he knew what we had to do or Chris would die. Dr. Rowland has retired from surgery, but he put a catheter into Chris’ brain (on the x ray table) and immediately drained a bag of fluid. The neurosurgeons in Memphis confirmed to me later that this action saved Chris’ life. An ambulance took us from Jackson General to the University Methodist hospital in Memphis. (a helicoptor would have been to much pressure on Chris’ brain). Chris went to ICU, to wait for his surgery at 7am on Saturday. The surgery was finished about 10 AM. They found that the old shunt tubing was disintegrating, so they completely redid the entire system. This one is expected to last the rest of C’s life, and is much more high-tech, so he will probably not have as many headaches. Also, I expect him to have a greater peace of mind because the old shunts were expected to last 5-10 years, so that was just always present in the backs of our minds. He moved to a regular hospital room on Sunday morning. I was so glad to be able to stay with him all the time! And we came home on Monday afternoon! We are just so happy to be home now, together. Chris is taking it easy and quiet now. Both of us just rest alot (do I need to mention that I really didn’t sleep in the hospital?) and enjoy being together. Plans for the next couple of days include watching some movies, getting someone to “even out” the brain surgery haircut, and just enjoy being home together while Chris recovers. He is not in much pain, mostly just discomfort at the 3 incision sites- and who could blame him with 25 staples in his head and belly. We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary in August, and Chris will be 38 at the end of this month. We are so thankful for the love and prayers that our friends and family have poured out on us. I have experience so many emotions over the weekend, from pure terror to pure joy, but never for one second felt alone or lonely or unloved. From phone calls, to visits, to text messages, to dinner, we have been cared for like kings. I am especially grateful for: Dr. Rowland, for saving Chris’ life and his care and personal calls and concern for us. I keep saying , “he came to my HOUSE”. We went to Memphis, not Nashville. Chris has lots of family in Memphis who sat with us, visited us, let his parents sleep over, let me come over for a quick shower, brought me food. My family. The text messages my Dad sent from D.C. (I didn’t know my dad knew how to text message). My mom met us at the Jackson ER each time, and came to Memphis to sit with me during the surgery. My brother David who mowed our lawn. He and Hannah came to work on the lawn at the time I was calling 911, and God knew I just needed someone with me at that time, to watch for the ambulance, to help me pack a bag, to take our dog home with them for the night. Chris’ parents. Barry and Rosalind were with me every step of the way. His mother, who has been through this before, knew details of Chris’ medical history, knew which questions to ask the doctors. They have showered love and care upon me as well as Chris. I would not have made it through this weekend without them. I would appreciate your continued prayer for Chris’ recovery. Also, join me in rejoicing that he is here with me today. Love, Joy Whetstone |
