What a difference a day makes!

Thursday & Friday
Saturday

Leap forward, baby steps back

Good news is that M was extubated last night and handled it like a champ! She had a very brief period of difficulty, but then settled in and rested fairly comfortably. The bad news is that this incident has left her with some neurologic damage. She has lost a lot of function in her left arm/hand as well as her ability to suck. She is being tube fed and we are "practicing" a lot with the bottle. She is definitely interested, she just can't quite make it happen....yet. There is a possibility this is all transient and function could return. Only time will tell. She is not as interactive as she was before and I haven't been able to coax a smile out of her yet, but it is still early. The important thing is that she came back to us - that is all we have ever asked. We're really good at facing challenges and she is one tough, stubborn girl. We're hopeful that with intervention, therapies and a lot of hard work we'll make great strides.

Ghana Court Day

Shout out to blog buddy Michelle and super-husband Keith as they head to court today for the adoption of their beautiful daughters, B & V. Sending positive vibes to Ghana for the issuance of a full adoption decree today!

In a (pea)nut shell....

So, our little peanut is holding her own. She spent 6 hours in the OR last night where her neurosurgeon successfully removed all of the blood and clots from her hemorrhage. She returned to the PICU intubated and on a ventillator. Today her lungs are "wet", so because of that and the fact that she underwent 2 rounds of anesthesia, throat surgery, 2 brain surgeries and had neurologic complications - all within the last 4 days, they opted to leave her on the vent for a day or two. M's neurosurgeon plans to replace the VA shunt as soon as she is stable enough for a return trip to the OR. God PLEASE let this be a successful, long-term placement!

Success short lived

I wish I was posting pictures of my happy, healthy girl, but she is in surgery right now. M suffered a significant hemorrhage in the left side of her brain. Her neurosurgeon is removing the blood, flushing her ventricles and placing another ventriculostomy (external shunt). Yes, we are starting over.

I'm tired and sad.