Dear friends and family,

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

Maddie is going through what the neurologist says is the recovery process from major brain surgery. Due to the immense pressure exerted on her brain from the hematoma, there will be swelling as the brain recovers in size. The swelling could also be due to any damaged cells impacting the healthy cells. One symptom of this is seizures and Maddie started having partial seizures Thursday evening. They have an EEG machine to monitor her brainwaves and put her on three different anti-seizure medications. She’s been seizure free since Friday evening and the neurologist wants to stop the most power medication, phenobarbital, to see how she does. They are hopeful that the peak of swelling has passed and without medication, she will wake up a bit more.

Due to the sedative side effects of all that medication (anti-seizure, antibiotic, antihistimine, pain, etc) she has become more lethargic and less reactive to stimulation. However, her right eye lid did open up a bit and both eyes are partially open. Her breathing, heart rate, temp, blood-oxygen, liver, kidneys, bowel movements, and blood-gas numbers are all within optimal range. She’s on some oxygen via canulas, but is otherwise breathing on her own. They stopped her formula feeds during the seizures but have resumed them last night, albeit at a third the desired rate.

Here’s a picture of her resting with all her splints and monitor lines.  To prevent further injury to her muscles, the therapists made custom splints that have to be worn for 3 hours and come off for three hours.

Jen’s been at the hospital all week, so Bill spent the night yesterday so she could get some quality time with Abby at home. The hospital provides room service that’s included with Maddie’s stay and the grandparents are bringing us lots of food. The management team at Bill’s company has been extremely supportive and his team has stepped up to take care of most things. Jen will most likely take a break from work during Maddie’s recovery, however long that may be.

For your continued prayers, please ask God for patience, wisdom, and peace as this journey may take a long time. It is still too early to tell, but the brain is so complex that modern medicine is relatively helpless. Only time will tell how much therapy she needs and how much support she will require going forward.

Thanks again for all of your support. Attached is a picture from last Sunday, Father’s day.