I got an email today stating this blog would be deleted if I didn't go post on it. I think their timing is amazing, because this Sunday, it will be 3 years since my surgery. It's incredible to think it's only been 3 years. I feel like I've been viewing the world this way for way longer than that.
I know this blog doesn't get checked anymore, but I just want to thank everyone who so diligently kept up on my recovery. You were such supports to me, and I will never thank you enough!
Courtney
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Friday, September 25, 2009
New Blog!
Hi everyone!
It's been a long time since I've written on this blog, and I've decided it's time to begin afresh, with a nice new blog! You can find my new blog at www.courtgoestocollege@blogspot.com.
I hope you'll visit!
Much Love,
Courtney
It's been a long time since I've written on this blog, and I've decided it's time to begin afresh, with a nice new blog! You can find my new blog at www.courtgoestocollege@blogspot.com.
I hope you'll visit!
Much Love,
Courtney
Monday, July 28, 2008
Hair!
Thank you Natalie Hess! I LOVE you! I just got a new hair cut! My hair is shoulder length, and no one can tell I have a horseshoe scar on the back of my head! I'm just so thrilled! A nice bonus to this hair cut was I took 2 walks, 1 to her house, and 1 back home. I'm so gonna get my 4 walks today. I feel awesome today. Later!
Courtney
Courtney
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I'm Home!
Hi hi everybody! It's Courtney, writing on her own blog by herself! That is quite the accomplishment for me currently because I can't see half the screen and half the keyboard. I've been home since Tuesday, but it's been crazy adjusting to life at home again, so neither mom or I have found the time to write. I was really scared to come home, but I am enjoying feeling a little bit more normal. I really miss my nurses, and all the pampering I got. It's weird how small the world is when you start talking to people. One of my nurses was in my aunt's ward as a kid, another lived pretty close to mom and dad in California, and another nurse lives near us, went to my high school, and took the same medical assisting class I will be taking this next school year. Weird.
Being at home is so great. I get to wash my hair tomorrow! I am so so so sooooooo excited! I can"t stand my hair after going two days with out washing it, so imagine how I feel going a full week. Yuck. I miss my full head of hair, but I miss my vision more. It really takes something like this to make you realize how grateful you are for the little things. It's hard to have a conversation with someone and only see a part of their face. I just need to give it some time. I know there is a plan for me, and my Father is standing right next to me, supporting me through it all.
I am also grateful for extra strength Tylenol, lip gloss, and Bath and Body Works. Another random thing I appreciate are hand rails. Yes, I am now grateful for a bar of wood nailed into a wall. I often feel top-heavy, which throws my balance off. Hand rails help me get where I want to go without my family walking with me.
I have had lots of visitors, which I love. They haven't caught me at the best moments, and I often get really tired, but I love talking with people. Aside from having visitors, I sleep and watch a good amount of TV. I'm supposed to be taking little walks all day long, but I haven't been an A student in that area. My entire body is sore and the walks are supposed to help me feel better, but honestly, they just make me hurt more. My arms have gone through a lot and they are very sore. I have some nasty bruises from the IVs. My shoulders are sore and so are my ankles. Hence why I love my Tylenol. The Tylenol is kinda coated in some stuff, and it tastes like an orange skittle. Yummy.
Well, I've reached my sitting up limit, I'm gonna go lay down with my friend Mr. Ice Pak. later!
Courtney
Being at home is so great. I get to wash my hair tomorrow! I am so so so sooooooo excited! I can"t stand my hair after going two days with out washing it, so imagine how I feel going a full week. Yuck. I miss my full head of hair, but I miss my vision more. It really takes something like this to make you realize how grateful you are for the little things. It's hard to have a conversation with someone and only see a part of their face. I just need to give it some time. I know there is a plan for me, and my Father is standing right next to me, supporting me through it all.
I am also grateful for extra strength Tylenol, lip gloss, and Bath and Body Works. Another random thing I appreciate are hand rails. Yes, I am now grateful for a bar of wood nailed into a wall. I often feel top-heavy, which throws my balance off. Hand rails help me get where I want to go without my family walking with me.
I have had lots of visitors, which I love. They haven't caught me at the best moments, and I often get really tired, but I love talking with people. Aside from having visitors, I sleep and watch a good amount of TV. I'm supposed to be taking little walks all day long, but I haven't been an A student in that area. My entire body is sore and the walks are supposed to help me feel better, but honestly, they just make me hurt more. My arms have gone through a lot and they are very sore. I have some nasty bruises from the IVs. My shoulders are sore and so are my ankles. Hence why I love my Tylenol. The Tylenol is kinda coated in some stuff, and it tastes like an orange skittle. Yummy.
Well, I've reached my sitting up limit, I'm gonna go lay down with my friend Mr. Ice Pak. later!
Courtney
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Great News!
Dr. Reichman came in today after lunch to check on Courtney. He said she was doing great! She is going to be transferred out of ICU to the regular floor some time today. He then surprised me and said that she may be able to go home TOMORROW!!!! Wow, I was not ready for that! It is almost scary to think about going home so soon. :S We both like the security of knowing that a nurse is right there just in case we need it. I asked Courtney how she feels about going home and she said the same thing. Just think, it has only been 4 days since her surgery. That is a miracle in my mind. :)
On another happy note, we heard that the other girl with the AVM surgery is getting some feeling back on the side that was paralyzed. That is wonderful news!
Courtney is looking forward to having visitors. I know it cheers her up knowing that others are thinking about her! We will keep you posted with the latest news. Holly :)
On another happy note, we heard that the other girl with the AVM surgery is getting some feeling back on the side that was paralyzed. That is wonderful news!
Courtney is looking forward to having visitors. I know it cheers her up knowing that others are thinking about her! We will keep you posted with the latest news. Holly :)
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Good morning! Today is Sunday, our 5th day in the hospital. It is so busy here that I can't keep on top of this blog. Last night I started typing and it took me an hour and a half to finish the blog entry. I kept getting up to help Courtney with one thing or another. I am her personal "nurse" and she keeps me hopping.
We just had something neat happen. Two couples from our church came in and brought us the sacrament. They sang "God, Our Father, Hear Us Pray" and then the men administered the sacrament. It brought both Courtney and I to tears. :) We are feeling so blessed right now because of the success of her surgery. There is a 26 year old girl here who also had an AVM removed on the same day. I guess hers was in the center of her brain. She has had a really hard time in recovery and we have often heard her cry out in pain. It is really hard for Courtney to hear that and it upsets her so much. Yesterday we heard that the poor girl is paralyzed on one side and the damage is permanent. Isn't that awful! It just brought us to tears thinking how lucky we are that Courtney's surgery went well! The only side affect we are seeing with Court is the loss of her left peripheral vision. It has pretty much stayed the same since her first embolism on July 1st. Her vision changes throughout the day and sometimes is foggy or blurry. She just describes it as being "weird". We will have to wait for up to a year to see her final results. The other minor thing she complains about is that her hearing is funny, kind of like she is in a tunnel. I hope that goes away quickly!
Now to go back and catch up on Saturday. Layne spent the night here Friday night. He would not lay down on the air mattress and sleep, instead he sat in the chair all night. Needless to say, he didn't sleep at all. He said he wanted to be there for his little girl! :P He was here when Dr. Reichman came to check on Court. Dr. Reichman said that the angiogram looked good and that he was pleased with her recovery. He took the bandages off her head and I guess that was really painful because they were all stuck in her hair. :S Oww! He said that she was doing so well that we could take her off the blood pressure medicine. She also got rid of her catheter, arterial line (a big painful IV type line), and the pressure boots on her legs. Wow, it is amazing how fast things are moving! I thought she was going to be bedridden and kind of out of it for a long time. I was wrong! Everyone tells us that the faster she gets moving, the better her recovery will be. Well, let me tell you, we definately got moving! With all the fluids they had pumped in to her, she is swollen everywhere. Even her upper arms are swollen and tender to the touch. You can only guess how many trips to the bathroom we have taken since she got the catheter out. :S I told her that she is lucky to have me here because it would drive her nurses crazy having to get her up so many times! I guess the bright side is that the more she walks, the better she gets. :)
Yesterday when I got to the hospital (around 1:30 p.m.) I noticed a big change in Courtney. She was talking in a very quiet voice. She wasn't saying much and seemed kinda depressed. She is really frustrated with her vision problem. I guess her sight keeps changing and it drives her crazy. It was hard to see her like that. I think she is getting tired of being in the hospital. Later in the day when they removed all the tubes and she started walking around, it seemed to help her spirits. I have a feeling we will be out of the hospital much sooner that the two weeks that the doctor first told me. :)
Today is Sunday and that means that I am finally caught up on this blog! Yeah! We slept much better last night than we did two nights ago. I did get up at least every hour to take Court to the bathroom, but because I am so tired, I was able to fall asleep right away. I am looking forward to seeing out doctor today since I wasn't here yesterday to see what he said. I think he will be excited to see Courtney up and moving.
Well, once again it has taken me almost 2 hours to finish this blog, but at least I am excited to be caught up! Courtney's lunch is here so I will go. Thank you everyone for your love and concern! We want to thank our California family, WECC and the Munros for the beautiful flowers. We have taken pictures of them and we will put them on the blog. Thank you SO MUCH! Courtney also wanted me to tell you that she loves it when people make comments on her blog, so keep it up! :) Have a great day and know that we are thinking about you!
We just had something neat happen. Two couples from our church came in and brought us the sacrament. They sang "God, Our Father, Hear Us Pray" and then the men administered the sacrament. It brought both Courtney and I to tears. :) We are feeling so blessed right now because of the success of her surgery. There is a 26 year old girl here who also had an AVM removed on the same day. I guess hers was in the center of her brain. She has had a really hard time in recovery and we have often heard her cry out in pain. It is really hard for Courtney to hear that and it upsets her so much. Yesterday we heard that the poor girl is paralyzed on one side and the damage is permanent. Isn't that awful! It just brought us to tears thinking how lucky we are that Courtney's surgery went well! The only side affect we are seeing with Court is the loss of her left peripheral vision. It has pretty much stayed the same since her first embolism on July 1st. Her vision changes throughout the day and sometimes is foggy or blurry. She just describes it as being "weird". We will have to wait for up to a year to see her final results. The other minor thing she complains about is that her hearing is funny, kind of like she is in a tunnel. I hope that goes away quickly!
Now to go back and catch up on Saturday. Layne spent the night here Friday night. He would not lay down on the air mattress and sleep, instead he sat in the chair all night. Needless to say, he didn't sleep at all. He said he wanted to be there for his little girl! :P He was here when Dr. Reichman came to check on Court. Dr. Reichman said that the angiogram looked good and that he was pleased with her recovery. He took the bandages off her head and I guess that was really painful because they were all stuck in her hair. :S Oww! He said that she was doing so well that we could take her off the blood pressure medicine. She also got rid of her catheter, arterial line (a big painful IV type line), and the pressure boots on her legs. Wow, it is amazing how fast things are moving! I thought she was going to be bedridden and kind of out of it for a long time. I was wrong! Everyone tells us that the faster she gets moving, the better her recovery will be. Well, let me tell you, we definately got moving! With all the fluids they had pumped in to her, she is swollen everywhere. Even her upper arms are swollen and tender to the touch. You can only guess how many trips to the bathroom we have taken since she got the catheter out. :S I told her that she is lucky to have me here because it would drive her nurses crazy having to get her up so many times! I guess the bright side is that the more she walks, the better she gets. :)
Yesterday when I got to the hospital (around 1:30 p.m.) I noticed a big change in Courtney. She was talking in a very quiet voice. She wasn't saying much and seemed kinda depressed. She is really frustrated with her vision problem. I guess her sight keeps changing and it drives her crazy. It was hard to see her like that. I think she is getting tired of being in the hospital. Later in the day when they removed all the tubes and she started walking around, it seemed to help her spirits. I have a feeling we will be out of the hospital much sooner that the two weeks that the doctor first told me. :)
Today is Sunday and that means that I am finally caught up on this blog! Yeah! We slept much better last night than we did two nights ago. I did get up at least every hour to take Court to the bathroom, but because I am so tired, I was able to fall asleep right away. I am looking forward to seeing out doctor today since I wasn't here yesterday to see what he said. I think he will be excited to see Courtney up and moving.
Well, once again it has taken me almost 2 hours to finish this blog, but at least I am excited to be caught up! Courtney's lunch is here so I will go. Thank you everyone for your love and concern! We want to thank our California family, WECC and the Munros for the beautiful flowers. We have taken pictures of them and we will put them on the blog. Thank you SO MUCH! Courtney also wanted me to tell you that she loves it when people make comments on her blog, so keep it up! :) Have a great day and know that we are thinking about you!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
What a difference a day makes! I can't believe how quickly Courtney is recovering! I am sure it is because of all the prayers and fasting on her behalf! :) Thank you everyone!!! It was a LONG day yesterday and I didn't get a chance to write in her blog, so I am going to catch up.
Thursday (Surgery day) was a very long day! We have amazing nurses here and our nurse that night was very kind and let me stay over night. I brought my air mattress and I slept on the floor next to Courtney. Since the surgery didn't end until 5:30 p.m., Court's recovery from anesthesia lasted most of the night. At this hospital they did not keep Court in a recovery room, instead she recovered right in her NeuroICU room. That meant that I was able to see her go through most of it. It was midnight before she was resting comfortably and was able to go to sleep. The short note that I put in the blog I started at whatever time it said, but I actually wrote it at about 11:30 p.m. and that is why it was so short. I was exhausted!
Friday turned out to be an EVEN LONGER day. Court and I only slept 4 hours from midnight until 4:00 a.m. The nurses came in constantly it seemed to check things, so our sleep was not the best. That ended up being the last sleep I got until 11 p.m. Friday night. Courtney, on the other hand, dozed on and off all day. I guess Court has very small veins and they are extremely sensitive. When they gave her medicine through her IV's, it would burn really bad. She is on a ton of medicine. She has two IV bags with medicine to keep her heart rate low. She got a new medicine this morning to control her blood sugar because I guess brain surgery makes it go crazy. She is on an anti seizure medication and another one to reduce swelling in her brain. She takes steroids, Pepcid, antibiotics and on top of it all, our favorite, Pain Medication! :) Since the meds that they put in her veins were so painful, they eventually were able to give them to her in pill form once she started drinking and eating. That was a huge relief. Courtney has a line going into an artery on her right arm. It got clogged and so they had to reinsert it. She was NOT happy about that! It hurt like heck! She actually said that she hated that man! I can't blame her!
Friday evening they did another angiogram on Courtney and the best news was that THEY GOT THE AVM ALL OUT!!! Yeah!! We are thrilled. We did not know this, but AVM's will grow back if they do not remove all of it. Yuck! Can you imagine having surgery once only to find out you had to do it again? Nathan and Layne came to visit Court and then Layne stayed the night and I went home at 10 p.m.. Court was doing much better that night once she could take her meds in pill form. :)
It is now 11:30 on Saturday night. It takes me forever to get this blog done because I am constantly up and down helping Court. I am exhausted and will have to catch up this blog tomorrow. Goodnight! Holly :)
Friday
Thursday (Surgery day) was a very long day! We have amazing nurses here and our nurse that night was very kind and let me stay over night. I brought my air mattress and I slept on the floor next to Courtney. Since the surgery didn't end until 5:30 p.m., Court's recovery from anesthesia lasted most of the night. At this hospital they did not keep Court in a recovery room, instead she recovered right in her NeuroICU room. That meant that I was able to see her go through most of it. It was midnight before she was resting comfortably and was able to go to sleep. The short note that I put in the blog I started at whatever time it said, but I actually wrote it at about 11:30 p.m. and that is why it was so short. I was exhausted!
Friday turned out to be an EVEN LONGER day. Court and I only slept 4 hours from midnight until 4:00 a.m. The nurses came in constantly it seemed to check things, so our sleep was not the best. That ended up being the last sleep I got until 11 p.m. Friday night. Courtney, on the other hand, dozed on and off all day. I guess Court has very small veins and they are extremely sensitive. When they gave her medicine through her IV's, it would burn really bad. She is on a ton of medicine. She has two IV bags with medicine to keep her heart rate low. She got a new medicine this morning to control her blood sugar because I guess brain surgery makes it go crazy. She is on an anti seizure medication and another one to reduce swelling in her brain. She takes steroids, Pepcid, antibiotics and on top of it all, our favorite, Pain Medication! :) Since the meds that they put in her veins were so painful, they eventually were able to give them to her in pill form once she started drinking and eating. That was a huge relief. Courtney has a line going into an artery on her right arm. It got clogged and so they had to reinsert it. She was NOT happy about that! It hurt like heck! She actually said that she hated that man! I can't blame her!
Friday evening they did another angiogram on Courtney and the best news was that THEY GOT THE AVM ALL OUT!!! Yeah!! We are thrilled. We did not know this, but AVM's will grow back if they do not remove all of it. Yuck! Can you imagine having surgery once only to find out you had to do it again? Nathan and Layne came to visit Court and then Layne stayed the night and I went home at 10 p.m.. Court was doing much better that night once she could take her meds in pill form. :)
It is now 11:30 on Saturday night. It takes me forever to get this blog done because I am constantly up and down helping Court. I am exhausted and will have to catch up this blog tomorrow. Goodnight! Holly :)
Friday
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