Powerful Man

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Powerful Man! That's what David wants to be called. Our last visit to Nashville was short and sweet. No surgeries! We met with Dr. Phibbs and Dr. Neimat and got the thumbs up (as David would describe) on his healing and recovery. Then Dr. Phibbs, using a remote control type of devise, turned David's battery on. They usually look for sparkling lights or tingling in the legs to let them know when they've reached the best setting, but since David had his thumb up and a big grin on his face almost the whole time, it was hard to get a straight answer from him. Therefore, Dr. Phibbs put him on a very low setting to start with. She said that we probably won't notice any difference with this first setting since it is so low. From here on out Dr. Ledoux, David's neuro in Memphis, will change the settings every couple of months. We will only go back to Nashville for annual check-ups unless there is a problem. For this first setting, we won't be doing any fine tuning at home with the remote that we have. We will only be checking to make sure it is on. At the next appointment with Dr. Ledoux, we will be shown how to do minor adjustments.

A Lesson In Patience

Our friends in the DBS for Dystonia group tell use the key word here is PATIENCE. And the second key word is PATIENCE. For most, this is a gradual process and certainly not a quick fix in any shape or form. As you think of them, please keep these wonderful people with Dystonia in your prayers. If you go to youtube and look up dystonia, you will find some heart-wrenching videos of people who suffer much more than David. We met some at the Dystonia Symposium in April. But I feel like I know many of them personally as we have corresponded through the group.

In Summary

We are very thankful that David hasn't been sick at all throughout this whole process!! That's pretty amazing since he has been around family members with occasional colds. I think it has been threefold: LOTS of sleep (10 - 12 hours a night!), isolation from the public for the most part, a very small amount of vitamins. But above all, the Great Physician has been taking care of David. We are truly grateful for our church who has been there for us in many ways. We are also thankful and appreciative to all the friends and family who have prayed for us and inquired regularly about David.

Moving Forward

On Monday, David starts back with half days at school. He is looking forward to seeing his friends! Then, in January he will go back full time. I am not looking forward to getting him up at 5:00 a.m.! Schools starting at 7 should be outlawed! On Monday I will also look into starting David with a physical therapist 3 times a week.
Once again, thank you for following David's journey with us! I will continue updating every once in a while. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11

Relief and Fairies!

Well, it's high time I gave an update on the 'ole boy! David is doing much better since the last post. I didn't give him any pain meds yesterday. He is complaining about pain much less and farther apart. I finally got the nerve to remove the bandage on his chest this morning. The wound looks good and clean. Everything seems to be healing nicely!

I hope you enjoy these pictures of David preparing for his 3rd surgery! I finally remembered to get the camera out when Dr. Neimat came in. We are very thankful for such a great and personable doctor! Dr. Neimat makes us feel very at ease and confident. David seems to relax when he walks in the room.

Cleaning Fairies!

I didn't know there was such a thing as cleaning fairies until Monday night! They really do exist! As I started putting things up when we got home Monday, I kept noticing unusual things, like folded up blankets in the den, vacuum marks on the carpet (a very unusual site in our house!), a clean kitchen floor! But the biggest shock and give-away was my bathroom! I just about fell over when I walked in and saw it! That's when it really hit me that fairies do exist! OK. I know they weren't real fairies but some wonderful, caring friends. How blessed we are! (and VERY embarrassed!) Thank you, Lord for such friends!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, in case this is the last post before Thanksgiving, we hope you have a very wonderful Thanksgiving! Let us give thanks not only to those we love and appreciate, but especially to the One who made us and loved us and sent His Son for us.

"All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for His love, for all His love!"

(from All Good Gifts by M. Ryan Taylor)

In His Grace and Joy,
Dayna

Sleeping Beauty at Vanderbilt!

Well, it's high time to give an update! The surgery went very well! In fact, it didn't last quite as long as anticipated. It took 3 1/2 - 4 hours instead of 4 - 6. This was probably because David was asleep. Thank you so much for praying about the specific things during surgery! I talked to a few people after we talked to the anesthesiologist who gave us a scare. I guess by law they have to tell us certain things about what could happen. He said that because of some of the medicine David has been on for the Dystonia, he could have a serious reaction to the anesthetics. He said he would know in the first 10 min. Everything went well though because we didn't hear any more from him and Dr. Neimat said David did fine with the anesthetics. Dr. Neimat was very pleased with the CT scan and said the leads look like they are placed in the very spot needed in his brain.
Recovery Room and Beyond


We were able to go into the recovery room around 6:30. David was pretty unhappy until the nurse was able to give him some pain meds after the CT scan. After that he was a happy camper and even asked for a hamburger in between dosing off. What usually is about a 2 hour stay in recovery turned out to be about 7 or 8 hours of waiting for a room to become available! The night shift (Dad) took over around 11 when we realized how long it was going to be. I (Mom) went back to the hotel to get some sleep.


I relieved Marshall around 8 this morning . David has been in and out of sleep and hasn't complained of pain since 5:30 this morning (at which time the nurse gave him meds for pain). Dr. Neimat came in right after I arrived and said everything looked really good and David was responding well. At noon they will come back and let us know whether or not David can go home today.

Once again, thank you for following along with us! We really appreciate your prayers. I rest in the fact that we have a loving and all powerful God!

Dayna