The New NEWS

We finally have what we need to make a decision. After a discussion with Dr. Merchant (R.O) Friday, and him not being to pleased with how things progressed this past visit, he called Dr. Sanford (neoro.) and spoke to him. He then called us back immediately, and as I was on the phone with him, Lisa, Dr. Sanford nurse called ready to schedule Ivee's surgery. Dr. Merchant assured us that Dr. Sanford is a great nuerosurgeon, and that the board who meets to discuss MRI and all cases, looked at Ivee's and they all agreed that she would benefit greatly from having this surgery. Dr. Merchant remembered one particular patient who was Ivee's age. She had this surgery, and withing a few weeks was walking.

So, we are leaving Sunday, September 7th after the Morning Worship Service. She will have preadmission labs drawn Monday morning, then we drive to East Memphis with our appointment with Dr. Sanford. Tuesday morning, September 9th she will be admitted to LeBoner Children's hospital at 6:00 a.m. and her surgery is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Ivee will spend the night in ICU, and then she will be taken to the floor to stay for 3 to 4 days. This surgery is not as evasive as her tumor removal, but they will still go in through the back of her neck as they did before. It will be a painful recovery requiring physical therapy to recover. She will have to be taught to move her neck and head again (that is, not be afraid to move it). After the surgery, I will more aggressively seek out the people to help with her swallowing (the transitional therapist).

So, I have a recovering child to add to my already demanding schedule, but the church is very good to our family, and very understanding. I am still in the process of composing the script for the Christmas production. I will have to have some help with Ivee for about 3 weeks while she recovers for me to be able to make it to the office. I believe her recovery will be easier this time. She is older and knows what it means to move around now, so I think just sheer determination from a stubborn child might be good recovery in itself.

Thank you for your prayers and your continued support. I keep all your comments, and one day I would like to compose all these postings and comments in a book for her. She will be able to turn the pages and see what God has done through her and for her, and she will see the support of his faithful children to our family.

May God receive all the glory! For all the great things he has done!

A New Year...

School that is. The kids are finishing up some stuff from this past year, math and language, before we begin the new school year in September. It is trying for Ethan right now, cause he doesn't want to focus...AT ALL! Tears have been shed, but hopefully we'll make it through.
Work is really busy. I don't know if I have posted it, but I am the fill-in worship leader at our church, Faith Family Fellowship. It has been a growing time for me. I am in the process right now of writing our Christmas Production. I am excited and overwhelmed all at the same time. It is something I really feel impressed in my heart to do, but the time factor is huge. With rehearsals, a possible surgery for Ivee and two more visits to St. Jude before December, the kids homeschooling and trying to keep my house clean...let's say there isn't much down time. I am not complaining though. I feel blessed to be doing it all. I know that God can and will provide the people and means to help me. He is ever faithful!
Please, be in prayer as we try to contact Dr. Merchant today and finalize this whole surgery/or no surgery process. Pray for me as I continue to seek out God's wisdom when writing the production. Pray as my other kids are returning to school work.
God bless, and I hope you all are doing well.
Oh, did I mention that a hurricane might be headed our way. God is Good!

Not a lot of time but....

Not alot of time, but I wanted to blog quickly. I can fill in more detail later.
We are NOT in surgery today. We are home. Now, we met with Dr. Sanford on Monday, and he wanted to do a posterior fossa myelogram on Ivee. This is a contract dye CT scan in the region of her brain where the tumor was. They do an LP (lumbar puncture) and inject her with a dye, tilt her head down for 30 minutes, then scan her. He wanted to see if the brain fluid was allowing the brain to communicate with each other. The CSF (brain fluid) was flowing in the ventricle, but not in the area of the scar tissue. He said this is not life threatening to her. Surgery, if it were to happen, would allow her to walk more quickly, as where therapy and free will might take her a long time. I don't know what this means about the pressure on the brain stem. I still have unanswered questions. I will be collecting my thoughts, as will Emmett, and calling him back with many questions. Surgery may be an option, but at this time it is not scheduled yet. We are suppose to go back to see the doctor on September 8th, but at this time, I am not sure of anything else.
My prayer is that we will all be clear in our communication and that this will be a clear decision for us. In the end, I believe it will be Emmett and my decision. Thank you and I'll keep you updated.
I apologize for the tardiness of this post, but I had no time to blog for you while there. THAT is another story in itself.

Count Down

Well, we are counting the days until we leave for Memphis. This should prove to be a very busy week! I have to prepare to be gone and out of pocket, so office work will be busy this week. The older two kids won't start school again (in full swing) until after the Memphis trip is over. As for Ivee, she will begin school this Tuesday at the preschool at the church (it is K1-K4). I want her to be around other children, so that she can be encouraged to catch up (to a degree. I'm not pushing) and begin to act like other two year olds. As far as attitude goes, she is already there. Just physically and in speech, I believe interaction with other children her age is the best way to have a child develop in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, we will only have one week of school under our belt before possible surgery. Then we will have to wait from 3 to 6 weeks before she could return. She does heal quickly, but we won't be pushing her (or her teacher for that matter).
Of course, as I stated before, surgery is not a sure thing until Ivee is examined by Dr. Sanford. So as of August 18th, we will know if life will continue as it has been, or if we will all have to slow down and take it easy for a while.
Mommy and Daddy are a bit anxious. We (and she) have been through this once already, and as many of you know or have experienced, it is not something you want to repeat. BUT, kids are tough and God is BIG! He is sufficient for everything. SO, I will do my best not to fret (which I do internally, doesn't show much on the outside...but on the inside, sometimes I'm a mess!!) for I know I am never alone and that there is nothing to small or great, and we are never out of his hands!
Pray! Pray! Pray!
Thanks, The Foley's