Trying to hang tough!!!

Sometimes life throws some pretty mean curve balls but you must stand in there, hang tough and take them and then fight back!!!  So Mitch's appointment was kinda what I thought it would be. When we got to the Dr, office yesterday morning Dave said "Mitch, I still haven't seen your arm do that twitching thing you have been telling me about"! Well Mitch said "just watch it cause it is going to do it now". Yep he had a seizure right there in the parking lot! We got him in the building and got him in a wheelchair and wheeled him to Dr. Lanigar's office and they came and got us and Dr. Lanigar was with another patient but we think she went and got him but by the time he got in there he was coming out of it. We think it lasted about 30 minutes. Dr. Lanigar told Mitch and us that Mitch, is defiantly his most challenging and difficult patient, of course Mitch isn't the text book type! He wanted to know if we thought his seizures were different than before and I said yes because before he was having so many and we never even knew it but now he is able to tell us when they are going to happen. he agreed with us on that.  He wanted to put Mitch back in the hospital and do the long term EEG but couldn't get him in until the end of August, so he decided to do a ambulatory EEG, which we will take him to the hospital on Monday and they will hook him all up and then we can go home and he will wear it until Thursday! If this doesn't show much then the end of August he will have to enter back in the hospital and do the other one. Dave asked Dr. Lanigar if he would have been hooked up if he thought it would have showed up as a seizure and Dr. Lanigar just isn't sure yet if these are seizures or healing! He did start Mitch on another seizure medicine and also gave us a prescription to have if he has a seizure to give him to bring him out of it sooner, now I just hope I am organized enough to have it with us when we need!  We were all pretty bummed yesterday and Mitch still claims he will not do another surgery but I told him I feel we need to get a second opinion and try to keep going, we have came this far lets not give up now. I also told Mitch that he hit his beautiful head so darn hard the day of the accident and dang it he is paying for it now.  So we will head back to Columbia on Monday and get all hooked up and pray that Dr. Lanigar will see what he needs to and all of this is just part of the healing process.   Thanks so much for all the prayers, kind words and encouragement, we really do appreciate them all! Thanks also to Traci and Robert Archer for bringing a piece of the NWMSU Bearcat Turf, Mitch was pretty excited to get it!  God Bless you all,  Theresa

Hanging in there!

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated!  I got anxious and called Dr. Lanigar's office on Monday just to let them know that Mitch was still having a few spells and not feeling the best and also I wanted to know about the EEG!  They called back and said the EEG was NORMAL!!!  First normal EEG they have seen from Mitch! We are thrilled but Dr. Lanigar wants to see us Friday, I wonder if he will want to put him in the hospital and do the extended EEG to make sure the night time activity is gone as well, That is me just thinking so that may not be it at all!!!  Dr. Lanigar still thinks his brain is healing so I hope and pray that is what is going on and Mitch will feel better soon.  I will update when we get home from Columbia Friday!  He continue to not feel the best in the mornings and he does still think that he has stuff going on at night and he is pretty sad the darn Royals are stinking up the field right now but he really seems more happy, alert and ornery to me and lets go ROYALS!!!  Thanks so much for the continued prayers, kind words and support, they really do help us get through this darn roller coaster ride we are on.   Love you all,  Theresa

Long Week!!!

It has been a Very Long week and it is only Thursday!  Between Mitch and I we have had 6 appointments in three different hospitals, good thing we have nothing better to do:)!  Mitch had an appointment in Columbia on Monday and he got his stitches out and had an EEG, we won't find anything out from that for 10 days! Dr. Tanaka was just like Dr. Lanigar and she wasn't concerned at all about Mitch's seizures he has been having, she too thinks it is part of the healing process!  Mitch hasn't been feeling the best in the mornings and he wanted me to watch him sleep and see if I noticed any seizure activity at night, so I did last night and I didn't notice anything. Dave and I are hoping he is just upset because of the activity he has had during the day, we all just want the seizures gone!!   I want to send a huge thank  you to my Aunt Cindy and Cousins Vicki and Becca for coming out this week and helping me get to all our appointments, and also to Mom and Aunt Trude for helping with Gia and Quincy, so I didn't have to drag them with me, they would have been so bored!!!! I had a shot in my eye in KC on Tuesday and Mitch had therapy in Maryville and then on Wednesday I had to see my heart Dr. in St Joe and then got my third shot in my knee in Maryville and today Mtich has therapy and I think tomorrow we have a free day so we will play, play, play before Joel and Tiff get home from Mexico!! So glad they are having a fun vacation but wish our life wasn't so crazy so we could have some fun with the kids but they aren't lacking for attention as they have spent some quality time with Steve, Vickie and their family at the lake, thank you guys for letting them hang out with you!! We have facetimed with Joel and Tiff in Mexico a couple times and also Dan, Mary and their family are on Hilton Head Island and we facetimed with them this morning and both places look beautiful!  We all continue to pray that Mitch is healing and all these seizures will soon be gone. Thank you all so much for sticking with us through this journey! We really appreciate all the prayers and encouraging words you are giving us. Love you all, Theresa

Ups and Downs!

Well, I'm not sure what to say!! Mitch has been going to therapy and doing real well with that, He continues to get stronger everyday!  He has had some really good days and we just LOVE those but then he has had some pretty yucky days and they bring us way down to our knees.  On Wednesday, July 13th, Mitch woke up and felt like he had seizures all night just like before, he we very irritable and just felt pretty crappy all day. Then on Thursday, he had an awesome day and was joking with me and feeling great, then this morning he woke up and he said he was feeling good but by 8:10 am I knew he was in full seizure mode:(!  I called Dave home and we couldn't get him out of it so we headed over to ER, he was throwing up and just not quite with it! I called Dr. Lanigar and he wanted them to do a CT scan, blood work, to check for infection and levels of his seizure meds! He really wasn't concerned at all about this and said it is just all post traumatic surgery and his brain is still healing!! They gave him some fluids and got him all hydrated back up, then after checking everything and it was all fine, they sent us back home. He has been resting and just staying low key for the day!  WE are trying to stay positive and pray that this is just part of the healing process, I'm sure there will be alot more Ups and Downs.  He goes back Monday to get his stitches out and then they will do an EEG to check for seizure activity. Thanks so much to everyone that came and helped this morning and for all the visits at the hospital, we really was needing all those hugs and thanks for all the prayers, we really couldn't do this without you all. Love you all,  Theresa  

One Day at a Time!!!

So, I was very apprehensive about my last post  because we all know things can change in a heart beat and that is exactly what happened.  I took Mitch down to see Mom on Sunday afternoon and we all started playing a game and having a great time when all of a sudden I heard Mary say "Mitch are you ok"? Well he was having one of his many different kind of seizures, where his lip was quivering and droopy! It lasted maybe 1-2 minutes and then he was fine but in all seriousness we were devastated! I did call the hospital and Dr. Lanigar wasn't on call so I just spoke to the Dr. on call and he assured me that as long as he was conscious and he knew what was going on that it was ok. He did want me to follow up with Dr. Lanigar today and I did call him and left a message and he called me right  back, He was more worried that it was his famous arm seizure and when I told him what all had happened, he wasn't worried at all.  He really isn't sure why it happened but he said he has a whole lot of healing to do yet and Mitch needs to have fun but also needs to take it a little easy.  Mitch didn't feel very good yesterday, he was very worried that the seizure had found a new spot to come out of, but this morning after talking to Dr. Lanigar he is back to smiling and teasing me a whole bunch.  I can't tell you that I am fine with all of this but I will tell you that, God is in control and we will take this One Day at a Time!   Thank you all for all your continued support and prayers, I know they are all being heard and answered, I want to Thank Mitch's Doctors that have me call them and they call right back and help calm us down! This is just a small bump in the road and now we need to keep him healing! He will start therapy on Thursday and I know that will help him feel stronger fast. I did get my first shot in my knee this morning and that went great, one down four to go!  Thanks again to you all for EVERYTHING and we Love you all,  Theresa
P.S. He got a belated birthday card in the mail today from the Royals and they said they are following his blog, so thanks so much for the card it did put a smile on his face. What an awesome group of Royal people you are!!!  He LOVES you all so very much!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanking God!

Well, it's been a while again, sorry. Mitch has been absolutely great, we went back to Columbia on Wednesday and Dr. Lanigar was thrilled. He thought Mitch looked better, acted better and is better than he has been for a very long time. He told us that he wants to do a EEG on July 18th, when Mitch gets his stitches out, and he knows that NOTHING will show up, No abnormal activity and no seizures. We have waited a very long time, 14 1/2 years to be exact, to hear those words.  Dr. Lanigar was pretty upset the night Mitch had the 3 hour seizure and he told us that was just too long for anyone to have a seizure. They are all pretty confident that they have found the Focal point, where all the seizures are coming from, and that he will never have another one again. We are just all thrilled!!! Mitch says he sleeps better, feels like getting up and ready to start everyday with a smile on his face. Dr. Lanigar will not start weening Mitch off any medicine until next summer. We continue to pray that they are gone forever and will never show up again. As most of you know, I was going to have a knee replacement on the 11th of July, my knee was bothering me alot but it really is a ton better and I feel like I can finally walk again. I still have trouble kneeing and getting up off the floor but hey at least it don't hurt, anyway I have canceled that for the time being and I will start a series of shots on Tuesday July 5 and I am praying that will give me a couple of years before I will have to have a new knee. Mitch is getting ready to start therapy and Dave would be run ragged trying to help him and me, so it is wonderful that I can wait. We have alot of things to be thankful for but mostly Mitch's successful surgery, our health, and all of you and our precious God, so thank you all so much for your prayers and support during this crazy time in our life. We cherish you all and please stop by if you are in the area. We pray you all have a safe and Happy 4th, summer is almost over!  Love you all, David, Theresa and Mitch