Wednesday, May 14, 2008

A Day in EMU



This morning, we checked Jessie into the EMU (Epilepsy Monitoring Unit) at Johns Hopkins. She has been through this routine quite a few times before at Cook Children's Hospital, so she knew the drill. Lots of wires glued to her head with the smell of acetone filling the air. The EEG Tech was quick, and she was all wired in ready to watch TV.

We are staying across the street from the hospital at The Believe in Tomorrow Children's House (Children's House for short). We are extremely blessed to be here. We can be by Jessie's side in 5 minutes easy. Today Kristi went back to Children's House to take a quick nap, while I stayed with Jessie. This was her first nap in a long time...she deserved it.

Children's House is similar to a Ronald McDonald House (I think...I've never been to a RMH). There are only a dozen or so rooms, and it is for parents of kids with life-threatening illnesses. It is amazingly quiet, and the staff is incredible. We share a kitchen with those on our floor, and there are lots of common areas such as TV rooms, game rooms, play rooms, etc.. It is set up for long-term stays, and we are blessed to be back here during surgery and rehab. This is where we will live, receive mail, do laundry, etc... when Jessie is here for surgery and rehab. http://www.believeintomorrow.org/housing_hopkins.html

Last night, they had therapy dogs in for the families, and the local Corvette club brought in a spaghetti dinner. The lady at the front desk even waited to feed the fish, so that Jessie could do it this morning, because she had shown interest the night before. They are all so caring here.

This morning, Dr. Vining (Jessie's Baltimore Neurologist) came in to see Jessie, and Diana Pillas (the counselor and out-of-state coordinator) came in to see Jessie. She spent a solid hour with us, and it was a nice talk. They are both very caring and compassionate people who are looking out for Jessie and our family. I think that no less than 3 other neurologist came in to see Jessie today. They were all nice and had excellent bed-side manner.

Jessie and Miss McGaugh had a nice surprise today when we hooked up a Video Conference between Johns Hopkins and Stuard Elementary. Miss McGaugh, Robin Seay, and I actually set this up a few weeks back so that we could help Jessie to feel closer to home. She smiled from ear-to-ear as she saw Miss McGaugh and all her classmates and talked to them. We plan on doing this each day this week.

She also did video conferencing with Grammie and Grandad, Matt, Jake, Josh, and Gramm, Papa, Michelle and Justin from Wyoming today. Ouving and Fonzie sang to along with Papa to Jessie. We plan to use this to help her feel closer to family during her rehab in June and July. If you could see the look on their face when she sees someone from home, you have to know that it will help her heal faster.

I was told by the local CBS station, that you will be able to see their footage on Dallas / Ft. Worth, Channel 11 at 10:00PM on Monday night. All of you will finally get to see Jodie, whom I have written about several times. She is such a sweet girl.

At the same time, the Baltimore station will be running their story on Jessie. Since you cannot get Baltimore TV, you can catch that on their website if you are interested. It should be posted soon after the broadcast. http://wjz.com/ This should be an excellent piece as they sent out one of their lead anchors to cover it, and covered Jessie and Jodie together, as well as some time with Dr. Carson.

God Bless all of you for your prayers and for being Jessie's Angels.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

We are so proud of the Hall Zoo and ya'll are in our prayers Jessie,Grayson talks about you every day and how hard you hit that ball. You made my outfield coaching experience more than I ever though it could be. You are truely an inspiration to us all. The Sidewinders look forward to your return!!!

Coach Hawley

Anonymous said...

I continue to pray for you and your family. God bless you all.

Anonymous said...

Hello from the Petersson Family-I have two children who are 6 and 8.We are Americans living in Sweden and read the article on iCNN about Jessie. My daughters favorite color is pink too. We wanted you to know that prayers are not only being sent trans-America but trans- Atlantic too. Prayers work.
A little extra advise....As well as getting the needed rest at the Childrens House, remember to also get some fresh air and exercise. Walk around and around the hospital if need be. Its good for the heart and soul. Take care and know that there are people across 'the big pond' who are praying for you and your family. Med Vänligt Hälsningar,
kp

Anonymous said...

Cris and Kristi - I have had Jessie on my mind the past days and decided to check out her blog. Coincidence that God put you all on my heart to pray for? I think not either. You all have been such a blessing to me and so many of my family members. We will continue to pray and trust that our Lord's perfect will continue to be done. Here is a big Texas hug for y'all! Gwen Welty

Anonymous said...

Welcome to Baltimore! I have been praying for Jessie and your family. I really do believe that God is watching over all of you and that Jessie is going to come through all of this and do awesome things with her life. Not wanting her to be a superstar (as you said) but just living her life happy and healthy - what parents want the most for their kids. God bless you and I the prayers will keep on being prayed!

Tammy

Anonymous said...

Well, that sounded funny in my last comment! God bless you and I (in the last paragraph)!!! Some medical editor I am! LOL! Meant to type "God bless you and the prayers will keep on being prayed!"

Tammy

The Meiers said...

I just read Jessie's blog all the way through. Wow! What a great blog! I found it on the online hemispherectomy group. I want to let you know that our family will be praying for Jessie and your entire family. Our son, Zachary had a right hemispherectomy 11/16/06 (9 days before his 6th birthday). His was not due to Rasmussen's, but he had life threatening seizures (Diastat on hand at all times). Zachary has been seizure-free ever since. He is also medication-free now and doing great. It was a tough journey, but we have no regrets. We, too, don't believe in coincidences and know that God's glory will be revealed through Jessie's surgery and recovery.
May God bless you all. Zachary sends a big high five to Jessie!

The Meier family (Jason, Mary Lou, Zachary and Lexi)
zachsotmom@yahoo.com