Back In Texas at Last!!!

http://www.prayforjessie.org/

Jessie and her buddy Bella at KKI, saying thanks to Midwest Airlines for all of their help. BJ, you are the Greatest!!!!

Jessie is finally Home!!...well at least in Texas and close to home. We flew yesterday eveing, and were met by lots of friends and more TV cameras than I have ever seen in my life!!

We drove over to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth and got Jessie registered, and they were ready for her. Jessie had a grin from ear-to-ear when she saw her brothers and Grandma. It was amazing!!! She didn't even seem to mind beging back in another hospital.

Jessie can stand pretty well, but still need a lot of work to walk independently. We are certain that Cook Children's Hospital will get her walking.

Thanks to all of Jessie's Angels for guarding over her and our family. I'll keep everyone updated on how Jessie is doing.

God Bless All of You!!

Here are a few News Clips from Jessie's arrival to DFW and Cook Children's Medical Center.
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=7017897&version=1&locale=EN-US

http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=264944

http://cbs11tv.com/local/Jessie.Hall.Returns.2.774748.html

http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=277475

http://www.prayforjessie.org

Jessie : On Her Way to Texas This Friday!!!!!

http://www.prayforjessie.org/

I'm sure that by the time most of you have read this, you will already know what I'm about to tell you. It seems that these days, the television news is faster than me!! I knew that I was getting old and slow, but this is ridiculous!

OK, as reported by CBS 13 in Baltimore and CBS 11 in Dallas, and whomever else, Jessie IS coming home to Texas on Friday!!!! Hooray!!!!!! Praise our Father in Heaven!!!

Her Fevers are less frequent, and right now, everything is a GO to leave KKI on Thursday, and fly back to Dallas on Friday, and check in to Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth for another couple of weeks of in-patient rehab. We are so excited!!!

For those of you who saw the report tonight, I know that you share in our joy to see Jessie ride a rehab bike and walk with assistance. It is truly a miracle of God and modern medicine. Jessie still has a long way to go, but she has come SO FAR!

I have heard that some of you want to get Jessie something as a way to say "Welcome Home!", and we appreciate the thought so much. Jessie has been so blessed by the outpouring of support through various gifts and we are so grateful. We ask, however, if you want to do something in Jessie's name, please donate to The Hemispherectomy Foundation. The donation IS tax deductible, and it will go to help many other children and their families. Jessie's room can only hold so many stuffed animals. :-)

To donate to The Hemispherectomy Foundation:

Send your tax deductible donation to:

The Hemispherectomy Foundation
PO Box 1239
Aledo, TX 76008

http://www.prayforjessie.org/hemi_foundation.html

or buy a t-shirt or bracelet from The Pinkalicious Boutique. All proceeds benefit The Hemi Foundation.

http://www.prayforjessie.org/pinkalicious_boutique.html


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For those of you who read the comments, we were honored to have Dr. Hsu leave Jessie a comment tonight. He, of course is the doctor who assisted Dr. Carson with Jessie's surgery, and let our little girl write Texas Tech on his forehead. A real humbling experience for a Michigan man! Thanks Dr. Hsu

Also, please say a prayer tonight for the Johnson family in Schertz Texas (near San Antonio). Westley, 8, is struggling with intractable seizures and his family is struggling to do the best for him. They have done so much already, and refuse to give up. Let's raise them up to God as well and hope that they find some peace for Westley and the whole family.

To give you an idea of the diversity of health issues that go on here at KKI, I'm going to pass on a YouTube video from one of the patients here. This is Isabella, and she is the cutest little 4-year-old girl that you will ever meet. On the outside, there appears to be nothing wrong. She's always smiling and so outgoing...but here is her story. Get ready for a cry when you watch this one. Remember, every kid and family up here has a story. Please pray for Bella to learn to eat! Seems simple...but it's not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmAfYq3uDu8

Of course she is at KKI, so here is a follow up video to make you smile :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsT-ZhnmQJ0&feature=related


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Here are some pictures of Jessie at Rehab in Kennedy Krieger : Work & Play!


Here is Jessie on the Split Belt Treadmill. She does this once a day.



This thing is PT (Physical Torture). They let me try it and within 1 minute and 20 seconds, my left thigh was burning like a had run 10 miles. No kidding...and I used to run marathons. They make Jessie do it 3 times...2 and a half minutes each time!!



The right belt moves faster, which causes her to work her left leg out more...it bears weight longer.



Here's a back view. Two different belts going 2 different speeds. It's important to note that this is experimental, and Jessie is part of a study that hopes to show the effectiveness of the machine.
This is not mainstream rehab equipment.



Standing Practice!



"Oh, Well, at least I get to watch movies..."



And now the play time. The Child Life people at KKI are amazing and are really inovative in their ways of making the kids feel normal and not institutionalized. They have weekly outings and many planned activities throughout the week. This is a water fight that the kids really enjoyed. I kinda had fun too.



Macey and Jessie in the heat of battle.



"Don't you dare, Macey!!!" Watch Out Isabella (Bella) is filling up behind you!



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Good night and I hope to see most of you in Texas Soon. Thanks to all of Jessie's Angels for carrying us through this difficult journey.

God Blessings to All,

Cris

http://www.prayforjessie.org/

The Founders of The Hemispherectomy Foundation

http://www.prayforjessie.org/

Although there have been many people involved in the creation of The Hemispherectomy Foundation, I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce some of the people who were instrumental in creating this foundation that will help many children and their families through awareness, education, and aid surrounding the diseases that lead up to this radical surgery and the hemispherectomy surgery itself.


This is, of course, Jessie (pictured with her brain surgeon Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson). Without Jessie's dynamic personality, her love for EVERYONE and her outgoing, spunky, brave, dynamic, persevering personality, The Hemispherectomy Foundation would have never happened. She inspires me, her father, and many other people to do BIG things and to have BIG ideas. I don't understand it, but I follow it. I believe with all my convictions that our Father in heaven has BIG plans for her and the other children and parents who have survived hemispherectomy surgery and for those who help them survive...their angels.
From left, First is Kristi (Jessie's mom), who started the whole idea with a scholarship; The Jessie Hall Hemispherectomy Scholarship (JHHS). This blossomed into something much bigger, and has now become The Hemispherectomy Foundation. Next is Caren Jennings, who has worked tirelessly to set up operations, fund raisers, Internet presence, and networking to make the foundation happen. I'm the one on the right, and I think that they let me in because they feel sorry for me. ;-0

Also, we have to give credit to our Creator for inspiring many people to rally around Jessie, and then The Hemispherectomy Foundation to plant the seeds in good ground so that they will grow into fruitful trees to feed the many children and their families who desperately need it.

This is Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson. He is the remarkable neurosurgeon, and Christian man, who revised The Hemispherectomy surgery so that it was a viable solution to ending intractable seizures and giving children and their families a better quality of life.

There are also people out there like Mikel Shelton, of Shelton, Mead & Shelton, who has graciously agreed to do the Accounting work for The Hemispherectomy Foundation and file the mountain of paperwork to make the foundation a non-profit 501 (c) 3 foundation.

And Gary Jordon, an attorney from Weatherford, who volunteered his services to ensure that our legal needs were taken care of, especially in setting up our corporation, the basis or the foundations non-profit enterprise.

And Brian Melven, who set up the first web site for the foundation, and the precursor for The Hemispherectomy Foundation website. Our first fundraiser and educational site. Pray For Jessie - http://www.prayforjessie.org/

And John Jennings (Caren's Husband), who has been working tirelessly to put into place the Official Website for The Hemispherectomy Foundation, and for setting up the books for the non-profit corporation, and helping with mailings, logistics, and so many other things.

The countless other people who have helped in so many ways to make The Hemispherectomy Foundation possible. Our next phase will be Fund Raising, Awareness, and Education. I know that there are so many more of you that want to help, and I can't wait to work with each of your to make this a world-class organization and to feel the love that will surround these children and their families.

If you want to be a part of this organization and helping these kids and their families, please send a quick note to Caren (marypoppins@uwmail.com) and let her know that you are interested in helping and where you would enjoy helping the most. We will be in touch soon to put your ideas and strengths into action. I promise that the rewards will be more than you can imagine. Thank You!!!

Warm Blessings,

Cris Hall

VP and Treasurer, The Hemispherectomy Foundation
http://www.prayforjessie.org/

Fever Persists

http://www.prayforjessie.org

The fever has persisted and gotten as high as 102.5 today. They are able to control it with Motrin, but they can't seem to figure out where it is coming from. The blood work is pretty much inconclusive.

Fever, of course, usually indicates an infection (either bacterial or viral), but nothing significant is showing up in blood or urine samples. Hemispherectomy kids, usually have persistent fevers, but I'm not sure if these are common 1 month after surgery. I'm waiting for some answers from other parents who have gone through this process to see what their experiences were.

In the mean time, Jessie is feeling pretty good when the Mortrin is in her, and even did all of her therapy today. Sunday's are, Biblically and in the rehab world of KKI, a day of rest.

I hope that everyone has a Sunday full of rest for the body and for the spiritual soul. Please say a little prayer for Jessie, that this pesky fever goes away, and we can come back to Texas next week.

I've added blogs of other Hemispherectomy kids to my blog list on the left bottom of Jessie's blog. These are either recent kids who have undergone the procedure, or who will soon do it. Please offer up a short prayer for these kids as well.

Kristi and I hope to see all of you real soon, so that you can see how well Jessie is doing. Her voices and speech are good, and her left hand is about the same as before surgery...only it isn't in a continuous seizure anymore. She is not able to walk on her own yet, however, her legs are getting stronger and hopefully in a month or so, she will be there.

We had a wonderful visit with Caren Jennings while she was up here this week, and I believe that she may have made a new friend in Jane Stefanik. I know that we have. The Hemispherecomy Foundation will be a HUGE success with these two on the team. I know that many others of you want to be a part of The Hemispherectomy Foundation, and I look forward to working with you. In the meantime, please send emails to Kristi or Caren, and we will file them away until we have projects ready to launch. Thanks again to all of you who have volunteered to help.

God's Rest to all of you tonight. Cris

A Bit of a Fever

http://www.prayforjessie.org

Jessie had a fever last night, and then again tonight. I don't think that it is anyting serious. Hemispherectomy kids commonly have fevers. The main concern is always septic meningitis, but this is not likely to be the problem.

It's kinda funny to see how different doctors handle things like this. The doctor last night saw that Jessie had a fever of 38.5 C and was ready to put her on IV antibiotics, which we ask him to wait til morning. By morning, she had no fever. This afternoon, she had a fever of 40 C and the doctor didn't blink. They're still doing some blood labs, etc to make sure it is nothing to be worried about.

Kristi is with Jessie tonight, and Jess is smiling and talking like nothing is wrong. Each day, more and more of her personality comes back. We are so thankful to be nearing the end of our journey.

Right now, the schedule is that we will be coming home on the 18th, and then into Cooks in-patient rehab. Nothing is final yet, however.

Thanks again to all of you for your prayers for Jessie and our family.

God Bless You! Cris