Intense Pressure

This is Michael again, writing to keep you updated on Stephanie. As she mentioned in her last post, her pain has greatly increased over the last week. She’s also had more frequent spells of confusion where it’s been hard for her to process conversation and respond, even to simple questions like how she’s feeling and where she’s going. We went to the ER yesterday when the pain still wasn’t under control. Her neuro oncologist ordered another spinal tap to test the pressure of her spinal fluid, and it came back ridiculously high. They removed some spinal fluid to reduce the pressure, but knew that was only temporary because her body would regenerate it. 

So in the middle of the night slash early this morning, they transferred Stephanie via ambulance to where her neuro oncologist is. Along the drive, the ambulance diverted into another ER because Stephanie was struggling with the travel. However, this afternoon we finally arrived. Her doctors took out more spinal fluid to try to ease the pressure again before having another surgery. This time they gave her an EVD (external ventricular drain), which basically is an open drain to her spinal fluid through the brain where they can manage and dictate the pressure they want. This is a temporary device as it’s on top of the skin and prone to infection. However, if the reduced pressure eases any of her pain and helps with the confusion, then they’ll do another surgery in a couple days to implant a shunt, which is a more permanent way of draining spinal fluid to control over pressurization. 

I will post again in a few days, or hopefully Stephanie will be feeling up to it and can, to keep you posted on how she reacts to this procedure. We truly appreciate all of your prayers, and ask you to continue to pray for us as we face this difficult time.