All Is Well

I first want to apologize for not updating in such a long time.  You have all been so faithful in checking this blog and praying, so I'm sorry for not updating!  Fortunately, it has been kind of a "no news is good news" situation!  We had the great privilege of going before our church congregation the Sunday after my surgery (not even a full week after my surgery, WOW!) to thank them for their support and prayers and to rejoice and praise God together for His overwhelming answers to the countless prayers sent up.  It was an emotional moment as is always the case when we see God move in such amazing ways.  Since coming home I have had no major complications at all.  The first weekend I was still very swollen in my face and along my incision, but that has almost completely subsided.  I have been able to stop taking my pain medicine as well.  My incision site and a few other spots affected by the surgery are still a little sore when touched, but are getting better everyday and don't require medication for the pain.  On Friday I have an appointment for neuropsychology testing (I did this last time as well).  This will test my "thinking skills" to make sure everything is in working order for things like returning to work, (and I'm HOPING driving), etc. and will help determine if I am in need of any outpatient therapy.  Sometime within the next week or two I will also have my follow-up appointment with my surgeon.  As always, we thank you for journeying with us and praying for us.  We are doing very well and are so thankful!
God Bless,
Seth and Cami

Thursday Night

Some great news, Cami is home!  We keep feeling like we need to pinch ourselves!  We can hardly believe that Cami is progressing so quickly, especially when at this point after the last surgery Cami was still in a coma.   We give God ALL GLORY AND HONOR AND PRAISE!!!  Nausea is gone, Cami has been able to get some more rest, and pain is controlled through medication for now.  We are just so baffled right now!  Praise God!  Please continue to pray for no complications as well as reduction in swelling (Cami's face is pretty swollen).  Thank you for joining us in honoring God through prayers and praises today!  We'll continue to update!

Wednesday Night

Just a quick update on Cami's status.  She was able to move out of the ICU tonight and into the monitoring wing.  We are still on track to go home sometime tomorrow so we should be sleeping in Brownsburg tomorrow night.  Dr. Pritz says he expects Cami to be very tired for a while so we may still hold off on visitors for a little while, but we will be excited to see you all very soon.

Thanks for your continued prayers,
Seth

Tuesday @ Noon

We have had several more answers to prayer today.  Today Cami saw her speech therapist for her evaluation and did great.  She was actually told that she wouldn't need any additional speech therapy after she is released from the hospital.  A little while after that her physical therapist came for her PT evaluation and the results were just as good.  She was able to get up and walk around (something she couldn't do after  2 full weeks last time) and her therapist told her she probably wouldn't even need any outpatient therapy.

This is just such a blessing to see how well Cami is doing after the surgery.  After just 24 hours she already looks, feels, and acts better than she did after several weeks after her December surgery.  Even when she first woke up Cami could tell a huge difference.  She told me that her first thought was "Thank you Jesus, I'm not in a coma!!"  We know that a huge part of this is a direct result of the amount of prayers we received.  I just can't even to begin to explain how much better she is doing in comparison to the last surgery.  We praise and thank God for just the work he has done and continues to do.  I'll continue to let you guys know how Cami is doing.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support, they are definitely being felt here.

Seth

11:00 p.m.

Things continue to go well but Cami is still very nauseous and is having a lot of pain in her head.  Her nurses have said that this is normal considering what she just went through, but Cami would love prayer about these two things.  Prayers that we would both be able to get some sleep tonight would also be appreciated.  Tomorrow will likely be another long day (of a different sort) and a good nights sleep would be helpful for approaching the day.

Thanks again for continuing to lift us up in prayer,

Seth

7:00 P.M.

Great News!!!  God truly is good.  I was just back with Cami for the last 30 minutes or so and she is doing great.  She is awake, alert, and was extremely happy to not be in a coma.  She was able to respond to everyone here and talk with us.

Some other good news, we talked to Dr. Pritz and the AVM is completely removed.  Cami is still on bed rest so we don't know what sort of side affects there will be, but we continue to trust that God will continue to bless us and whatever side affects there are that Cami will be able to overcome them quickly.

We thank you so much for your prayers and are so excited for when we get to see you all again.

Love,
Seth and Cami

3:45 Update

Dr. Pritz just came and spoke with us.  Cami is out of surgery.  Everything went well and the AVM is gone.  She is in the recovery room right now and will be moved to the ICU later on today.  I'll update after we have had a chance to see her and find out anything else about the surgery.

Seth

3:00 Update

We just got word that things have been going well and they just closed on the surgery.  Dr. Pritz should be coming out soon to talk to us and to give us more information on how the surgery went.  I'll update more as I find out more.

12:30 Update

We got another update a little while ago.  Things are continuing to go well and as planned.  Thanks for continuing to think about and pray for us.

Seth

11:00 a.m. Update

I just got another update on Cami.  She started surgery around 10:00 and things are still going well and as according to plan.

Seth

Monday 9:00 a.m.

Good Morning All,

Now that we are at the hospital I will try to send out updates whenever we get them (generally every 2 hours or so).  Cami is back in the OR.  Everything was routine as she checked in this morning and they should actually start operating at any time.

Thanks again for your prayers this morning.

Seth

Praises and Prayers

Hi Everyone!  Before surgery tomorrow we wanted to share a few things.  First of all, we wanted to remind ourselves of the many specific ways God has taken care of us and proved Himself faithful during this time in our lives.  We thought it’d be neat for you to hear all the incredible ways He’s been working.  We praise God for these things.

• I have never signed up for any of the “extra” insurances offered through my work until last year, sort of on a whim, I signed up for short term disability coverage.  God saw ahead of us and provided financially for us before we even knew I had an AVM.
• After finding out about my AVM we learned that pregnancy can be a very dangerous thing for a woman.  The very same day that Seth and I officially had the “I think we’d be open to trying to get pregnant” discussion was the day I had the seizure, which is how we found the AVM.  God protected me.
• Generally people have to “jump through the hoop” of seeing a neurologist first, then be referred to a neurosurgeon, etc.  For some reason (we’d say God’s provision!) our first appointment happened to take place with my neurosurgeon, who is one of the best around, and he was able to see us right away.  He has been very accommodating and knowledgeable.     
• God has provided Seth for me as an amazing support, and I also have a loving and supportive family all living in the area willing to help out in any way possible.  Not to mention we have an amazing support in our friends and other family members....that would be YOU! :-)  THANK YOU!
• A friend of mine sent me a Bible verse early on in all this that really meant a lot to me.  A few days later 3 of my dearest friends gave me a daily devotional book.  On the day they happened to give it to me, the exact same scripture was the verse that was highlighted in the devotional for the day.  (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
• The AVM is on my left side, and I’m left handed.  This means a few things.  1st, most people’s speech is controlled by the left side of the brain, but because I’m left handed mine is likely controlled by the right side, so it’s not likely my speech will be affected. 2nd, because the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, if I have lasting numbness or paralysis from the surgery it will at least be on the right side of my body rather than my dominant side.
• The timing for the first surgery has worked out well for Seth in order for him to avoid taking a ton of work off. The majority of my stay was over his Christmas break.  I came home from the hospital on January 3rd, and he started back to school on the 4th.
• We have been blessed to hear stories of God’s glory being revealed to many as they’ve journeyed with us.  Praise God!  
• I have been able to reconnect with a friend from high school who had brain surgery as a teenager.  Although our stories are not exactly the same, it has been beautiful and therapeutic to hear her story and be able to share mine with her, someone who understands many of the things I’m going through.  Julie, you are inspiring!
• I have experienced rapid healing from my first surgery. 
• I’ve had incredible nurses, and it has almost seemed like I was given certain nurses at certain times to fulfill exactly what I needed at that specific time.    
• There are likely a million other things we are leaving off the list, but those are some very specific ways we’ve seen God working.

We also wanted to ask you to pray over some specific things as well as anyway you feel led to pray.  Please pray for:

• All medical staff involved:  surgeons (Dr. Pritz is the lead surgeon), anesthesiologists, nurses, other doctors attending to me, and anyone else we’re forgetting!   
• No coma or hallucinations this time!  
• A smooth and successful surgery.  That surgeons would be able to completely and safely remove the entire AVM.
• No paralysis or increased numbness
• No speech or vision problems
• No complications from anesthesia 
• Overall safety and physical protection
• Peace and comfort for waiting family and friends and Cami as she goes into surgery
• Ability to rest and for a speedy recovery and protection from scary thoughts during recovery
• God’s glory to continue be revealed to many 

Again, we thank you so much for your commitment to praying for us and journeying through this with us.  God bless you!  

Love,

Seth and Cami

Prayer Times

Friends and Family,

It is about that time again.  Monday Cami goes back to the hospital for her second surgery.  While we are both nervous, scared, apprehensive, etc, we are also excited with the prospect of being able to put this ordeal behind us, and feel so blessed with the way God has watched over us and provided all of you to lift us up with your thoughts, prayers, encouragement, cards, food, etc. over the last several months.  We ask that you continue to lift us up this week as the surgery day draws closer.

Something that we did for the last surgery that we would like to do again was to set up a page where people can sign up to commit to prayer during a certain part of the day.  It was reassuring and uplifting to know that from 6:00 a.m. until almost midnight on the day of the surgery, at least one, and many times two or three people were praying for Cami.  I have set up the same Wiki site at http://pray4cami.wikispaces.com/  If you would like to commit to praying for a specific 15 minute period during the day to ensure Cami is being lifted up in prayer throughout the surgery, please visit the site and sign up.  If you are unsure of how to sign up, feel free to email your name and a time you would like to sign up for and I will add you to the list.  As with all of our emails, blogs, and anything else we send out, feel free to share this with whomever you wish.  We had over 180 people signed up to pray last time, several of which we have never met and do not know and that is thanks to you all for forwarding our message along.      

Again we thank you all so much for your prayers.  We could not have gone through this without you. 

Love,

Seth and Cami

Surgery Date Set

Hello to all!  All tests on Thursday went very smoothly.  Thanks for your prayers.  We talked to my surgeon while we were at the hospital, and he told us my next surgery will be Monday, February 20th.  This brings equal amounts of relief and anxiety to me.  I am ready to be one step closer to the end of this though!  We don't know details about the time yet, but we assume we will need to report very early like last time.  As the time approaches we'll send out another page like we did before to sign up for prayer times.  As I always say (and could continue to say forever) thank you for your prayers and support.  

Love,

Seth and Cami

February 6th

Hello everyone!  I'm just writing with our latest update.  I am scheduled for a CT scan and arteriogram this Thursday, February 9th.  This will help the surgeon see what the current status of everything is so he can be best prepared for the second surgery.  We don't know yet when the actual surgery will be but anticipate it to be 2-3 weeks after Thursday's tests.  We ask for your prayers for safety at Thursday's procedures, that the results would be clear and helpful to the surgeon, that there continues to be no AVM bleeding before my next surgery, and we ask for prayers for peace as we anticipate the next surgery.  We praise God for the rapid healing I've experienced as well!  I know I will grow more anxious as the day approaches, but I also know God is in control.  I'm leaning on that a little more strongly everyday, but as a human, I'm also finding it's never as easy as I'd like it to be!  As always, thank you for your prayers and support.  We'll never be able to say it enough!  You mean the world to us!

Love,
Seth and Cami

January 27 Update

Hi Friends and Family,

I just wanted to upate you on the latest after meeting with my surgeon on Wednesday.  He seemed pleased with my progress in healing (as are we).  I am feeling more like myself each day and have been able to be up and about in more of a "regular routine," which is great!  The numbness in my right leg is slowly getting better!  The feeling in my calf has returned quite a bit, so it's mostly only my right foot that still has a pretty severe lack of sensation.  My surgeon was a bit baffled by that and doesn't have a medical explanation for why the feeling has returned.  To me this is very cool because it shows an answer to prayer.  To God be the glory for that returned feeling!  Yahoo!!!  We still don't have a definite date for surgery, but we are still anticipating mid to late February.  We will update on those dates as soon as they are set.  As always, we are so thankful for your prayers and support.  As evidenced in so many ways, we know they are being heard and answered.  We are enjoying this time to feel "normal" before my second surgery. 

Lots of love,
Cami and Seth 

January 13th

Hi Everyone!  We want to share more good news with you (Praise the Lord!) and thank you again for your prayers and support.  Monday and Tuesday I had a lot of neuropsychological testing (as well as some Occupational, Physical, and Speech therapy evaluations).  The good news is that after my results came back, it was determined that, for now, I don’t need any additional outpatient therapies.  I was given some exercises at home to complete to help me build back the muscle I lost in the coma.   After my second surgery I will return for another evaluation and will participate in therapy if it is determined that it’s needed at that time.  We meet with my surgeon on January 25th to see how things are going and set up the arteriogram (the test I mentioned in my previous post), and from there we will schedule surgery.  It is likely we won’t post a ton on the blog in the next few weeks unless something unexpected comes up.  I am feeling stronger everyday, and it’s hard to imagine that I was barely strong enough to left my head off the pillow 3 weeks ago.  Here are some things we would like to request prayer for:

• God’s perfect timing and will for what’s to come
• Quality sleep to promote healing.  (This is slowly getting better)
• Return of feeling in my right leg and continued general healing from the surgery
• Protection from feelings of depression (common with brain injuries)
• God’s glory to shine through the situation
• Stamina and energy for Seth as he is back to work and masters classes without really having any break over the holidays.  He was with me at the hospital everyday, all day until Tuesday the 3rd, and he went back to work the next day.
• God’s peace to reign in our hearts as we anticipate the next surgery instead of the “what ifs” that easily pop up in our minds.  
• Any other things you feel led to pray for!

Thank you again for following this and praying and showing us you care.  We will continue to update as we learn more, but hopefully there won’t me much to update on before the next surgery!  

Love, 

Seth and Cami

A message from Cami...

Combine all words from every language and dialect in the world with all forms of artistic expression through music, dance, art, poetry, etc. and there would still be no appropriate way to express how humbled and grateful I feel by the support of everyone checking this blog.  I quite literally sat and stared at the computer for several minutes and kept starting my first sentence over and over again until I realized that it is impossible to express the way your support has touched my heart. 

I only sat down to read the blog and all your posts a few days ago because, to be honest, I just wasn’t up to facing everything before then.  There were many scary hallucinations and frightening things in the hospital, so I think I just avoided reliving it as much as possible because I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t real.  So it took me awhile to build up the courage to remember all that had happened.

I hate to say this, but I think in the last few years I’ve lost bits and pieces of my faith in general.  Whether it has been losing a little of my faith in God or just my faith in humanity I’ve felt sort of “blah” about life....maybe just a little “burnt out” might describe it.  I feel like everyone’s too busy to really care about others...I’m too busy to really help others the way I’d like to help them, etc.   Whether this is due to just becoming an adult and being more aware of the evil in the world or what, it’s just how I’ve felt lately.  As I finally got up the courage to read the blog, I sat and read it with tears streaming down my face.  I was awed and humbled by the demonstration of God’s love through His people.  I just simply can’t begin to wrap my mind around the number of people who are praying for my family and me, and I KNOW those prayers have made a difference in my recovery.  If the first thing I said to everyone I see from this day forward every time I saw you was “Thank you so much for your prayers,” I wouldn’t be thanking you enough.  You have not only carried me (and my family) through an incredibly difficult time, but you have let God use you to restore my faith.  I never lost it entirely, but it is much stronger due to your prayers and demonstration of love.  I just can’t being to put into words how it feels to know there are so many people loving and caring for you.  I don’t want all of you to go through this, but I wish you could feel that power.  Hopefully you can get a small sense of it through the posts on the blog.

I have to laugh as I type this because I was always telling Seth, “Keep the posts short...no one has time to sit and read my blog all day...people are busy,” and here I am writing a book...SORRY!  We met with our surgeon today, and I’ll tell more about that in a second.  Before I do that, however, I can’t go one more second without bragging on my amazing husband.  Seth has been there for me above and beyond anything I could have imagined.  He has stayed strong, rational, and calm when I have been weak, irrational, and panicky.  He has helped care for me in ways that I’m sure he didn’t envision having to do when we said, “I do.”  I can’t fathom a man more perfect in the role of my husband, and I am so thankful God placed him in my life.  At our wedding we played a slideshow to the song “A Page is Turned” by Bebo Norman that says “And all this time, preparing her the one to hold her up when she comes undone.”  I know God has given Seth special wisdom to know how to hold me up through this all, and he has done so without the slightest hesitation.  Let me give you one tiny example of the devotion and patience he’s shown.  After 2 weeks in the hospital, my hair had become indescribably tangled to the point that I figured I’d just have to cut it off.  A nurse had told me that’s probably what I’d have to do too.  Seth spent about 10 hours over the course of 3 days detangling my hair (many times literally separating one or two hairs at a time) so that I wouldn’t have to cut it.  I just don’t know many guys who would have the patience for that!  Thank you, Seth.  Everyday I love you more!

Anyway, on with the latest update...we met with Dr. Pritz today, and he indicated that he’d like to wait until I’m feeling stronger before doing the next surgery.  We have another appointment set for 3 weeks from now to see how I’m feeling.  If I’m feeling pretty strong by then, we will do another arteriogram (the initial test we did in August) to see the status of things.  That would be followed a week or two later by the 2nd surgery.  So it looks like my 2nd surgery could be mid to late February???  I was able to get my staples removed today too!  Also on Monday I will start my outpatient therapy.  

I want to thank you again for all your support and prayers in this tough time.  Although I’m improving all the time, I beg for you to keep praying fervently because I know it’s due to your prayers that my recovery has been so speedy thus far.  Seth and I are lucky to have each of you in our lives and words can’t express that enough.  Thank you for standing by us.  Please continue to pray for a quick recovery, perfect timing for the 2nd surgery, and God’s glory to be revealed through every detail.  I was very anxious this morning thinking about having to do this all again and came across this scripture which was a comfort.  Ephesians 3:20   Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 

Thank you so much for everything!

Cami and Seth

January 3

Cami's home!

January 2

Thanks to everyone who signed up to bring meals over the next couple of weeks.  I got several emails about adding additional dates, but for now we are going to just stick with the ones I posted.  That may change in the next couple of weeks depending on how things play out and if so, I will be sure to post that on the blog.

Everything seems to still be on track for Cami to come home tomorrow.  We are both excited to finally be able to spend some time away from a hospital.  There are a lot of unknowns right now, but hopefully we will find out some more information as we continue to meet with various doctors/ therapists over the next couple of weeks.

I'll be sure to update things tomorrow after Cami is home.

Seth

January 1

Happy New Year!  We hope you have all had a fantastic start to the new year.  While our start may not have been the most ideal, we still have a lot to be thankful for and are excited for the upcoming year.  Cami is still on track to go home on Tuesday and will hopefully begin her outpatient therapy later on this week.  Again, while Cami is very excited to come home, it does make her a little nervous after being confined to the hospital for three weeks.  She continues to make great progress, but it will just take some time before she gets back to the way she was before the surgery.

I have had two specific requests from many of you over the last couple of days so I thought I would address both of them here since it seems like the easiest way to get news out to everyone.  The first was in regards to ways you all are able to help out.  The number one way to help is by still praying.  While Cami is going home, there are many things that are both difficult and different for her and going home will provide even more challenges.  I have also had many people ask if they can bring meals to help out.  This would make life a little more simple as we (Cami, Walt, Sherry, and me) adjust over the next few weeks.  I have included a link below where you are able to sign up for a specific day to bring food so we are not overwhelmed with food.  Please call before bringing food over to make sure someone is at home.  Thanks in advance for those that are able to sign up.  It will be one less thing we have to worry about on those days.    

http://mealbaby.com/viewregistry/11071975

The second request is in regards to visiting Cami.  While she is coming home Tuesday and is feeling much better, I feel it would be best to hold of on visiting at this time.  I know Cami would love to see many of you, but I believe it would best for her to wait until she is feeling a little more like her old self.  In the meantime, you can keep praying that Cami continues to improve and feel better so that she is able to have visitors.  I will be sure to know when I think she is feeling a little more like having some company.  Thanks for understanding.

Sorry for such a long post, thanks for reading to the end.

Seth