From the ICU...

I am in the ICU with Kristin and she is asleep. It was a very hard afternoon and evening for her, but she has handled it incredibly well.

The ICU was overrun with patients, so Kristin spent her first 4-5 hours post-op in the recovery room waiting for a bed to open-up. Even though it breaks with normal procedure, we were each allowed to visit her in the recovery room. At around 5:30 they took her for a CAT scan (standard procedure; nothing to be alarmed about) and finally brought her to her room in ICU.

Kristin has had and continues to have some significant pain, so it took a while for her to get comfortable in her bed. Her incision runs along the back of her upper neck and up to the curvature at the base of the back of her head. The entire area is covered in a large rectangular bandage.

As you might guess, putting any sort of pressure on that area causes Kristin a great deal of pain. Aunt Betty, Kerry, the nurses and I tried a bunch of different bed and pillow combinations until we found one that works: her bed is raised at about 45 degrees and we arranged the pillows so that her head and neck are supported, but the incision isn't really "pressing" against anything.

The nurses here are wonderful. They are very patient and have worked to adjust Kristin's meds in order to find the combination that will take the edge off and allow her to sleep. They are even allowing me to stay overnight in Kristin's room with her so she can know someone who loves her is nearby at all-times.

Even more importantly, Kristin was able to speak on the phone with Reagan earlier this evening. Bill called from Reagan's softball game and Aunt Betty put the call on speakerphone. Kristin told Reagan that she is through with the surgery and that it went very well. Reagan told her how happy she is that it is over and that she loves her very much.

As my mother put it, "Chiari malformation correction may be the 'appendectomy of neurosurgery', but it still means that you are having surgery on your brain." To willingly take this on when she could have easily avoided it shows once again what an incredibly strong and brave person Kristin is.

This is Kristin's blog and it is very special to her, so I hope that I have done right by it, by her, and by all of you. Hopefully she will feel up to posting (or at least dictating posts to me) in the next day or two. If not, you'll be stuck with me for a bit longer as I keep you all informed. :)

Thanks so much for the outpouring of love and support that was received today. It kept us all going and means the world to Kristin.

- Mike