Home sweet home

Hello all,

I am sooooo sorry for the late post. We left the hospital late this morning and after cleaning out what I could salvage from the truck we made it home. I did make some contacts to make sure everyone knew that we had been discharged. After we got home we ate and crashed wherever we were sitting. I was planning on an hour nap and realized my body wanted about three. By the way, does anyone know what day it is? We couldn't be more happy to be home. I think I was still in disbelief about the truck until I pulled in the driveway and did not see it here. Oh well, God must have great replacement plans...LOL. Haley is doing great and that is what is important. We cannot thank everyone enough...especially Haley's grandparents! All four of them were ready at the drop of a hat to extract us from our isolation. We love you and will see you on this side of the hospital.

We love you,

Pete, Michelle, Tiffany, and Haley

Haley's back!

Sunday morning has brought a complete turnaround for Haley. She woke up bossy and very vocal which shows us she is doing much better. She ate some pancakes and fruit loops then promptly started an argument with her sister. We actually got some sleep last night. I think lights out was around 8:00pm and we really needed the rest. Michelle took Haley's leads off for a sponge bath and she asked if I knew how to put them back. I told her, "I am not a doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night." For all those wondering, the Expedition is still parked in the garage and the $78.00 in the gas tank will go to the highest bidder who brings their own pump. Hopefully we are on the countdown to going home. I would imagine around Tuesday or Wednesday for discharge if Haley continues her improvement. Thank you for the prayers, visits, food, friendship, laughter, and English chocolate...sorry, not sharing that. We will speak to everyone soon.

Love,

The Cassidy's

Unbelievable

I was woken up by security at 4:00am and they asked if my name is Pete. I told them yes and why are you asking me this early. He said, "I hate to be the one to tell you, but your truck is on fire in the garage." I spent some time with Hermann security and HPD officers before Michelle and I went to check the vehicle. It is a total loss. I cannot fathom how else the devil can attack us. We are in shock and just can't comprehend something this random. However, I can still give God the glory because if the only reason Haley had surgery at this time was so that the truck did not catch my house on fire, then lives were saved. Please pray that God opens a door for another vehicle. I had two payments left on the truck and it was worth more running than what insurance will pay. I guess you know where to find us because we can't go anywhere. I will post again when I am more coherent.

Pete

Friday Night

It's almost midnight and Haley has decided to start projectile vomiting. It can be a sign of shunt malfunction...CAT scan was ordered stat. She will be going downstairs for the scan in a few minutes. Please pray that something else is causing her to throw up...something simple and treatable. I will post the results as soon as we know something.

Out of ICU

Good evening,

Haley has been moved to a regular room! We are in room #985 in the Hermann Pavilion. She is eating bread/rolls and pudding and drinking apple juice. Her medicine still keeps her groggy, but when she wakes up her sassy side comes out. I will be heading back to the house tonight and Michelle should be able to get some rest tonight without my snoring. I asked the nurse last night how my snoring was and he said, "pretty significant." LOL I know of a couple people that are heading down to visit tomorrow which will be great for Haley and Michelle. Thank you to Jay and Rick for making the trek down and spending valuable time with us. It sure feels great to have a church family that cares for each other. Some of our home group members will be here tomorrow and I can only imagine what kind of party we could have on the weekend. I am going to plan something for next Labor Day. Last year Michelle was in the hospital for pneumonia for the Labor Day weekend and this weekend we will be here. I will make SURE that we plan accomodations other than Hotel Hermann. Please continue to pray for Haley's quick recovery. Your prayers are so precious to our family and we would be nowhere without the presence of God throughout this journey. I talked to Todd Prather and he was telling me how all of their kids were praying for Haley and it is such a great testimony. Many have told me of how active the kids are in prayer and it shows the great discipleship in the church. I hope everyone has a great sleep tonight and I will update with the latest in the morning.

We love you,

Pete, Michelle, and Haley

August 28 morning

Good morning,

Haley has been pretty lethargic and reacting briefly to stimulation. She was vomiting throughout the night which is very painful with the large incision on the back of her head and neck. In addition, she is leaking some spinal fluid from the wound site. It is normal to have minimal leakage, but they want to monitor how much she is leaking. She does have some considerable swelling around the site as well. All in all it was a sleepless night for all of us. I was met with a migraine at 11:30pm and found out I did not pack my Excedrin. I tried my best to tough it out, but Michelle asked the nurse if anyone had some medicine. He was able to get some Excedrin from one of the other nurses and saved the day. Michelle has been amazing as usual. What a blessing to have a wife that can care for two babies at one time in the hospital.

Dr. Baumgartner is considering another MRI to assess Haley's situation. The MRI has been ordered in advance of him making his rounds. It is nice to see him being proactive about the testing. He said it is easier to cancel than it is to set it up...I totally agree. After he speaks with us I will update the blog again. Please continue to pray for her vomiting to subside, her energy to return, swelling to decrease, and her CSF leakage to be within the normal range.

Talk again soon,

--Sleepless in the Med Center

In her room now

Well, sorry for the quick departure on the last blog. We are extremely blessed, excited, astounded, relieved, overjoyed, pleased, y con mucho feliz! Haley is resting comfortably in her bed (thanks to the narcotics) and all of her vitals look great. The Dr. is very pleased with the outcome of the surgery. If she decides not to be the zebra in a herd of horses this time, we should be out of the hospital much sooner than the anticipated 7-10 days. Thank you again for all of the support. Having friends and family around us that care so much can not be measured. We are in full confidence that Haley will benefit greatly from the decompression of her brain and spine and this is an answer to much prayer. She spoke to us in the recovery room and I asked her if she wanted a drink of juice and she said she did. The nurse gave me some Pedialyte for her (which she does not like) and I gave her a couple of sips. When I asked her if she wanted more she said, "No, go away!" That let's me know that her attitude was not removed during surgery. Michelle took a couple of pictures of her in the recovery room and Haley was giving a smile the best she could. I could learn a lot from her outlook on things. She never seems to be down about anything and shows love to everyone. Hopefully she will be out of ICU tomorrow and on the road to recovery in a regular room. The nurse told us tonight that Haley is only here for precaution and will try to let all three of us rest as much as possible. I will post again in the morning to update her status. Please leave any comments on the blog...we love to read them. Talk to everyone soon.

Pete, Michelle, and Haley

Surgery went well

Praise God!! Surgery went as good as could be expected. Dr. said there was an extreme amount of scar tissue so he removed the base of the occipital bone and left it out. He placed another graft in the dura to alleviate pressure on the spinal cord. All of the scar tissue that could be removed was taken out. She had her C-1 vertabrae was removed during her first decompression 2 years ago and there are many case studies that show removing the C-2 causes too much instability. Therefore he left that in place and was still able to create much more room. She was recently extubated. Going back now.

Dr. Baumgartner is closing

Hello again,

We were just told that Dr. Baumgartner is closing and should be out to talk to us soon. We will let everyone know what happens. No cause for alarm so that is great news. Please don't stop praying. We love you!

Pete and Michelle

Surgery day

Here we are at Hermann! Haley was wheeled back at 12:45pm this afternoon. It is 2:20pm right now and they still have not begun the actual surgery. I am sitting in the waiting room with Rick Platt considering a round of golf based on the wait time of 6 hours. I know this will come as a surprise, but I am really at a loss for words. We are pretty stressed out, not for lack of faith but just the sheer emotion of dealing with the surgery that has been in the wings for the last month. The waiting room will be home base for the next several hours and our cell phones have full signal. If anyone needs to contact us please call. Please continue the prayers and I will post as soon as we have any more information. Thank you for everyone's love and support.

Pete and Michelle

August 26, 2008

Hello Everyone,

It is Tuesday evening and we will have the FINAL answer on whether or not surgery will take place in the morning. All preliminary tests look good for surgery, but they will call at 8:00am Wednesday morning to confirm the 48-hour results of the urine culture. We will definitely make some calls if surgery is a go. We will also update the blog as soon as surgery begins. Please pray that the urine is still clear in the morning and her surgery can take place. I know everything will happen in God's timing so we will be patient. Talk to you soon.

Love,

The Cassidy's

August 9, 2008

Good morning bloginators,

We are being discharged today. (that always makes me think of being shot out of a cannon) I guess if that cannon could get us to The Woodlands we would climb in. We are definitely excited to be leaving the hospital. We are ready to start our two weeks of rest and preparation. I have had some comments regarding terminology. Therefore, I will let you know that we are coming back August 22 to have noodle and nerve thingy surgery. (that's in your melon) lol, you know who you are ;-) I guess that is it for today. Pray for safe travel home and we will update the blog if anything changes, but will resume for sure on surgery day. Many thanks for the prayer and support...you guys are awesome. We love you!

The Cassidy clan

080808 news

Good afternoon everyone,

I am not sure where they get the post time for these blogs, but to give you an idea I am posting at 3:00PM. Haley cannot have surgery until her infection is clear. We have scheduled surgery for Friday August 22 at 8:00AM. She is waiting for gastro to come and look at her g-button for replacement while we are here. It is a simple procedure and needs to be done. We should be going home by Monday and return in two weeks for the surgery. Please continue to pray that God would use this time to give the doctors wisdom about her situation and give us a good rest. I thank everyone once again for the thoughts, prayers, visits, food, chocolate, and of course love. We would not be this strong without each person that reads these blogs. Will update further as we know a better timeline of being discharged. (forgot to mention the injection antibiotics that need to finish before we leave) I would also like to thank everyone for not calling me out on my age.

Pete and Michelle

Late night August 7

God is amazing! The prayer warriors were set in motion and at 11:20PM the doctor knocked on Haley's door to say.....the x-ray showed NO SIGNS OF PNEUMONIA! Huh? Does somebody out there have a mustard seed? A Chiari II is no match for God either. Please join together in prayer that He will create the space necessary for the anatomy of Haley's brain and spine. God has eliminated the cyst as a concern and now the pneumonia. I pray that the doctors are left scratching their heads at the awesome power of God. Haley has touched more lives in her 4 years and 10 months of life than I have in all 25 of mine. (I had to bring some humor back) I know there are grand plans for Haley and this time is but a season we will look back on someday and remember how God shined on her. Please keep praying!

We love you,

The Cassidy's

Visit with neurologist

The doctor just left the room. We are waiting for the neurosurgeon to speak with us directly. The scan did not give us good news. If in fact we were dealing with the arachnoid cyst as the main problem, it would be much easier to treat. Her Chiari II is extremely descended into the spinal canal and placing pressure on the brain stem/basel ganglia. This is also impeding the transfer of spinal fluid that protects the brain and spine. Her brain is forced so tightly down into her spine that it is almost completely corked. Her last scan was 4/20/08 and we can see a great deal of deterioration in less than 4 months time. Our questions have totally changed from cyst related to how much room can safely be made for her brain and how many times can it be performed. Her last decompression surgery was in October 2006 and seemed to provide some relief for less than 2 years. It was explained that each surgery has the potential to weaken the physical support structure of the spine and skull thus making each successive surgery more detrimental. I ask that anyone reading this pray for complete intervention by God. I am looking at Haley in her bed and she looks so drained, but when I ask how she is, she gives me "thumbs up" and smiles. How can you argue with her level of hope. Pray that God will strengthen Michelle and I for her sake and for supernatural wisdom to even ponder the decisions that lay ahead.

Phil. 4:6

The Cassidy's

August 7, 2008

Busy morning so far. We have been watching the different teams blame one another for the lack of home meds. This morning we discovered that she now has pneumonia. Yes, UTI and pneumonia. Antibiotics have been running through I.V. since late last night. She seems to be responding better today. We are still waiting for neurology and neurosurgery to discuss the MRI and SSEP with us today. They should be in around noon. Please pray for quick recovery from the dual infections and a proactive response from the surgical team. Nobody desires to have surgery, but if the prognosis is greatly improved by it, then by all means it should be done. Tiffany is having fun and being spoiled by grandma and grandpa. Michelle and I are doing OK all things considered. I do have one thing in common with the doctors and nurses...we all wear the same outfit each day! (Keeps them from getting too close to me ;-) We will let everyone know what transpires in the neuro meeting. Thank you for praying.

Pete and Michelle

Evening Update

Good evening,

Welcome to frustrated, I hope you enjoy your stay. We have been battling the staff with Haley's typical medications that she receives at home. They have resisted saying that she should not be receiving anything because it could interfere with her tests. I thought that the medications were on order and just being held. I found out today that they haven't even been ordered!!! One of her medications is a preventative antibiotic. Well....guess what?...Dr. Pete called it again. Haley now has a UTI (urinary tract infection). This was my exact concern when paging doctor after doctor. They explained that she was just lethargic from anesthesia. Hmmm...does anesthesia cause fever? Of course not. After her last 4-hour MRI, she wheeled herself out of the recovery room and all the way to the car! Not today. Straight to her room and completely listless and barely responsive. It only proves that mommy and daddy know best. I.V. antibiotics will be starting any minute and she will be on the road to recovery. I thank God for giving us a clear head and the ability to always be one step ahead. He has blessed us greatly as parents. We never would have believed that our medical degree would be earned, but we have come a long way in just 4-years. Most doctors need 7-years of school before they can practice. We also feel that there are probably things that we don't see and God does. Perhaps there is a greater reason to start the antibiotics and God used this less emergent situation to introduce them to her system. Nothing happens by accident...nothing slips by Him...and He is never fooled! Praise God for always delivering what we are most times scared to order.

Sleepy time coming soon...will let everyone know what's up when the doctors throw the lights on at 5:30AM.

TMC dwellers

MRI and SSEP

Well, we finally made it back to the room! It is 6:05PM and Haley is sipping some apple juice. Her oxygen level was a bit low and she has developed a little fever. It took a while to get back to our room since her bed was MIA in MRI and was TBD if we would see it again. We figure it is probably too late for the tests to be read today, but will pursue the doctors first thing in the morning. Thank you for your prayers and we will continue to stay in touch.

The Hermannites

August 6, 2008 MRI

Hello,

Haley has just fallen asleep for the MRI. The MRI will be immediately followed by the SSEP test. The SSEP basically measures the pathway of her nerves, relative speed in which information arrives in her brain, and if it reaches the correct area in her brain. Her total time under anesthesia will be approximately 4 hours. As Michelle and I leaned over to give her a kiss, we caught a tiny sniff of the "happy gas" and realized how strong it is. Thankfully God is always awake and on watch, protecting Haley and giving her fantastic things to dream about. Michelle is going to try and catch some sleep. Continue to pray for Haley and we hope the next 4 hours go by quickly.

BBBS

Oh, that's right...you don't know I am a trendsetter. BBBS is "be back blogging soon"

August 5, 2008

Good afternoon,

I am trying to become an advanced blogger. Please note the pictures to your right. I will try to rotate different ones periodically. I hope everyone is safe and sound after the storm. We had sustained winds of what must have been 15mph with gusts reaching 17mph. (Good thing I super glued all of the patio furniture down)
I just got off the phone with the MRI department and Haley will be heading there at 10am tomorrow morning. This will be a 4-hour MRI under general anesthesia with SSEP test to follow while still asleep. Please pray for calm nerves, no anxiety, no fussing, no crying, no screaming, no yelling....and pray for Haley too! We are hoping that God will allow for perfect imaging that the doctors can use to determine future surgical plans. Our efforts to obtain answers from the neurology team have been thwarted by the dreaded, "that is a question for the neurosurgeons" response. C'est la vie, I have my notebook and it is full of great questions and we are looking forward to answers after the MRI. We will post more as it happens.

We love you,

The Cassidy's

August 4, 2008

Good afternoon,

We are finally checked in at Hermann Hospital. Haley is in room 1025. Being the weather buff that I am, the 10th floor full of windows is a great place to watch Edouard blow into the area. I am set up with my laptop and working in the Sun Room (playground) with Tiffany and Haley playing. I wouldn't mind doing this more often...if the sun room was at my house. We already miss you guys. Walking through the doors of this hospital stirs up some past emotions and we almost feel like running back out. As I told Michelle while we were sitting in admissions, this hospital is a necessary evil. As much as we hate the bad things that have happened here, God isn't finished performing miracles through it either. Please continue to pray that God will bind the evil thoughts that can so quickly rob us of our joy. We are here for one purpose...to allow God to reveal his greatness through Haley's recovery. I am a novice blogger so please forgive me if it is not up to typical standards and if anyone has advice please please please...KEEP IT TO YOURSELF! LOL Ouch, Michelle just smacked me in the back of the head. Well, I will go get some aspirin and will post as soon as something develops.

Thank you for your prayers and call us anytime.

Pete, Michelle, Tiffany, and Haley

August 2, 2008

Hello to all,

This is Pete and I have finally given in to the "blog" age. We are scheduled to take Haley to Hermann Hospital on Monday August 4Th in the early afternoon. I arranged all of her tests along with her actual admission to the hospital. It was an arduous journey, but the dividends will be well worth the aggressive phone calls. Tiffany will be staying with her grandma and please keep her in your prayers as well since this can be an extremely stressful time for a 6-year old. Michelle and I are in the process of stocking up on "snacks" to stow in Haley's room. (We usually have one large drawer dedicated to our late night indulgences) I am pushing for chocolate and hope I can acquire a large section in the allotted storage area. Well, it is almost midnight and we have to get up early in the morning. I will send the link to the blog to as many people as possible and please forward the link to anyone else that may not be in my address book. (If someone receives it twice, it is better than not at all) Which reminds me, I think I will send the link to Mandy first. Then she can tell everyone else, "Oh, you mean you haven't heard?...where have you been?" OK, I am getting goofy...time for bed. Goodnight.

Pete