Havey has left the BRAIN!!!!

Journal entry Sept 30, 2007

The surgery is over and a HUGE success!!!

Wow, here I sit in the hospital 2 days after the surgery - feeling really good. No pain meds! My head is shaved (in the middle) and I have 27 metal staples in my head.

I just had BRAIN SURGERY!!!! Holy cow!!!! Other than being really weak, and having tons of holes and lines in me, I feel "normal".

Heidi has been right beside me. Looking out for me. Taking such GREAT care of me. She so wanted to stay with me in ICU, but they wouldn't let her. I wish she could have been here. Especially the 1st night, which was the worst!!!

I was in so much pain all night long. Thank God Michelle left me her ipod which I listened to Paper Route (my new favorite band) and Chris Tomlin ALL NIGHT LONG!!!

Then the next morning I felt a seizure coming on. So I buzzed the nurse. NO ONE CAME!!! It began in my foot and was moving up my leg and I was afraid it would result in a full blown seizure and I didn't want my head to be flailing around. I started yelling for the nurse, still NO ONE CAME!!! At least 10 minutes had gone by, when someone finally came. The nurse told me it wasn't a seizure. But I KNEW what a seizure felt like, I had 3 of them before.

She gave me medication and the seizure subsided.

When Michelle came to visit me at the 9:00am visitation time, I started crying. I was so scared that here I was in ICU and felt the nurses were not taking care of me.

Two other things happened that same night. 1. When my pain got really bad, I buzzed for the nurse and no one came for 15 minutes. When she did come in, she said my bed was not plugged in. 2. Since I had been on a respirators, I had to remember to breath. All night the alarm on my monitor would go off because I wasn't breathing right, and no one came.

So by the time Heidi came in to see me that morning, and I told her what happened, SHE WAS ALL OVER IT!!!! She talked to the nurses, called Dr. Hampf's office and needless to say, they took amazing care of me afterwards!!! I call her my "pit bull". Don't mess with her or her sister!!! =)

This was the first time I felt any fear. Even in pre-op when I was waiting for 3 hours for my surgery. There was no fear.

Sheryl and Maynard flew in from Dallas just to see me for 30 minutes that morning after my surgery! Wow, that blows me away.

My brother Karl and Becky were here too. They came up the night before the surgery. We all ate Sushi for my "last supper". I don't know what I would do without my family.

I feel bad that my family and friends are here, and they can only come to visit me every 3 hours for 30 minutes. They have all sacrificed so much to be here for me.

Thank you God for all these amazing people you have put in my life!!!!!!