My Girl

This feels awesome!

Friday Night@CHOP

Naya is hanging tough! She had to spend the night back at the hospital in order for the doctors to monitor her incision and determine the best course of action. It doesn't look like she leaked any more csf since Thursday night which is great. But, she did have a bad headache last night which could have been from higher inter-cranial pressure due to increased csf, or could have been that she isn't quite ready to be off all the pain medications. We gave her some pain meds and she rested well. Btw, her CT yesterday was normal and showed flat ventricles which is what you want to see on a cat scan.

The neurosurgeons will make their rounds this morning and determine if she should have a shunt installed in her brain to help with the csf drainage or if the EVD procedure they did 10 days ago will perform the job.

If we have to install a shunt she will be in the hospital until tomorrow. If we don't, we will be home today. Quite honestly, it's too close for me to call at this point so I'm in the same position as you. We'll just have to wait it out.

Look for an update mid-day.

Hangin at CHOP - Again

Naya's CT was completely normal and looked great, so good news. The neurosurgeon admitted her for observation to make sure she has stopped leaking csf, cerebral spinal fluid. The thinking right now is that if there is no leaking through tomorrow they will release her. If she does have subsequent leaking they will insert a shunt tomorrow and hopefully then she would come back home on Sunday.

We are hanging in there with her and taking it day-by-day.

Another Day - Another Challenge

As you can imagine brain surgery is not your run of the mill procedure. It's filled with ups and downs and we've had a bit of down evening and morning going on now. We may have to make a trip into the neurosurgeons and have them take a look at her brain and make sure her cerebral spinal fluid is draining properly and her incision is healing as they would expect. She just can't seam to shake the morning nausea. It must be such a drag for her to wake up, but she is a strong girl and really tries to keep it together even when she is feeling so poor. I'll send out an update after our doctor check up this morning.

Naya is losing a tooth

Getting Organized

You know there are a ton of files, forms, prescriptions, etc... that I have to keep track of so mom and I went to Staples to get everything we need.

Made it Home!

We got home last night around 7pm and where greeted by oodles of gifts and well wishes.  Naya was blown away by all the cool things you sent.  Thank you so much.  Of course, the McCANN team outdid themselves with a life size pony that reminds Naya of a pony in her stable where she rides called Faith.  She loves it. I'll take some pictures and get them on the blog soon.

Going Home

[wpvideo Dboptukr] We can't wait to take Naya back home. It's been an incredibly long week. Of course, we are thankful for the fantastic care she received from the first moment we arrived at CHOP last Tuesday night. Wow! We are lucky we live near such an amazing facility!

Can It Be True

We just heard from the neuro-oncology doctors and they are trying to get us out of the hospital today.  We need physical therapy to come by and to certify her on her ability to walk the stairs. There are one or two other items but we might make it home today! Keep your fingers crossed.

Good Morning 5-27-2013

Good morning from chop. We are looking forward to getting off these steroids so we can return to the more mellow Naya. Right now she is a super fast talker and ready to take charge. She is on fire!

Yesterday, she went to the cardiologist for an echo cardiogram. Next up was a visit to the audiologist for a hearing test which proved her hearing is perfect and she is just ignoring her mother and me.

Of course the usual routine of physical therapy, occupational therapy, rehabilitation therapy, and the slew of neurologists, oncologists, social workers, etc all checked in and kept us hopping.

We walked all over the hospital yesterday and even had a secret meeting with a friend. Until March 1st visitors are not allowed in the patient floors and rooms due to the high incident rate of the flu and RSV virus so we coordinated schedules with a friend to clandestinely meet in the atrium. It was all very cloak and dagger.

[wpvideo hr4QDCj5]

Sleepy Naya

Good night everybody. I'm signing off for tonight. It was a good day.

Bye for now. See you all soon

Naya's ravenous appetite

Naya is allowed to eat as much junk as she wants right now. She is taking full advantage of her parents.

Crazy Socks

The things us girls like to get all coZy and snuggy!

Thank You!

[wpvideo 1dK9wMWj]

UP View From The Bridge on Floor 3

Here is the view if the University of Pennsylvania from the bridge in the third floor where Naya, mom, and I sit quite often.

Eating Pudding

What could be better than pudding on the bridge? We are sitting on the bridge on floor three watching the University of Pennsylvania students scurrying to their classes.

Day 6 Update

Today we will work on roaming the halls and corridors of the hospital without holding hands and demonstrating we can safely handle stairs, elevators, bumping into people without falling down, and just general stability. We also have to eat and drink a lot today so that we can show we don't need a quicky I.V. fix.