Kelsey Kanoy’s Journey

I know alot of you have been wondering what is going on and why I haven’t put up any comments yet, so here we go!

It is now 6:10 pm and we are in the PICU letting our little girl recover.  The Dr. Feldstein came out around 1:20 pm to tell us that he was finished and the surgery, in his opinion, was very successful.  As I said in one of my earlier posts, after opening the original incision, he did not find sufficeint enough bone regrowth to just stop there.  Therefore, he did open the durra, remove a decent portion of the cereberal tonsils and add a patch.  Also, in order to help alleviate the pressure, he placed apinal drain in her lower back.  This is just temporary and should hopefully be removed by Saturday or Sunday.  The drain is to help avoid the patch leaking, which is what would cause Kels to have to remain in the hospital for a few weeks.

The last post-op meeting we had w/ Dr. Feldstein, he told us there was a 99% chance we would have to repeat the surgery.  And he was right.  This time he told us there is a 99% chance that this will be the last time we do this surgery!  There was no damage to the spinal cord or brain stem.  There was no issues with Kelsey’s breathing or heart rate.  He did say that when he started the procedure, her heart rate was in the low 60’s.  By the time he was finished, her rate was between mid 80’s and low 100’s (I guess it all depended on what she was dreaming about.)

There is no doubt Dr. Feldstein is an excellent surgeon, no doubt at all.  But on this one, I will have to give the glory and credit to the Lord Almighty.  He used a very skilled surgeon to preform a very intense operation to prove that He is in charge of it all. 

Nicole was pretty upset last night, and I told her that I know God loves Kelsey more than we do and that is a very comforting thought to me! 

So where does that leave us?  We will remain in PICU until the drain comes out.  She has to have her arms restrained as long as the drain is in, and as long as she has the restraints, we will be in PICU. Once the drain comes out, Dr. Feldstein wants to observe her for 24-36 hours to be sure she is can function without it.  We will also be meeting with a cardiologist to discuss what care we need to give her until her symptoms clear (which could be 3-6 months).  From there we will be going back to Shannon’s in NJ for at least 2 weeks.  Then a follow visit and we are south bound and down for the SAV.

As always, thank you to all that have emailed, left a comment or left a voice mail for the family.  Most importantly, thank you for the prayers and support.  Kelsey does not realize what has been done for her yet, pleaes know that Nicole and I will be sure she understands soon enough.  I will update later on.

A.