Driving Miss Erika

We had a fun Easter, played lots with crazy munchkin kids, went to the Zoo, and celebrated the anniversary of Erika's 29th birthday (again). Life is crazy, and sometimes frustrating, and yet still manages to be a lot of fun. Thanks for all the support everyone!

Hello Friends!

Lots of pictures from the last few weeks and then a few updates from recent appointments at Duke and Erika's brave recovery here at home:

• We took the kids to the Brain Tumor Center at Duke and met with a Family Life Specialist. It was a great counseling session and focused to help Aydan and Regan realize the difficulties Mommy is having. They don't recognize Erika as an authority figure, and this has been really very frustrating for Erika as she is trying to take on her regular stuff more each day. The girls are displaying some weird behaviors with a bit more tendency to yell, argue, lie, etc. We asked the school counselor to meet with Aydan as well and that was a positive experience.

• Erika is still not allowed to drive for another 2 months!!! YIKES! She is really upset by this, but just means that she will have to have some buddies that come over and take her places so she doesn't go insane by being at the house all the time.

• The heavy drugs have caused some major and minor problems. Erika had an allergic reaction to the Dilantin, which caused a full body rash/hives/blotchiness that was really painful and itchy - not to mention ugly (Erika added this). The doctors thankfully recognized it and had her stop it right away. Then, the Lyrica is causing quite a bit of weight gain/water retention. Talk about adding insult to injury! Erika gained 5 pounds in 4 days, which was quite alarming.... seems to be evening out now. The doctor yesterday is prescribing a slow decrease in Lyrica over the next month, and we are all hoping the seizures do not return.

• Good news is that there have not been any more seizures that we know of and Erika seems to be getting more and more spunky each day. Her speech and ability to recall things improves consistently. She has more energy and is gradually feeling more like herself. She is still on pain medicine almost constantly though - which seems normal considering we are talking about someone cutting open your head.
  

Church and Family support continues to be amazing!! Erika bore her testimony in church last Sunday and it was very special. The dinners and service from church have been such a huge help. My parents have returned to live with us a few times as needed and we honestly could not have done this without them.