Dear Friends and Family, August 17, 2011
“Did I really just have brain surgery?” This is one of the first things Colby said last night once anesthesia wore off and he was nearly pain-free already. He is still doing great today and has now moved out of the ICU into the neurosurgical ward. All fingers, toes, and limbs move normally. His speech is smooth, and the majority of his catheters and monitors have been removed. The only thing that really hurts him is the right temple where his surgeon had to cut through the temporalis muscle. His rehabilitation over the next few days will consist of lots of rest and “jaw stretching” exercises to keep the cut muscle from scarring down and limiting his ability to chew and make facial expressions. He does have some swelling both in the brain and around his skin incisions that will need to be watched carefully over the next few days. We are still waiting for his postop MRI, which may not be completed until late this evening.
Colby’s neurosurgeon came back and recapped all of the steps of surgery with us again today. He is confident that he was able to remove the vast majority of the tumor and is very pleased with Colby’s progress after surgery.
Thank you all so much for your encouraging emails, texts, and prayers. We have been reading through them together today and are overwhelmed at how your prayers have carried us through even the night before. While many of you awoke in the middle of the night burdened to pray for us, we were blessed with a good night’s sleep the night before surgery. Thanks for starting and ending your day thinking of and praying for us.
Colby is eager to see friends and family now that he is out of ICU. He is on the 8th floor (long hall, room 859) on the Parnassus Heights campus of UCSF Medical Center. Anyone who is in the area is welcome to come by to visit if you would like. If he continues to progress as quickly in recovery as he has, we expect he may be able to be discharged as early as Friday.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. Continued healing: Colby is eager to get up and wants to read and study but also needs to rest for the majority of time in the next couple of days. The next few days will be tough trying to learn to be a patient rather than a physician.
2. Patience and peace: We still do not know the exact tumor type or the plans that God has for Colby in the months and years to come. We do not want to be anxious as we wait for final pathology results and want to be faithful to God in the day-to-day activities. We know that what lies ahead will be more of a marathon and are trusting the Lord to prepare our family.
3. PRAISE! The surgery was truly a large surgery with plenty of risks. All glory to God for getting us this far and protecting us in innumerable ways. All glory to God for the way He has drawn us closer to Him. All glory to God for the way we see Him working in the lives of our friends, family, and church.
Love,
Colby, Emily, and Jireh
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