Surgery Details

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Melissa and the details of her surgery scheduled for next week. We spent most of yesterday at Methodist (downtown) where they had to perform a functional MRI on Melissa as well as an E.K.G. and the pre-registration process for her surgery. We also met with her surgeon and he explained the surgery in more detail. While the surgery is a two step process, I was bit confused about the timing of the two procedures.

First, on Monday 6/7, they will take Melissa into the O.R. open up the original incision site and place a grid of electrodes directly on her brain to pinpoint where the seizures are originating and also map the area to ensure there would be no damage to speech functions etc. during surgery. Once this is complete, she will be undergoing E.E.G. and video monitoring until 6/10. If they capture enough seizure activity between these dates, then the surgeon will go in on 6/10 and remove the tissue from the area where the seizures are originating. If they are unable to capture enough data during this time frame, then the second part of the surgery will push into the next week.

Melissa has been seizure-free (that we know of) for five to six days, so the doctor will contact me tomorrow to taper her off some of the medication to increase the odds of capturing the seizure activity next week.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support during this time. I will try to keep everyone updated as often as possible next week.