Boy Scout Trip 11-13-2009 Hall Farm, Midway, Alabama

Boy Scout Camp Out

Hall Farm, Midway, Alabama

November 13-15 2009

I had the pleasure of going on the Troop 23 November Camp Out with Jacob to Mr. Matt Hall’s Farm in Midway, Alabama, about 40 miles northwest of Eufaula, Alabama, this past weekend. I was looking forward to spending some relaxing, quality time with Jacob, and I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.

PRE-CAMP OUT

Jacob is working very hard on his rank advancements, and one of the requirements for Second Class (and one for First Class) is to plan the meals for an overnight camp out, volunteer to buy the food for a patrol, supervise the setup of the cooking area and cook breakfast, lunch and/or dinner for the patrol. Jacob graciously volunteered during the Monday meeting, and we stuck around afterward to get the grocery list for the trip. On the Thursday night before we left, we went to Sam’s Club and Walmart to purchase the breakfast (eggs, cheese and sausage on English muffins and cereal), lunch (ham and turkey sandwiches, chips, condiments and snacks) and dinner (green beans for 30 people) foods. Jacob learned a lot about budgeting and looking for deals! We packed the cold stuff in a cooler and brought the rest in a large box for the patrol. It was a nice way to get involved and Jacob did a great job staying within the budget.

FRIDAY THE 13th

Our trip started on Friday the 13th. We were asked to be at Killearn United Methodist Church at 4:30pm so that we could pack and leave by 5:00pm. As most things do when dealing with 18 scouts of varying ages, it took a little longer than expected to get gear, fishing poles, food and scouts loaded and ready to go. The Pack 23 Webelos were invited on this overnighter as their first experience with the Troop 23 Boy Scouts. Needless to say, there were a lot of scouts on the bus, and with the Cub adults riding, there wasn’t enough room for all of the adults. I rode with Mr. Hatchett on Friday, and it turned out to be a nice ride. We left KUMC at 6:15pm looking forward to the impending 4 hour trip to the farm. We arrived at the Hall Farm around 9:20pm central time, staring into a pitch black field where we would set up camp for the weekend. It was exciting, not knowing what the landscape looked like, or where the lake was… All I could hope for was that no one fell in! CD and Matt Hall warned us about cow patties and fire ants, not exactly a great combination while trying to set up tents in the dark! We set up camp in the light of the propane lanterns, unpacked our bags and called it a night. Jacob camped with Marcus Hatchett, and I had a tent to myself. I was told that it was going to be cold. Cold was understatement!

SATURDAY

After a night of shivering, I was up at 5:00am on Saturday. Surprisingly, I wasn’t the first one up. The sun was coming up already and you could see the lake and the landscape, and it was beautiful! Tim Hall had already caught two bass by the time I got dressed and rigged our poles. I woke Jacob up and we walked the 30 yards to the lakeside, a lot closer than I had realized the night before! Jacob had his new black and red Boo-Yah spinnerbait, and I opted for the black and orange mini rapala. It was later discovered that neither of these worked worth a damn! Tim caught a total of 8 bass Saturday morning, all on a small rooster tail. Of course, when the other rooster tails went on poles, nothing was biting. Tim obviously had the scoop on the timing and tactics.

CD decided to blow the whistle for the wake-up call around 7:00am. Most everyone was up already, but those that weren’t were quickly dressed and standing under the cooking tents. The boys broke into 3 patrols and began setting up the propane stoves on the “patrol boxes,” the work stations for each patrol. Coolers were unloaded and the boys started cooking. Jacob and Danny, the senior patrol leader for the camp out, went to work cooking sausage and eggs, cutting the muffins apart, getting the cheese ready and making the breakfast sandwiches for the 6 scouts in their patrol. Jacob was involved in all the steps, and it was really nice to see him working hard to earn his rank. I was really proud that Jacob didn’t complain or get frustrated, and he set a great example for the younger Cub Scouts in the patrol. Aside from my new, broken cooler (which no one could recall how it got broken), everything went as smooth as it could’ve. CD cooked for the adults, and in the cold weather, bacon, eggs and toast did the trick! We all ate around the fire and resumed fishing. Because Jacob did the cooking, he did not have to clean up afterwards, as is the rule of Scout camping. I think he finally realized why I love coming home and cooking! While the others cleaned up, we took a walk around the lake and tried our luck at different spots. Some of the scouts caught bass and blue gill, but up until about 11:00am, Jacob and I still had our skirts. I decided to switch to my skinny green worm with a weighted jighead. The bite had stopped for about 30 minutes, but I still fished, and around 11:10am I caught my first bass of the trip. He was a little guy, but he looks huge in my story! Jacob was a little disappointed that he hadn’t caught anything yet, and he moved across the lake to try another spot. I walked over to him and he was reeling in his purple worm, looking distraught. Right as the worm came up to the top of the bank, Jacob got his first bite and caught his first bass! He was stoked, so I left him to keep fishing. Most importantly, no skirts!

CD, Lyle and Mike had been setting up the “Amazing Race” challenges for the boys to compete in after lunch. I was double checking that the necessary equipment was at each station, so I missed Jacob’s “Biggest Bass of the Weekend.” The Cub Scouts were impressed and it was nice to see Jacob so happy. It was a 2.5 pounder, a nice size for the little lake we were at. CD called the boys in to make sandwiches and eat lunch, and explained the competition while we were all gathered. The boys were separated into 2 teams for the competition. There were 13 tasks that had to be completed, each with their own set of rules. Some of the tasks included buddy-walking, building a ladder from wood and rope, and making a stretcher to carry a “wounded” scout back to camp. The boys practiced knot-tying, orienteering, fire starting, flag pole building and most of all, teamwork. Tim and Danny did great jobs keeping their teams together and making sure everyone was involved. It was a great challenge, made even better by the fact that all the scouts had a great time. Good leadership made the activities possible, and CD did a great job planning and executing. It was a blast!

The competition ended as the sun went down. It was time for our dinner! CD fried turkeys and each patrol brought a side dish. We had Turkey, stuffing, corn and green beans for dinner. CD made a dutch oven dump cake for dessert. It was delicious, especially since the temperature was rapidly falling into the 40’s. We sat around a campfire for a long time. There was a meteor shower on Saturday, and a few of us did get to see some shooting stars. All of the stars were out, and it was a nice ending to a great day… even though it was only 7:30 pm! With all of the activity and early rising, bedtime came early for everyone, as soon as the Georgia-Auburn game ended!

“I will not be cold,” I told myself. Jacob decided he was sleeping in pants, socks and jacket. I chose to go with the wool socks, basketball shorts, 2 long sleeved shirts, a skully, and ear covers, with my jacket pulled over my head. We beat the cold Saturday night.

SUNDAY

Much like Saturday, we woke early and went fishing. It was colder than the morning before and since we had to pack up, I watched Jacob fish more than I fished. I began packing us up and taking off rain-flies to dry. It was very wet for being so cold. The scouts had cereal and the adults had another delicious hot breakfast cooked by CD. The coffee might have been the best part. Matt Hall is preacher at Canopy Roads Baptist Church, so we were able to have an amazing church service around the campfire. Mr. Hall’s message was simple: Be remembered. He tried to instill in the scouts the desire to complete tasks, to never quit, and to try to do the best you can, always. Great men are remembered, and scouting lays the foundation for great men.

After our service, fishing resumed. Some scouts caught blue gill, but not much activity otherwise. There was a lot to do to get ready to go, and all the scouts pitched in to get everything dried, taken down and repacked. A few hours and we were ready to hit the road. A few more pictures and it was time to go. We left around 11:15am Alabama time. I rode the bus this time, which was cool. I got to spend a little more time with Jacob and his buddies on the bus. We ate lunch in Eufaula and then poked home. We finally made it to Tallahassee around 5:30pm. It was a long day in the bus.

I was grateful to return to my wonderful wife and son, who were waiting for us out in the yard (with dinner cooked!). Jacob and I missed our family very much. We do a lot together, and it’s not very often that we’re away from each other (at least Tammy and me). It was well worth it though. I am thankful that I got to spend time with Jacob away from all the crap he puts up with everyday. We got to hang out, and it seems like these times are happening less and less as we all grow up. I was reminded how lucky I am to have such a great family. I am proud of Jacob for sticking with scouts and for wanting to advance. He showed leadership and determination this weekend. He was my best friend again, hanging out and joking around. I wish life could be a camp out every day. But as a wise and wonderful woman often tells me, if life was easy every day, we wouldn’t appreciate the good times as much as we do.

(Written by Thomas aka TD)

Three Month MRI and 6 wk Post Op Appt.

Our morning started off a bit rocky...Gavin woke up early and was not in the mood to take a 2 hour ride in his car seat to Gainesville, but what choice did we have? Our trip to Shands today was very important, as all of our trips are, but today was extra important. It was a important to me because we were going to learn if the tumor at the bottom of Jacob's brain stem had changed or grown and Jacob was going to meet with Dr. Pincus to have his 6 week post operative check up. These appointments were a big deal to Jacob for different reasons. He was going to find out if he could go hunting with Pop Dana this weekend and resume his normal activities.



On the way to G-ville I managed to make several necessary phone calls and make my mom very nervous about my driving and talking on the phone in the process. I did get needed information from the Division of Blind Services (whole different story) and I did find out that Jacob's MRI wasn't where I thought it was going to be (there are two different places Jacob goes for MRIs). I also found out that the orders they had on file didn't call for contrast. Jacob's MRIs always call for scanning without and with contrast. So after another call to the neuro surgeon's office that was straightened out.



We arrived at MRI early and they took Jacob back within 10 minutes. After changing into his gown, Jacob informed me that he wasn't in the mood for an IV today and he shed a few tears. After the "it's always worse in your head pep talk" Jacob willingly went to have his scan. They took pictures without and with contrast and Jacob said the nurse tech who placed the IV for contrast didn't hurt him at all. My mom, aka Nana sat with Jacob the entire time and she said Jacob sat perfectly still. Brave Young man. Everything went just as it was supposed to go and we were in and out of MRI within just a little over an hour.



Next Jacob had his post op appointment. As usual we met with the nurse, then a resident and then Dr. Pincus, who said Jacob looks fantastic! Also Jacob is now over 5'3 ft tall and officially taller than his mama! Dr. Pincus also reviewed the scans Jacob had just had and said the tumor in question, at the bottom of the brain stem does NOT look like it has grown or changed. Whew!! Fireworks, let's cheer. Great news and answered prayers. We will be toting the prayer blanket crocheted for Jacob from the ladies at Good Shepard with us everywhere. I do have to call on Monday to confirm Dr. Pincus' opinion with the radiology doctor's report, but Dr. Pincus was very confident in his findings.



The other good news we received was that Jacob can go hunting, ride roller coasters and fly on airplanes. TD was thrilled to know Jacob can once again take out the trash. I was also very happy that Dr. Pincus said that once Jacob starts his scans and appointments at NIH we can bring those scans home and Shands can put them in their system. If Shands is happy with the NIH scans then Jacob will only have to have the scans at NIH. There were a few questions I forgot to address, but I will save them for next time. By the time we saw Dr. Pincus Gavin was no longer happy and the little Captain Cranky Pants I put in the car seat that morning had returned. G did finally pass out as I was running around the hospital trying to get the surgery records and recent scan copies for NIH. That was a much needed nap!



For those of you who don't know we finally got our dates for Jacob's first trip to The National Institute of Health in Bethesda, MD to participate in the 5 year NF2 study there. Jacob, Gavin and I will be leaving November 29 and returning on December 5. I will take notes and hopefully blog all about it when we get home.



For now though we are excited about Chason spending the night with us tomorrow, Granma Gina visiting this weekend, Jacob going hunting with Pop Dana and Gavin's 1st Halloween next weekend.



Thank you, Thomas for helping me get Brie to and from school today and taking such good care of her. I'm so lucky I have you. You are precious to me.

Happy Half a Year Gavin!!

Happy Half a Year Gavin!!

Today we celebrated Gavin turning 6 months old.

(Thanks for the idea Heather!)

After stopping for sodas at the gas mart, Publix for the cupcakes, and Michael's for the "motor" for Jacob's rockets we arrived at Tom Brown Park around noon. Even though there were a lot of people at the park we were still able to find a nice pavilion to have our picnic lunch TD made for us. TD hung Gavin's Happy birthday decorations and unpacked our lunch. Gavin and I were on bug patrol, pointing out to TD any bugs that needed to be "removed" before Gavin and I could settle in for the party. We waited for Nana and Papa Ken to arrive. It had not turned out to be the "sunny in the low 70s" day our always right weather person promised us. It was freezing! Even the wasps TD had to squish were frozen, but we were determined to make the best of a very special day.

Nana and Papa arrived with Gavin 1st balloon. He loved it. Nana tied it to Gavin's wrist and he watched it all afternoon. After eating lunch I enjoyed watching my big boys chase each other with cans of silly string. We then packed up our picnic and headed to the van to warm up. While I thawed out TD and Jacob built Jacob's rocket and missile. About 30 minutes later we headed to the top of the hill, in the middle of the Frisbee golf course. Shooting off the rockets was awesome! We did a countdown and everything. It was even fun looking for the parachute parts in the trees after each launch. Later the boys played woofer ball while Gavin took a nap in the grass on our quilt.

It was the best happy half a year ever!!

On Monday Gavin had his 6 month appointment with our primary doctor, Julie Kelch. My baby boy weighs 17 lbs 8 oz and is 27 1/2 inches tall. He is in the 75 percentile for a breastfed baby and is super healthy. Gavin has reached all the milestones of a 6 month old baby and then some. He has been sitting on his own for over a month and is now getting up on his hands and knees rocking. He also knows his name, is curious to what is being said around him and is incredibly social. Gavin is throwing down toys and objects to watch them fall and to see what happens once they do. He is passing objects from hand to hand and using both hands to hold things. He is also getting things out of his reach by scooting and rolling and he is feeding himself bitter biscuits. Busy Busy.

I love this age. Everything is new and exciting to Gavin. He brings new life to everything for me. He has so much personality. He is so amazing. I can never say enough how in love I am with him and how happy he makes me. and as I will say over and over again, I am so blessed to have Gavin, Jacob, Brie and TD!!

Brie's Incredible Edible Animal Cell

Brie's Science Research class was studying plant and animal cells. They had an assignment to create an Incredible Edible Cell - plant or animal. Brie chose to do an animal cell.

Brie and TD talked about the best way to create an edible animal cell (it could only be 15 mm), they made a grocery list and Brie and I went shopping. After buying $20.00 worth of sweets we were ready to create the most fabulous and yummy animal cell.

We cooked a huge sugar cookie to use as the base and placed a half purple gumball stuffed with a jelly bean in the middle for the nucleus/nucleolus. Red pixie stix sugar was used for cell membrane, blue pixie stix sugar for the cytoplasm and jelly beans were the mitochondria. We also used oriental noodles for the cytoskeleton, skittles for the lysosomes, fruit rollups dusted with blue pixie stix for the golgi bodies and fruit rollups with blue sprinkles as the endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes.

Brie and I had a lot of fun making the cell. We made a huge mess in the kitchen and dinning area, we gave ourselves tummy aches from eating too much candy and I managed to burn myself with the hot glue gun. It was all worth it.

Brie won 2nd place in her class!!!

TD and I are are/ were very proud of Brie for creating an awesome Incredible Edible Animal Cell!!!

Road to Recovery

Post-Op Day 1



Day 1 post-op was another very long day. Jacob spent most of the day in the PICU. I returned to the hospital around 8:00 am to find a very hungry, grumpy Jacob and a tired TD. Jacob was unable to eat the breakfast that dietary brought him because his jaw, teeth and head were causing him so much pain. The left side of Jacob's face was starting to swell and he was unable to see. The nurse started him on Motrin and Tylenol and was only giving him Morphine and Zofran if he complained. Finally after hours of waiting the nurse brought in packets of seasoning to make broth and red and yellow jello (I called Jacob's dad at 7 am, on my way to the hospital and asked him to bring Jacob soup and jello. He said he would, but didn't show up until 3:30 pm because his wife was sick.). Jacob was so happy to finally put something in his tummy and I sat and fed him several bowls of broth and many cups of jello. Not being able to eat was a huge deal for Jacob. He loves to eat and gets excited about what he is having for lunch and dinner, not to mention the hospital nursing staff was constantly asking us how much has he had to drink, how much has he eaten and measuring his pee. Which brings us to another subject. Jacob was unable to get out of bed the night of surgery and he wasn't catheterized. They provided Jacob with a lovely bed jug. It became quite funny by the end of the day... even Jacob was laughing, and crying because it hurt so bad to laugh.

My Mom and Dad visited, Nana and Papa Ken. Their visit was very nice. Papa Ken fed Jacob mashed potatoes while I tended to Gavin and TD took Brie to eat lunch. Thank you for coming to visit us on Friday!

Jacob was moved to the regular recovery floor, which surprised me b/c his pain wasn't under control and he was still throwing up.

Jacob's dad showed up at 3:30 pm and stayed until 7 pm. During part of this time TD, Brie, Gavin and I went and checked into the Ronald McDonald and went to Target to get the things Jacob asked for to play with while he is in the hospital.

Jacob got a roommate that night and TD spent night with Jacob because Gavin was so grumpy.

Brie, Gavin and I stayed at The Ronald McDonald House. It was nice. I was even able to wash clothes!

Post-Op Day 2


It was a long night for TD. Evidently, Jacob's roommate's mom snored louder than TD, and between her snoring and the nurses checking on Jacob every few hours, TD got very little sleep. Jacob received his last dose of Morphine at 4 am because both of his IVs were "bad" and not working. Jacob's dad was supposed to come relieve TD (or me) at 4 am, but he didn't show up until 6:45 am, so TD just stayed until I got there at 8:30 am. Jacob did not want another IV put in, so he started receiving Oxycodone, Motrin and Tylenol orally.

When I got to hospital, I told Jacob that the doctors had told TD that he looked great and could get out of bed. We explained to him that getting out of bed would help the swelling in his face and head go down and hopefully make him feel better. Jacob got out of bed and used the bathroom. It was a slow process, but after the first few trips, it got easier.

Jacob's dad left at 10:00 am and didn't return because his wife had a fever. This was very upsetting to Jacob, but Saturday afternoon turned out to be a great day for recovery.

TD and I talked Jacob into taking a shower and TD did a great job washing Jacob's hair. It was really scary for both of them, but they got it done and Jacob said the shower felt sooooo good!


Jacob had a lot of wonderful visitors.


Part of our St. Pete family visited Jacob. Julie, Randy, BJ, Tim, Erin and Darbi drove up for the afternoon and evening. They brought candy and cookies, magazines and music, but most importantly, themselves. Julie, Randy and BJ were a huge help with Gavin, giving me a break. The girls played games and Tim and BJ took Brie to dinner so she could have nice outing. (Thanks for bringing TD and I back Outback too!)


Chason, Aunt Becky and Uncle Todd drove from Tallahassee to spend the day with Jacob too. Chason wrapped his arms around Jacob and walked him around the hospital floor. Jacob made room next to him in his bed for Chason to sit with him and Jacob listened to Chason tell stories. It was amazing to see Jacob smiling again and to watch the swelling go down on the left side of Jacob's face. He was even able to crack open his eye a bit and see again. The boys watched tv and talked about duck hunting and football.


It meant so much to Jacob (and to TD, Brie and myself) to have our family visit and be there for us during such a hard time in our lives. Thank you for helping Jacob feel better.


Saturday night was very calming for me. Jacob's roommate was discharged and TD, Brie, Gavin and me were all able to stay with Jacob in the hospital. The nurses still came in every two hours and the bed Gavin and I slept in wasn't very comfortable, but having all of my family together and safe gave me peace. I found myself able to breath again and I felt like the NF2 storm had passed for a bit.


Post-Op Day 3

Jacob's doctors came in early and said Jacob could be released. Being in the hospital gives you a sense of security and a feeling of safety. When you are there it feels like something could go wrong and help isn't far away. With that said, we were all very ready to go home....especially Gavin and TD.

TD left early to get all of our things from the RMH, do our daily chore, pay and check out. Brie and I cleaned up the hospital room and packed all of Jacob's things away. Mr. Dana and Mrs. Gina drove up from St. Pete to help us on our way. They brought our doggies and lunch! Thank you two for all of your help too. We couldnt have had our minds as focused as we were without you. You gave us peace of mind, which was a great gift.

Jacob was doing good for the most part. He was still very sore and swollen and achy from all of the activity the day before. His pain was mostly under control, but he was feeling very nauseous. As we were getting ready to go, Jacob became very sick and threw up a lot. I wondered how our ride home to Tallahassee would go....

Around 3:30 pm on Post Op day 3 we made our way home.

Jacob chose to ride with TD in little Sally Saturn. Jacob said he didn't want to ride 2 hours with the crazy dogs and crazy baby, lol. Jacob slept the whole way home and didn't get sick.

Once we got back to Tally I had a hard time getting Jacob's liquid perchocet filled. Our Walgreen's had to call 4 other Walgreen's and finally got it filled at the one on Tennessee Street West. Needless to say, it took another hour to get it home and to Jacob.

Jacob got settled in, took his pain meds and decided he was "starving!" Per Jacob's request we ate Firehouse Subs for dinner. Jacob pounded a steak and cheese sub and went to bed. We put Gavin's baby monitor in Jacob's room with an intercom in my room and in the living room. TD got up and checked on Jacob every 2 hours and asked him if he was ready for pain meds. Jacob slept all night and didn't take any meds until 8 am Monday...

Post-Op Day 4

Brie went back to school and we rested. Jacob woke up and realized that he shouldve been taking his pain medication as prescribed. He was in a lot of pain. We got him his medicine over the next few hours and Jacob decided that he would take the meds like he was supposed to for at least another day. Jacob was still in pain, but the swelling in his upper part of his face was moving down around his cheek and jaw and even to the right side of his face. Jacob also became very moody.

Post-Op Day 5

Jacob took his last dose of of Oxycondone at 8:00 am. We continued giving Motrin and Tylenol for pain every 4 and 6 hours.

Maks came and visited Jacob for the afternoon and had dinner with us. Maks' family put together an awesome basket of toys, candy and cookies for Jacob. Maks and Jacob took apart and put back together all of Jacob's Flick Trix bicycles. Thank you, Bob and Martha, for lending us your son!

Post-Op Day 6

TD returned to work - Thank you, Becky, for being so supportive and understanding. We also want to thank Becky and Jim for helping make our lives a little easier. We really appreciate your effort, support and prayers. It means so much to our family to have great people surrounding us!


Gavin learned to wait today, he didn't wait very patiently, but he did have to wait. I tried to explained to him that his big brother was recovering from a really big surgery and needed Mommy more than him right now, but I don't think he understood. We made it through the day though, with only a few tears.


I was a little concerned that Jacob's emotions were so up and down - resembling a roller coaster.


Jacob was thrilled to have Lani and Neal visit him. They brought him the biggest chocolate milkshake I have ever seen. Jacob drank the whole thing.

Post-Op Day 7


TD was still getting up every few hours to check on Jacob and listening to the monitor all night. Jacob was still taking Motrin and Tylenol for his pain. We were still washing his hair for him every night, and keeping his head elevated. The swelling was completely gone with only a little bruising under his left eye. It was hard to tell he even had surgery.


Things were getting back to normal.


Jacob was still cranky, and now he was getting bored. I was wondering when this moody post- surgery child was going to morph back into my Jacob (or when I could send him back to school!).


Thursday evening, Mrs. Melanie from our church brought us dinner and brought Jacob an itunes gift card so Jacob could get some new music for his ipod. We haven't been to church since Gavin was born so Jacob and I were really happy to see her and to visit.


We had made it through the week and hopefully through the hardest part.


I am so proud of Jacob for being so strong. I am, as always, amazed and in awe with Jacob. I am so thankful for all the people who love Jacob and our family so dearly. I am thankful for the prayers and God's love that have covered us in this time of need. It is hard to find the words...


Jacob will return to school in a few weeks, go back to Shands to see the Neuro Ophthalmologist on October 2, and have his post-op appointment with Dr. Pincus on October 21.

I will do my best to find the time to keep you posted!!

Craniotomy for Optic Nerve Decompression

Craniotomy for Optic Nerve Decompression

The night before surgery TD and Brie joined us in Gainesville around 6:30 pm. We all went to eat at Cracker Barrel and had dessert at Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream per Jacob's request. We got back to the hotel and each started to prepare for the next day, the big day. Jacob's surgery was almost here.


Jacob was really nervous most of the evening and night. (We were all nervous) I washed his hair with the special shampoo we were given and we watched baseball as late as we could. Jacob cried because he was scared and I tried to comfort him with hugs, kisses and reassurance that everything would be fine. It seemed like Jacob got up 15 times during the night to use the restroom. He complained about stomach cramps and jitters in his tummy. Finally around 2:00 am Jacob fell asleep. Gavin slept most of the night in his pack n play, only waking up once - I felt like I didn't sleep at all.


TD, Jacob, Brie, Gavin and I got to the hospital at 9:00 am.


The rest of Jacob's family started getting to the hospital around 10:15 am.

Thank you to Granma Gina, Pops Dana, Heather, Josh and Presley for being there for us on surgery day.

Jacob's dad, his wife and GG and Papa Billy were also at the hospital for the day.

The "surgery phone line" informed us that we needed to be at the hospital at 9:00 am and that Jacob's surgery would be around an hour and a half later. I knew after meeting with Dr. Pincus the day before that Jacob was Dr. Pincus' 2nd case and he didn't expect to start with Jacob until around noon.

They called Jacob at 1:00 pm to go upstairs to be prepped for surgery.

Jacob headed to pre-op. Jacob held my hand as we walked. I just kept thinking how brave Jacob is and how unfair this all seems. I prayed over and over in my head for God to be with Jacob and his surgeons. In pre-op we met several anesthesiologists and one of the nurses who would be in the room with Jacob during surgery. Jacob explained to the doctors that he wanted his IV placed first and did not want to be put to sleep with the anesthesia mask. He also requested that the instruments in the OR be covered up before he entered. He remembered seeing the tools last surgery and they frightened him. The anesthesia doctor who tried to place the IV the 1st time failed miserably. Jacob was mad and ready to go home. After the way he dug around in Jacob's arm...I would of been ready to go home too, but what's the big deal of getting an IV compared to a craniotomy? Another doctor came in and put Jacob's IV in very easily. Thank goodness. Jacob was given Verset and started to fall asleep. I told him how much I love him and walked away before he could see my melt down. Jacob went to the OR at 2:10 pm and I went to the chapel to pray.


We waited.


At 4:30 pm the nurse called and spoke with Jacob's dad and said Jacob was doing very well. She said she would call again with another update around 6:30 pm. We didn't hear from the nurse again, but Dr. Pincus came down about 7:15 pm. He said Jacob did very well. He said the surgery went just as it was supposed to go. Dr. Pincus said the appearance of the optic nerve changed immediately after they did the decompression. The nerve went from "a very unhappy nerve to a happy nerve." Dr. Pincus said that him and Dr. Lewis were both very happy with the surgery. He said Jacob was being stitched up and that we wouldn't know about Jacob's vision until he woke up and went to PICU.

At 8:30 pm I finally was able to see my baby in PICU. He looked beautiful and precious. He was peacefully sleeping. Jacob's nurse was hooking up wires and attaching his monitors. I asked her if he had woken up or said anything since he was brought in from the OR. She said that Jacob's doctors had been there and talked to him - she said they had done a vision field test using their fingers......she said Jacob had passed the test. I looked at her and said, "So Jacob can see? He can see? He passed the vision test?" She said, "Yes!!" I can not describe the feelings of joy that came over me, the relief. Answered Prayers! Just to be able to kiss Jacob's hand and to see him breathing steady was priceless, much less to know he could/can see. That was a moment I will remember forever. TD and Brie came in to see Jacob with the same reaction. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. Tears of happiness.


Heather and Josh came in and saw Jacob briefly before they went back home to St. Pete. Jacob woke up for a few minutes to tell them goodbye and asked Heather how Presley, her 4 month old daughter was doing. Even after waking up from major surgery Jacob was thinking of others before himself.


Jacob's dad came in and saw him briefly.

I was able to bring Gavin in for about an hour before TD and Brie took him back to the hotel. It was so comforting to have all of my family together and to surround each other and Jacob with our combined love.


Surgery night was rough. Jacob was very sick to his stomach and in a lot of pain. Jacob had a hard time opening his eye so he was also scared. He dry heaved in the beginning which made his head hurt and his incision bleed. Later after drinking water he threw that up several times. I'm not sure if it was the Morphine or the anesthesia that made him sick, but the Zofran controlled his nausea later. Jacob slept a lot and when he was awake we listened to football on ESPN and talked about the games from that night. Most of the night and early morning I sat and held Jacob's hand because he was very scared. Around 5 am TD (thank you for being an awesome husband and step father!!!) came and sat with Jacob and I went to the hotel to be with Gavin and Brie and to sleep a bit.


Surgery day was over and Jacob was doing as best as could be expected.

Strong and Brave.

Getting ready for Surgery...

Monday afternoon Granma Gina took Grissom and Connor home with her to stay for the week. (our Yorkie and Poodle) I am happy they are staying with someone who loves them and will take good care of them, but I miss my Grissom dearly! Thank you also to Mom and Dad for feeding our cats, Miller and Booger.

Monday evening I was worried we were going to have to reschedule Jacob's surgery.

When Jacob came home from his Dad's on Monday he told me he had come down with a headache and a fever of 100.2 late Sunday night. Jacob said he was feeling fine, but I was still worried. Monday afternoon I took his temperature again and it was 100.9 and he was coughing randomly. I started pushing Gatorade and water and giving him Robitussin expectorant. Monday night Jacob went to bed with only a 99.0 temp. Tuesday morning after craniosacral therapy for Jacob and a chiropractor appointment for me we headed to Dr. Julie Kelch's (our primary doctor) for Gavin's shots and a flu swab for Jacob. Gavin got his shots and Dr. Kelch looked over Jacob. Good news! Jacob was negative for flu, no fever and his chest sounded clear. We were on for our trip to Shands on Wednesday.

Wednesday morning (this morning) Thomas loaded the van for us, Jacob, Gavin and I dropped Brie off at school and got on the road for Gainesville. We got here early around 10:45 and stopped at Starbucks. After coffee, changing and feeding Gavin, and going potty Jacob and I had a nice conversation about how the rest of the day would go and who was going to visit him while we are here at Shands. I told him about all the wonderful calls and emails I have gotten and how many people were praying for him. We talked about the 10,000 angels watching over him and how Jesus and God are by our side.

At 11:45 we went to pre-op anesthesia / pre-surgery and saw the anesthesia doctor and did all of Jacob vitals. Once again - no fever and clear chest. Yea!

At 12:30 Jacob had his appointment with Dr. Pincus, the neurosurgeon. I filled out paper work and the nurse did Jacob's vitals. Again, Jacob sounded good. Gavin got changed and fed and was a happy boy, even though his 2nd bottom tooth is poking through. Around 1:00 Leigh Ann, the nurse practitioner came in and saw Jacob. She explained to Jacob how before and after surgery would go and gave us some shampoo for Jacob to wash his hair with tonight and tomorrow morning. Dr. Pincus came in next and went over the surgery with Jacob. We gave Jacob the choice to sit in or out while Dr. Pincus and I talked about Jacob's surgery and Jacob chose to leave the room. Dr. Pincus spent about 30 minutes answering my questions.

Explanation of surgery: ****************

Dr. Pincus will make an incision from the left ear to middle of the forehead, along the hair line. He will remove the skull (forehead area) above the left eye and the brain covering, then slightly retract the brain (very little) and work behind the left eye and optic nerve. Dr. Lewis will then come in and drill off (with a diamond drill bit - crazy right?) the part of the "bony tube" compressing the optic nerve. They will then look at the optic nerve tumor (meningioma) and see if it is in a place to biopsy. Dr. Pincus does not think they will be able to do this, but is keeping the possibility open. After all of this they will put everything back together and send Jacob to PICU for recovery. *****************

Next Jacob did blood work for blood typing - in case he needs a blood transfusion and then we went back to pre-op to see admissions.

At 3:30 we were done and eating at Subway.

I am thankful that we made it through this day. Step one is over.

We are ready for tomorrow, safely tucked into our hotel room, Jacob is healthy, Gavin is healthy and Thomas and Brie are on their way.

Oh, and the allergic reaction to the unknown bug bite all over my left arm and and under my eye is still out of control, but i think I will live :). It really stinks wearing long sleeves in September in Florida!