Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Surgery Tomorrow and Facial Twitches

A quick update on things. Jodi is starting to feel better, so thanks for all the prayers! She has kept food down today for the first time since Friday! That is huge considering she is going into surgery tomorrow and needs all her strength! She has withered down to a mere 98 pounds, with literally nothing to spare, so she needs all the food and energy she can get.

Jodi is on the surgery schedule, but not until 2:30 in the afternoon. She was hoping to be earlier in the day, since she has to fast all day and is already feeling so weak. She talked to the schedulers, but there are diabetics and small children that take priority, so like it or not, it will be late in the day. She really hopes the surgery will help her eye to close and eliminate many of the challenges she is now facing.

On another good note, Jodi has been having "facial twitches" in the paralyzed side of her face, which internet research says is a good sign. This most often happens when she is "massaging" her face with a washcloth to wash it at night before bed (since she can't splash water on her face because her eye won't close). Her friend, Suzy, and Suzy's mom, Bev, gave Jodi lots of great advice on facial massage and diet that she hopes will help. They have had plenty of practice since Suzy's dad had Bell's Palsy twice and these things seemed to help his recovery. So, Jodi is excited to start the massage to see if it helps.

She is off of many of her medications (to help with her stomach sickness) and is actually feeling better today than since she has been home. What a blessing! Thanks again for the prayers! She did go to the store today (one of her first public outings) and it wiped her out, but the fact that she even felt up to trying was a big "baby step" toward good progress.

Thanks and more thanks for the visits, calls and prayers. Jodi is still very tired and weak, so she is not able to visit as much as she'd like, but in the little doses she can handle it, she appreciates visiting with all of you that she loves so much!

More prayers for surgery day with high hopes of improvement by this time tomorrow!!

11 comments:

Brandi said...

I'm so glad you're starting to feel better, Jodi. And, the facial twitches sound like a great step in the right direction. Yay!

It was great visiting with you the other day. I'll have to call you and come by another day and let the kids play while we have some "girl time." ;)

Good luck with your surgery tomorrow. I hope it's relatively pain-free with wonderful results.

Love,
Brandi

Carol Liptrot said...

Good Luck with the Surgery tomorrow. I know it will go well. It is good to see you feeling a little better. Looking forward to good reports on your progress. You are still in our prayers. I hope you have a good night tonight. Love to you,
Love, Carol Liptrot

Randy and Ann Allred said...

We'll continue to pray for you. Are the headaches going away now?

Anonymous said...

I will be praying and thinking of you all day. Sending lots of love.
Sheree

Karen Liu said...

Jodi,
I've never stopped praying for you, my friend. Good luck tomorrow! Liu

Anonymous said...

Dear Jodi: I have continued to say lots of prayers for you and I will pray extra hard tonight for a successful surgery tomorrow! It was nice to see you on your front porch yesterday! I was so sweaty and stinky from mowing the lawn that I didn't want to get to close!!! he he :) Know I will be thinking about you tomorrow and looking forward to your continued improvement!!! Much Love! Cindy Taylor

annie said...

I'm happy you are feeling stronger. And I never thought I would be saying this to anyone but.... I'm glad you are having facial twitches. :)

Our prayers and love are with you tomorrow. Good Luck. Happy hugs!

Nichole Giles said...

Sick stomach? Yuck. Not fun. Not fun at all. But things are looking up. After tomorrow you'll be able to close your eye, and it sounds like your facial nerves are trying to heal. Definite progress.

Our thoughts are with you.

Quote of the day:
"The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong at the broken places." ~Ernest Hemingway

Anonymous said...

Good luck with tomorrow Jodi! Stay strong...you are as always in our prayers and thoughts...

Amy Wicks said...

Good luck today Jodi.

Sending much love your way,

Amy

britt said...

I will be thinking and praying for you today as you have yet another surgery. Hopefully this one has only positive side effects and helps with the challenging eye situation!
Love ya and hope you know that even though we haven't seen each other for quite some time, I am still thinking about my dear friend (YOU) all the time!
looking forward to a positive update after todays surgery