Simply Love

I'm excited to announce that we have started getting our "old Cody" back! 
Here's the update at 3 1/2 weeks out from surgery...

head pain: the new prescription for pain meds was not compatible with the seizure medication Cody is on, so he only took it for a day or two before they had him stop. thankfully his pain is much decreased and he's only taking Tylenol 2-3x/day.
back pain: results from the MRI of his lower back came back showing moderate disc herniation in multiple areas. again, thankfully the pain has almost totally disappeared.
seizures: last Saturday, Cody had two seizures. Other than that, they remain under control.
energy: definitely showing an improvement. He still doesn't do much, but at least he's out of bed more.
appetite: back to normal
sleep: still an area of frustration. his sleeping literally shifted overnight. instead of sleeping all of the time, now he finds himself with insomnia and is struggling to sleep, even at night.
activity level: improved. he does a lot of sitting and watching tv yet, but he has thrown a couple loads of laundry in and washed a sink full of dishes!
incision site:  looks amazing. he had his staples removed this week and you can't tell his new scar from his old scar.
attitude:  unfortunately, still crabby. but mostly with the kids, which is breaking my heart. although he's showing overall improvements, I still think he's recovering and "recovery" and "3 small children" do not go well together.

Cody went into work for a couple of hours on Thursday to get some paperwork done. He couldn't believe how difficult it was. He really struggled with concentration. His tentative plan is to start back on Monday...and just see how things go and see what he can handle. He promised me he will take it a day at a time (and if need be, even an hour at a time).

There have been a few instances where Cody has made a comment or done something, that appears as straight up confusion. I should probably take note of these times, but the most recent was when he went to thaw hamburger in the microwave. He went to push the buttons, and couldn't at all remember how to do it. I'm not sure if this is something that will be short term, or if these are just side effects of what's taken place in his brain.

We have been in contact with Duke University Medical Center a few times this past week. We aren't exactly sure what they will have to offer Cody as far as clinical trials. You may have heard about it, but one of the most promising trials they are doing right now involves the polio virus.  Mayo clinic has sent Cody's pre- and post-op MRI images to Duke. We are now in the process of waiting for those to be reviewed and an appointment to be made.