**EMERSON UPDATES**

[TrudyCampbell]

*If you are interested in helping, we have set up a paypal account to offset the cost of Emerson's medical bills.
[e-mail]
Thank you for your generosity.*

I wanted to start this thread so everyone could easily access updates about Emerson. 

PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD!!!!! If everyone keeps responding this thread will become 30 pages like the other one and it will be hard to keep up with. 

kandrze1 can post updates here or I will copy and paste what she writes in the other thread. 

PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS THREAD! Responses, thoughts, prayers can go in the other thread. 

@smudgee can you sticky this?

[TrudyCampbell]

Here's what we've had so far:

Aug 10, 2014 at 6:25pm
Emerson was with her father at a park today and she was running and fell and hit her head on rocks. I was in Rochester with a friend at the time so he took her to urgent care. She's not opening her one eye and doesn't want to walk. When he got to urgent care they decided to fly her to the children's hospital. I'm in a car driving with my mom right now and really, really flipping out. Please send prayers that I don't completely lose it before I get to the hospital and that she's going to be ok.

Aug 10, 2014 at 6:30pm
He just texted me and said she has bleeding on the brain I don't know what that means and I'm scared to look it up

Aug 10, 2014 at 7:45pm
She's in scans right now. She didn't recognize me and I think she's going to icu after scans. Might need to go to or depending on the bleed. Either way she'll be in icu tonight at least.

Aug 10, 2014 at 9:05pm
I'm in the icu waiting room. She's in the or the surgeon told me that she has a sub dermal hematoma and they're doing surgery to remove the pressure on the brain. The surgeon said it will be minute by minute. I'm trying not to lose it. I got to give her a kiss before she went in the or. Thanks for the prayers.

Aug 11, 2014 at 12:16am
She's out of the or. She all be in a medically induced coma until the swelling goes down. The surgeon said she came out well but it's a very serious brain injury. There is nothing wrong with her spine or neck as far as they can tell. They are hoping she is stable enough to have an MRI tomorrow to check internal brain injury. The surgeon said a lot of kids don't come out as well so that's a positive. When she came in she was yelling and moving all her limbs and opening her eyes so I was told that was a good sign.
I should be able to see her soon hopefully. I'm really really scared. Thank for your prayers and thoughts. I'll try to keep you all posted.

Aug 11, 2014 at 9:46am
I just spoke with the surgeon a couple of minutes ago. The good news is that the swelling is done and the blood on the brain or clot is significantly if not entirely gone. She is moving her toes and fingers and will open her eyes. She is just heavily sedated so no medically induced coma. She made through the night with no problems.
The bad news is that when her brain swelled it pushed on the right side of the brain and caused a stroke which has shown some damage on the MRI. There is no way to tell the extent of damage until she is awake. The surgeon seems to think it is the part of the brain that effects vision. The brain stem is healthy, the part of the brain that regulates speech seems ok right now. Motor skills seem ok based on her movement. No way to tell cognitive for awhile.
Right now the swelling just needs to stay down and then they'll go from there. She might be sedated for 1-2 days depending on how the swelling is.
I cannot you all how much your thoughts and prayers have meant to me. I've been able to hold her hand, but it's killing me that I can't hold her. Please keep praying ladies.

Aug 11, 2014 at 10:48am
We're at children's hospital in buffalo. She almost ended up at strong.
We're doing ok. I slept two hours last night and have all my aunts sending coffee and food. The icu nurses are saints and set Em up a room with an adjoining door that has a free bed so I should be are to sleep in something besides a chair.
I just heard that they're but a feeding tube in so that's a good thing. Originally I was told that might take awhile.

Aug 11, 2014 at 9:40pm
Emerson was stable today. The pressure and swelling is stable. According to the icu dr they usually see a spike in swelling around 1-2 days after the injury if it's going to happen. She had a slight fever a few time today, but stable. My mind is kind of overloaded right now and I'm going to try and sleep, but trying to stay hopeful. It will be day to day for awhile. Hopefully Wednesday she will have another MRI and they will go from there. Thank you again. You guys have been a good source of strength for me the few times I was breaking down a bit today.

yesterday at 10:08am
She had a good night. Stable pressure and everything. When the neurosurgeon came in today she wiggled her toes and grasped her hand on command. She also opened her non swollen eye and could look right to left when the surgeon asked her to. The neurosurgeon is kind amazing. She braided Emerson's hair in surgery and I noticed it for the first time today. She told Em is doing better at this point than she initially expected.
I just heard icu rounds and probably should not have listened because they read the detailed MRI and I understand a little bit more than is good for me. It's really hard to hear the damage.
It's going to be a quiet day today for her not too many drs bugging her just hoping the brain pressure stays down.

about an hour ago
She had another stable night, but has continued with low grade fevers. They tested for infection but nothing is coming back so they are thinking it might just be from the brain injury. She has having multiple twitches in her hand this morning in conjunction with high blood pressure so the drs are doing an EEG right now to check for seizure activity. She is already on anti-seizure medication so it would just be a matter of changing her dosage.
The neurologist said this morning they're waiting to do the MRI until tomorrow. I guess technically Monday was consider post op day and the 2-3 day count started yesterday. She did say if the MRI looks good they will remove the drain in her head and from there start looking at reducing sedation. So still positive overall.
I can't thank you all enough for your kindness and thoughts.

[kandrze1]

Thanks Trudy for setting this up. It was quiet today for Em but that's good. Seems MRI sometime tomorrow and then hopefully taking her drain out. The drain does measure her Icp. I think someone asked about that.
If that goes well they'll start turning down her respirator, which is already very low, and see if she breathes on her own. She was trying to pull out tubes today multiple times so they changed her sedative to avoid her being agitated but that's a good sign.
The icu was out of control today. I got a little overly anxious, but the nurses got me a quiet room with a bed in the er so I could rest. I'm feeling ok right now. I'm hoping tomorrow's going to give us some good news.

[kandrze1]

Just a quick update. MRI was stable so worse, no better but I guess that's good. They took the drain out this morning and found the source of her fever. Slight lung infection and the new antibiotic has already dramatically improved the fever. She's a lot more awake which is good but I'm having a hard time because as she's becoming more aware it's a lot more evident that she's scared and anxious which is really really hard for me. I feel like I'm getting pretty good at keeping my voice calm while my whole body is shaking like crazy.
She is still on the respirator but initiating breaths so she will have the breThing tube removed today. So still good I'll try to update later tonight. I did get home for a few hours to sleep today right after she got done with the MRI.

[kandrze1]

Em's breathing tube was removed yesterday around 3:45. The plan was 4 but she was coming off the sedatives fast enough that she wanted to take the tubes out herself, so they did it early. She did really well with the removal of the breathing tube and is breathing on her own. She got oxygen for awhile, but was off it after she got a steroid.
She was taken off of most of the sedatives when the breathing tube went so she went through a bit of withdrawal last night. She was very agitated, but she was moving good and opening her eyes. I went home to sleep last night, but was told she said momma very clearly a few times.
When I came back this morning she was a lot more restful. Her left arm is a little weak, but all of her other limbs are moving well. The drs think they saw some tracking with her eyes and I agree. The nurse have her a lemon glycerine swab which she purposefully sucked on. She's saw physical therapy who moved her legs and arms and will be continuing as appropriate. Speech therapy came to evaluate her swallow reflex and I was able to feed her watered down applesauce. Occupational therapy will be coming in to see her soon. Right now she is having her central line removed so hopefully in can maybe hold her a bit. She'll have iv's in still.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and kindness. I'm going to share a picture of some signs from her friends at daycare.

[kandrze1]

We had a really great day today. Emerson got to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner! I'm feeding her, but she has no issues chewing or swallowing to she has no dietary restrictions.
The weaned her off the last sedative today so she slowly became more alert as the day went on. The neurosurgeon woke her up and asked who I was and she said mommy. She's called herself Emmie, asked for more, and shine her head/verbalized yes and no. My aunt left as I was feeding her a Popsicle and I told her to say bye bye and it took her a minute but as my aunt was walking away she whispered bye bye and I just wAnted to cry.
I got to lay in bed with her, but it doesn't last long. Hopefully I can hold her by Monday. It seems like she'll be out if the icu sometime Monday.
I'm a little concerned about her vision. Her gaze wants to stay to the left but I'm trying hard to just not get ahead of myself.

[kandrze1]

Sunday was a quiet day for us. She stopped talking as much, but continued to be good eating and took some great naps. It seems like it is normal for injury patients to have great days and then quiet days.
Today was good again. She smiled snd laughed around dinner when I gave her a Popsicle. She was moved to a surgical floor right around dinner. Buffalo does not have an inpatient rehab program so it seems like we will be looking at Rochester, Boston, Cleveland, or Pittsburg tomorrow. She got her soft helmet and will hopefully be out if bed at some point with pt tomorrow.
Her face was priceless when she got in her new room and could see out a window. She wouldn't talk but shook her head no when I asked her questions. The only one she said yes to was another Popsicle. The neuro team seems to be very impressed with her progress. I think I would have had a breakdown today if it wasn't for her smile.
Thank you again for your positive thoughts.

[kandrze1]

Emerson's been on the surgical recovery floor since Monday night. She's eating amazingly. I've never seen this girl eat broccoli florets since our purée days, but she's eating everything now! She's say a lot more words and will play with some of her stuffed animals and smile and laugh. She's getting ot, pt, and speech once a day. I took her for a wagon ride Tuesday once her helmet was fitted and yesterday we went for a wheelchair ride while I held her in my lap. She's not exactly sitting up on her own. I'm not thrilled with the pt at the hospital and am starting to get anxious to get her to the rehab center.
I toured the inpatient rehab yesterday and it seems like she will be heading there on Monday.
Nighttime is an issue it seems like she's starting to have night terrors. I stayed with her Tuesday night and thought she was just agitated with her limited ability to move, but after last night I'm a little more concerned.
Overall though she's doing pretty well. Thank you for the continuous thoughts and prayers.

[kandrze1]

She's going to an inpatient rehab center tomorrow, so I should have more info as to what steps are next soon. I do know the neurosurgeons have already started talking about scheduling the surgery to reattach the skull fragment in her abdomen. Typical rehab is 45 days and additional as needed, so this makes me think the surgeons are thinking her rehab will be shorter
Em got her stitches out yesterday and sat up in a wheelchair for a ride and some time in the playroom yesterday. Today she sat on the pt therapists lap unassisted and put some weight on her feet in a stand position while we held her.
She seems to be more like herself verbally and cognitively everyday which is very, very encouraging. She's able to help feed herself a bit with some finger foods too. It seems like from my uneducated perspective her greatest need is in gross and fine motor, which will be focused on in rehab.
Thanks for continuing to send positive thoughts!

[kandrze1]

We got to the hospital where Em will do her rehab on Tuesday morning. I was not prepared for the intensity that her rehab program is, but it's good that it's so intense. I'm also a lot more alone with her during the day, which can be hard, but overall we're doing okay. All of the doctors and therapists have been really excited to work with Emerson and constantly comment on how well she will do because of how far along she already is. I think we are very, very lucky because based on what I've been learning this type of injury doesn't seem to typically have the outcome that Emerson has been having. So thank you for your prayers and thoughts.
The first couple of days of PT and OT were very frustrating for Emerson, but yesterday she walked 10ft holding my and the therapists hands, and today I was told she walked from her therapy room back to her hospital room which is pretty far. I'm home until tomorrow morning so I could set up my classroom for my sub. Emerson's speech is getting better every day. It seems like right now her biggest issue is her left eyesight. It appears that she does not see from her left eye right now. We're trying to figure out if it's a vision issue or if it's related to her left side just being slower to recover. Her left arm is the weakest of her arms and legs still. The hospital is really nice and Emerson is able to go for walks outside with me in her stroller which is amazing.
Right now it seems like her goal date for discharge is mid-September and her next surgery would be around the beginning of November. I have some amazing EI people already working with me to make sure she has a really smooth transition to out patient rehab. Hopefully Em will be able to go back to her friends at daycare in January. 
I have to say I am blown away by the kindness and generosity that all of you ladies have shown Emerson and me over the past few weeks. Your messages and thoughts really kept me sane through some rough nights. I can't say thank you enough.

[kandrze1]

I can't believe how much she's improved since I saw her Thursday night! She's walking a ton and sitting unassisted.

[creamsiclechica]

Just a note to say if you would like to send a card to Emerson and Kate and you haven't received a PM from @therealmc or myself, please PM me and I will send out the information to you straight away! Thanks!

[kandrze1]

Emerson's had another great week with her therapies. She's now walking without needing someone's hand to hold. She can sit from standing and stand from a sitting position and we were even running a little bit yesterday. Her speech is getting really close to where she was at before.
The only immediate concern is her left vision. Her left side is still weaker. Her arm is almost back to normal and she doesn't really distribute weight evenly on her left leg, but it's improving. Sometimes it seems like she doesn't see things to the left, but I even think that's improving. Last week she would stumble into doorways on the left side, like she couldn't see them. This weekend I didn't notice that so it seems like it might just be a weakness for now.
They're still looking at a sept 18th discharge date, and at that point she'll go back to buffalo for a note extensive MRI again. Here are some pictures from yesterday.

[kandrze1]

So I just got home from Emerson's discharge meeting with her team of therapists and rehab doctors. She is coming home tomorrow! 
Her rehab went very, very well. She is walking and running on her own. Can hop, climb, sit, etc. Her speech is pretty much back to where it was before her injury, to the point that the outpatient rehab doesn't feel the need to follow her for speech. She will have a neuro psychologist follow up with her in a year, but right now she is pretty much back to her baseline cognitively and socially. Her only behavioral concern right now is bedtime. She's not having night terrors anymore,but just won't settle. I think this is kind of normal for her age though so I'm hoping going home might improve bedtime a little bit.
Once we get home we will schedule an appointment to see her neurosurgeons and rehab doctors at the children's hospital in Buffalo. She will get outpatient therapy through the hospital which will be more focused on the medical aspects of her rehab, and she will also get EI for speech, OT, and PT at home. 
A lot of my question were not really able to be answered by her doctors at her rehab because they are not her surgeons. The one doctor almost gave me a heart attack when she accidentally told me Emerson would not have her skull fragment surgical reattached until she was 5yrs old... That's not the case though, we're still looking at mid-November for that surgery. 
I'm going to have to find some play groups for her that don't involve the risk of any head bumps. I had to cancel gymnastics and dance for the fall, but I still want her to be able to socialize some. She won't be able to go back to daycare until after the new year. I go back to work sept. 29 so my mom will be with her once I go back to work.
I feel ridiculous, but one of the last things they talked to me about upset me the most, and it's so not important in the grand scheme of things. But I was told I need to know she won't be able to participate in sports that might risk head injury as she gets older. It's so stupid, but I am crying right now because I'm never going to see her on a horse. I know that's stupid, but I've been counting down the days until her first riding lesson. I'm trying to tell myself this will just save me money in the long run
I cannot begin to thank all of you wonderful ladies for all of your love, generosity, and support. Thank you all so much.