Just A Little Bit Punky

Just A Little Punk

Sorry it's been so long for an update... Megan has been sick for the past 3 days, but woke yesterday with NO fever!! Glory to God... I was going to post a picture of her new hair cut, but before I could get a good picture of her she cut it again. Seems the whole punk rock thing was just not her style. She went for the Demi Moore look and shaved it. I took this picture of her last night with my phone so its not the best, but I think she looks pretty cute with no makeup and no hair. The hospital called her yesterday with more great news. They have a program to help people with finances. The insurance will only cover a % of the bills plus they have a pretty sizable deductible. The deductible will be for 2008 and again in 2009 since the treatment was started in 08 so they have to pay the deductible twice. Megan and Felix filled out the paperwork for assistance. They worked closely with a lady in the business office that helped them with a huge packet of paperwork. When she called she was laughing and told Megan she has NEVER had anyone fill out the packet correctly. She said she has to call everyone and ask for more information. Except for Megan, she completed it correctly the first time and was approved to have all her bills covered for 2008 and 2009. They will not have to pay anything except for the emergency room at Oak Bend and the ambulance... God is so good.. Now if you are still feeling generous, you can make those non tax deductible donations. Just make your check payable to Paul Stork and send them on. God is great and keeps working on every aspect of this whole thing...Keep praying for Megan, she starts on Monday with her treatment. Thanks for all the support and prayers.

It's Been A Busy Week

Megan has had one busy week. After the speech testing, she had to do the cognitive testing. She had the same test done before she had the surgery. They do all kinds of memorization, puzzles, and recall type tests. They set aside 3 hours for the test, but she finished in about 1.5 hours. One of the areas she felt she didn't do as well in was memorizing a series of numbers. They recite 10-12 numbers slowly, and then ask you to repeat them back in the same order. Some areas she did better and faster then before the surgery, but over all, she did VERY well. They will also use the information to measure her results against those with like tumors, in the same area, to determine if there are any similarity's. She also underwent a radiation simulation. This is where they prepare you for your treatments. They made a mold of her face and head out of a rubbery/plastic substance. The mold will serve two purposes. One, it will hold her head still during the treatment, secondly it will server as a target point. They will make markings on the mold so they will hit the same spot repeatedly. Treatment is scheduled to start on February 2nd, and will last for 6 weeks. She will go in to a satellite hospital that MD Anderson has in Richmond, just 25 minutes from the house. The process with take about 30 minutes, 5 days a week. The plan is to be able to do the treatment in the late afternoon. That way Jonathan can pick her up and take her while Marion stays with the girls. If they do not let us do the treatment in the late afternoons, Marion & Megan will have to load the girls, and take them in with them. Thank God it is only 6 weeks. After her treatment she will be monitored every 2-3 weeks to see if the tumor has stopped it's growth. We continue to pray that God just removes it. Megan has cut her hair, but I don't have any pictures just yet to show you. I have yet to see it myself, but Stevie & Brian Benoit at Emanuel, blessed her with the new dew. Brian headed up the project, and is a pretty groovy cat. I am told she had to throw back to an 80's rocker look, where the hair is long on one side, but short on the other. I can't think of anyone better than Brian to design the cut. Megan told me on Tuesday that her hair is getting long enough to hide the scar. She was getting some pretty ugly stairs from older people, and some accepting nods from the younger crowd. She figured it was time for a cut. Picture to follow. Please continue to pray for her total healing, and pass this site onto all you know will pray. Our goal is to have people all over the world praying for her total healing.

Megan Passes!!! NO SPEECH THERAPY!!!

Megan and I spent most of the day at MD Anderson undergoing tests. We met with the speech therapy Dr. What they look for is Megan's ability to carry on a conversation. Megan has a VERY slight deficit in word recall, but if she can substitute a word, and carry on a conversation, they are OK with that. For example, if she can use brush instead of comb or pony instead of horse, that is fine. What the brain does from a very young age is establish pathways to words and word recall. When they remove a portion of the brain, it will disrupt a portion of some of the pathways. It is like going in, and turning all the files upside down. The word is still there, but it is not in the same place as it once was. She needs to find it, and develop a new pathway, to where the word is. They recommend that when she is with family and close friends that she stops, finds the word, and repeat it a few times, then carrys on the conversation. So if you are talking to her, and she can't find a word, stops and finds it, repeats it, then you are a close friend. If she talks with you, and you do not notice her searching for words, then you are not a friend.(LOL) What they where looking for in the testing today, is her ability to see an object, describe an object, say what it is used for, and what are some like items. All this is what the brain does in a millisecond. When the brain is disrupted, and the pathways are scrambled, Megan needs to establish a new pathway, and it takes a little longer to see things, as they are. Today she looked at a dart. She said it was an arrow, then stared at it, and thought for a second, and said dart. In another case she saw a rhinoceros and said hippopotamus then stared at it for a second and corrected her self. She looked at the Dr. and asked, who draws this stuff??? We all had a big laugh!!! This is what happens when she is reestablishing a new pathway. It all ended well, and she will not have to do any speech therapy. Praise God!! Please pray for her healing, and send this to anyone you know will pray for her. Our goal is to have people all over the world praying for a total healing. We love you all!!

Time Is Flying

Megan is scheduled to go in for some testing, blood work & a briefing on Speech Therapy on January 20th. I don't think she will need any Speech Therapy, but the testing will tell us that. They have canceled her MRI that was scheduled for this week. She just had one a couple of weeks ago, and everything looked great. They will do more of the Cognitive Testing to make sure she is progressing as expected with her motor skills, and word recall. She will then see Dr. Puduvalli and review the plan and schedule for radiation treatments. She will do the treatments once a day Monday through Friday for 6 weeks. Great Grandma Elaine is coming in to sit with Megan and keep her company for a couple of weeks toward the end of her treatment. We are all looking forward to her visit. Please continue to pray for Megan. We are expecting her to go through her treatment with no side effects. Please send this site to anyone you know will pray. Our goal is to have people all over the world praying for our Megan.

Rest Easy!!!!

Well I had dinner with Megan, Felix, and the girls last night. Marion prepared a wonderful dinner, and we all ate together. Megan is learning to rest, even when she does not feel tired. She says it is very hard to watch her mother do her house work when she feels good, but she is starting to understand that the healing process needs her to just rest, even if she feels like she can do the work it is better for her to rest. When the radiation starts she will need her strength. Isabel is walking all over the house now. She can get into anything, and I do mean fast. I think she is going to be a track star. She will squeal with delight at everyone she passes. Her older sister likes to pass real close. She seems to fall about every other time Alexandra brushes by her. Megan's hair is growing and she looks stronger every day. Keep praying for continued healing.

Resting Well But Not Enough

Megan is doing much better. I think she would rest more, but she is tired of being penned up in the house. She feels great, but does get tired easily. I don't think she would ever admit that, however that is what I see. Felix and Janie (grandma & grandpa Martinez) take the girls on the weekends and that is a big help. They are wonderful people, and the girls LOVE to go with them. This gives both Megan & Marion rest, not to mention Felix. We are waiting to hear when Megan's radiation treatments will start. Please continue to pray for her and for her total healing.

Home Again Home Again!!!

Megan was released yesterday afternoon and is home with her family once again!! YAHOOOO!!! Megan's fever spiked on Saturday night at about 10pm, and they drew blood. That was the last time she had a fever. Dr. Lang was not real sure as to what was causing the fever. My take on what he was saying is that they drew the blood on the tail end of all this going on, and it could be a number of things. What they do know it that she does not have an infection. She feels pretty good, and is happy to be home with the girls and Felix. Marion has her best friend home with her again, and I hope they will just enjoy the time they have together. Please pray for her continued healing!!

Still Unsure Of What Happened

Well!!!! Megan is still in the hospital, but doing fine. She didn't run a fever yesterday or last night. Dr. Lang was in this morning and he said, in not so many words, they really don't know what it was that was causing the fever. His guess is that it was a reaction to one of her medications. Dr. Lang still has her on her anti seizure medication, but has substituted another brand. They started testing on the tail end of her being sick, and it could be a number of things that could have caused her to run a temperature. Infectious disease people checked and found nothing. Lang will leave no stone unturned. He will do an MRI today,and if all checks out to be OK then she will go home tomorrow. She is in good spirits, but does miss the girls. Thanks go out to Donna and Brandy!! They showed up this weekend and cleaned the house and put up all the Christmas decorations. UNBELIEVABLE!!! We were working on moving the date for radiation up so Megan would not have to wait until the end of January. I am thinking that with all that has transpired, we should leave it as is, so she can regain her strength. Please continue to pray for her. We need to pray for a normal MRI, and no infection on the brain. Please pass this on to all you know who will pray!!

No Clots

We are beginning to narrow this thing down. The ultra sound showed that her legs are free of blood clots. Megan has been on an anti seizure medication called Dylantin (sp?)They think that is what has caused the splotches on her chest,arms & face. Now that they have taken her off of the stuff, the splotches are gone. One of the other side effects that will occur in some cases, is what is called Dylantin fever. They feel this is what Megan is experiencing. Megan has been off of the seizure medication since last Wednesday, but it is just going to take some time for it to flush from her system. They want to rule out everything, so last night they waited until her fever peaked again. At about 10:30 it hit 102.6 and they drew blood. It seems when the fever is high the cultures will show more of what is going on. After they took the blood and urine samples, they worked on reducing the fever. She had a pretty good night. We feel they are just waiting to confirm that it is the Dylantin fever, and they will release her to come home. We hope that will be tomorrow. Please continue to pray for her and her total healing.

Back At MD Anderson

Megan was admitted last night back into MD Anderson. She has been running a fever for the past week, and we can't seem to get it under raps. The Dr. was in this morning and they are going to do an ultra sound on her legs. There is a chance she might have blood clots and that could cause the fever. I am glad she is there, and under the best of care. Please continue to pray for total healing.