Ready to roll

We're ready. Let's go. Gotta be at Children's at 6AM, and the surgery is scheduled for 7:30. We'll update with news as soon as we get it. Thanks for all the love, good wishes and prayers!

Pre-op appointment

The "plan for one to one and a half hours" pre-op appointment turned out to be FIVE. That is a long day for anyone, nevermind ants-in-the-pants Hollis. We saw 5 different liaisons: general health, anesthesia, neurosurgery, admissions and phlebotomy. Hollis still managed to have fun (thanks to Katie), and went on the playground and in the garden, and waved to everyone around. One of the most challenging things was to try and develop a pain scale for a kid who is non-verbal, and often throws a screaming tantrum over a band-aid on the arm. Hollis would definitely rather be spending her day at the beach.

Hollis's neurosurgeon and one of his success stories

Hollis's neurosurgeon is Joseph Madsen, M.D., at Children's Hospital in Boston. He is a very kind man, and extremely dedicated to his "kids". Here is a link to one of his success stories.

http://www.childrenshospital.org/dream/dream_fall07/extreme_measures.html

Surgery description

Hollis is scheduled to have a "functional hemispherectomy", rather than an "anatomical hemispherectomy". The primary difference is that with a functional, the hemisphere that is causing the seizures is left in place, and is neurologically disconnected from the healthy hemisphere. With the anatomical, the whole hemisphere is removed, leaving a space in the head which fills with cerebrospinal fluid. Here is a link to Cleveland Clinic's description of the procedure.


http://my.clevelandclinic.org/services/functional_hemispherectomy/hic_functional_hemispherectomy.aspx

Getting in as much fun before surgery as possible

Hollis has had a very full summer vacation thanks to her PCA, Katie. They've been to the beach, to parks, in swimming pools, on trampolines, and keeping up with a very busy social calendar visiting friends. Tomorrow is her pre-op appointment, where we'll make sure she is healthy and get the three ring circus introduction to her medical team.