Z Corley Family in Florida

First of all, I just want to say that God is so good! I’ve uploaded some cell-phone pics so you can see Alex (and Kristi, too) as we sat through the long test there at Arnold-Palmer Hospital for Children yesterday.

The doctors and the hospital were extra busy, so we didn’t get to see any of Alex’s doctors. And while we did not see any overwhelming physical signs of God’s healing of the mass in Alex’s brain or of her fingers, both Kristi and I felt comforted, had peace through the process, and were able to rest in the work that God is clearly doing. We both sensed in our spirits that God was doing something even while the test was being performed — and we’ll know much more next week, after Alex’s neurologist has had a chance to look at the images from this SPECT scan.

Thank you all for praying! … and we wait in expectation, continuing to pray with thanksgiving for the work that God is doing. 

- Andy

p.s. Here’s a few more photos of the testing:

Starting the SPECT scan

Helping the SPECT scan machine get as close as possible

It looks like Friday (tomorrow) is going to be another interesting day at the hospital. Alexandria is scheduled for what they call a “SPECT scan“, where the doctors inject a special dye/tracer liquid into her IV just before doing a CT scan of her brain. Then, depending on where the tracer concentrates in her brain, the doctors are able to zoom in on that specific area and see 3-D imaging of what’s happening.

This specialized test will be an out-patient procedure at Arnold-Palmer Hospital for Children, and should only take a couple hours. But we are also looking forward to the great conversations that we normally have in the hospital with Alex’s neurologist and/or neurosurgeon.

Please feel free to pass any part of this message on to others who are praying for Alex. Our family is praying for God’s complete healing … but in the medical world, Friday will be ”step 2″ in about four steps of testing that need to be completed before the neurologist and neurosurgeon schedule brain surgery as a cure for Alex’s daily seizures.

Also, especially for those of you in the medical field, here’s a couple pages from Alex’s EEG monitoring last month.

Nurses call her "Smiley"

Thanks so much to all of you who have been praying for Alexandria while she was in the hospital! Apart from her I-V taking eight tries!! … everything else went well and we are safe at home resting and recovering.

If you think of Alex throughout the day, please pray that she would do well in school … especially in the afternoon. Because her neurologist (wonderful doctor that he is) doubled her afternoon meds in order to combat her daily afternoon/evening seizures. The strategy seems to be working, but the meds cause her to be very groggy and even dizzy sometimes!

Oh, and we now have a really good idea of the next steps that we will be taking to prepare Alex (and all the rest of us) for a possible brain surgery to eliminate Alex’s daily seizures. So keep praying for wisdom with all of that, and I hope to update you with more specifics soon!

- Andy

Alex's EEG at Arnold-Palmer Hospital (2/16/2010) ... click above for more hospital pics.

Everything is going good with Alex’s tests here at Arnold Palmer Hospital. Alex doesn’t like all the probes and electrode gel in her hair, but she’s found plenty of TV shows that she likes.

Alex’s neurologist Dr. Davis has been by twice to check up on us and explain a few things — and his associate Kay, too. And Alex’s neurosurgeon Dr. Pattisapu’s partner Dr. Johnson has also stopped by to familiarize herself with Alex and the challenges that we’re considering here.

The best news that we’ve heard so far is that the monitoring is showing that all five of Alex’s seizures last night were originating from the exact same area — right where the pingpong-ball-sized mass is located in her brain.

So the plan is to stay a little longer tomorrow (Wednesday) after the 48-hour EEG and do a fresh MRI of Alex’s brain. Then Dr. Davis will schedule an outpatient “neoro-psych” evaluation, where Alex will be asked all kinds of questions to get a good base-line of what cognitive skills she has right now, to compare with what might be “lost” after surgery.

This is of course very sobering, but it’s good to see all the doctors taking a very measured approach to the surgery option … studying to see what strengths and weaknesses Alex has now (weaknesses including seizures every day) … so we can work toward an outcome that will benefit her most. For example, it would be acceptable for Alex to end up with a few speech issues to work through after surgery if the surgery completely stops the seizures!

So that’s the kind of thing that we’re considering right now as we look forward to the day when Alex will be able to run and play — and even one day drive a car! … without seizures. So we thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers on our behalf!

Alexandria is such a super-star patient!
I just had to take some cell-phone pics of her time here.

Alex's EEG at Arnold-Palmer Hospital (2/16/2010)	Loving the electric hospital bed & all the settings	Nurses call her "Smiley"
Cell phone camera wars! (she fights back	Hmmm ... these pics are a little silly	EEG monitor ... reading Alex's brainwaves!
One of the more tasty hospital meals -- she ate it all!		Oh, and she just LOVED the hair-do (or would this be a "hair-don't"?)