The healing process....

Hello everyone,

This post will be short and sweet and I will try to not let the narcotics take over my spelling...lol! I am home from the hospital and beginning to mend. I never anticipated the amount of pain and just sheer discomfort that I would have with this, but I am told that the surgery went very well from the dr's perspective. My incision is about 8 inches long, from top of my head down to middle of my neck, pretty swollen and bruised. The worst of it has been the muscle pains. I guess they had to move and cut a lot of muscle to get to the bones to do the surgery. I had a lot more muscle mass in my neck than the average person because I had built up muscle dealing withe the headaches and tension from the Chirai over the past years. I mainly hurt where the "halo"wholes are from where they anchored my head during surgery. I am on plenty of medicines though so I do get some relief.

I want to send out a HUGE Thank you to all of you who have sent MONEY (which has been so helpful at this time for bills!), FLOWERS, CARDS, and for those of making meals and bringing it nightly so we have one less thing to worry about it. It has all been so helpful. We also very much appreciate all of your prayers, the good Lord certainly saw me through this surgery. Thanks to all of you who spent time at the hospital during my surgery and my following days in the hospital. It meant a lot to me to have you there.

I am slowly mending, get stitches out next Monday, and will be starting neck therapy as well. As of right now I have VERy little movement of my neck in any direction. Pretty stiff and sore.

My family is doing great. Jeovany has been a wonderful help as has mom. Jazmyn is going home with mom and dad tonight because Ithink she is tired of me not being able to do a whole lot of anything with her. Then tomorrow night a dear friend of mine is going to take her for the night as well. Jazzy is overall doing okay with it though, just a litlemore emotional than normal.

I will try to update everyone again next week sometime. Until then, feel free to call anytime. Love you all and God Bless!!

Update...

Just wanted to send out an update on today's neurosurgery appointment. I will be having surgery to correct the Chiari I Malformation this coming Friday at Univerisity in Columbia. It is scheduled to begin at 7 am. It is expected to be a 4 hour surgery. I will be in Neuro ICU the remainder of Friday and a portion of Saturday, then placed on 5th floor. I will be in the hospital for about 4 days if everything goes as expected.

The surgery itself consists of going into the base of my skull and removing some bone from my skull base to allow more space for my descending Cerebellum. They will also remove a portion of my first vertebrae as my Cerebellum is also resting on it. Making more space in these areas will allow my brain to no longer crowd my spinal column thus allowing the spinal fluid to flow more freely. I have been telling everyone that my brain is merely too big for my head as I am such a genius!! They will also be inserting Bovine (cow) tissue for support for the base of my cerebellum. Mom says I am going to wake up "Moo-ing" LOL....and I might just have to make a point to do that (if I am aware enough of what I say upon first waking up!)

This surgery will correct the Chiari, and hopefully with the combination of this surgery, my current diuretic, and some major wieght loss in the next 6 months, I will be able to also cut down on the Pseudo Tumor Cerebri (PTC) symptoms. There is a possibility that I could have another surgery (for a shunt) to help with the remainder of the symptoms that I am having from the PTC. Time will tell.

We all thank you for the many phone calls, emails, and especially for the prayers being made! Please keep them all coming. I will not be updating this for a while, but family will be making calls to update many of you after my surgery. It is great to know that I have so many wonderful family and friends thinking of me at a time like this.

Love you all, KIM

Prayers are Welcomed...

Hello everyone,
I wanted to write tonight to let family and friends know about some health issues that I am facing. I have been dealing with some "issues" for about 4 years and have finally went to the right Dr and have some answers. I spent part of last week in University Hospital having tests done and a very risky spinal tap (we later discovered after my complete diagnoses was determined). I went in knowing that I had what is called Pseudo tumor Cerebri, basically fluid around my brain putting pressure on my brain which causes my body to respond as if I have a tumor, but there is no actual space occupying tumor. I had CT scans , MRI's and a spinal tap to measure the pressure and relieve some pressure as well.

When the MRI results were read it was discovered that I also have what is called Chiari Malformation. This is a genetic issue (but thankfully for Jazmyn's sake not always hereditary) that I was most likely born with. Chiari Malformation (Arnold-Chiari) is a serious neurological disorder where the bottom part of the brain, the cerebellum, descends out of the skull and crowds the spinal cord, putting pressure on both the brain and spine and causes many symptoms. I will be going to a neurosurgeon this coming Monday the 16th for my Pre-Op appt. I do not know what next week holds yet. I know that surgery is in my future but as to when I am not sure. I will know more after Monday I suppose. You can visit www.conquerchiari.org for more information if you'd like.

Overall, I am doing okay I suppose with this. I am relieved to finally know what all of my symptoms are from however it is something quite serious so I am also apprehensive as to what my next few weeks and/or months may hold. Jeovany has been by my side the whole time. Mom plans to take some time off of work whenever I do have surgery. Jazmyn has been "taking care" of me quite well also and reminding me of my dr's orders. She's such a sweet little mommy!!! We do appreciate any and all thoughts and prayers!!! I am no longer able to babysit because I am restricted to lifting no more than 15 pounds right now and after surgery it is expected to be even a lesser amount. That was a $1200 pay cut monthly to an already financially struggling family so keep the prayers coming for that as well. Mom and I are really working our SPA business and things are going quite well. I am trusting that this teamwork business will get us thru financially.

I will try to post again in near future...however I may be a bit tied up at the hospital...LOL. You are welcome to call mom 660-221-4816, Jeovany 660-596-2503 or myself 660-221-5366 if you want an update next week.

Take care and God Bless,
Kimberly

And we are off to TEXAS ! ! !

This is an exciting week here in our house! Today we are busy packing last minute stuff for our trip to TEXAS! My mom and I are going to Dallas for our Beauticontrol LEADERSHIP conference. However, Jeovany and Jazmyn are going to drop us all off( 2 ladies are riding with us) and they are heading to Bryan, TX for a weekend visit with his brother, Javier. Jazmyn is SOOO excited to see her Uncle that I think she has totally bypassed the idea that mommy is not going with her. She is thrilled! I know her and daddy will have such a good time together and he will be happy to get to see his brother for a few days again!

This picture is off Jazmyn doing her "face stuff like mommy does". She is using my Beauticontrol cleanser and washing her face. She is going to know good skincare for her entire life!! HUH!!!!! She's such a sweetheart!

"I have to lather it, huh mommy!" She knows her Beauitcontrol!!!

Have a fabulous week and weekend....and we'll be back next week with a new post and some fun pictures of our weekend.




Also....the next 2 posts were just posted today...I am a little behind on these I guess! Sorry! Take care and be safe!!

Eye dr. and Dentist week!!!!

Here is Jazmyn at her last eye dr. appt. She is quite comfortable in this chair as we have been going for so long. She really likes Dr. Plummer and enjoys getting to see her. Even on days when they do the dreaded drops!!!

Jazmyn and Dr. Plummer....we are very pleased with our eye dr. If you need an excellent ophthamologist...let us know....we would certainly recommend her!! Jazmyn loves her too!


AND.....here we are at the dentist! This is the first dentist appt that she remembers. We went once when she was just turning 3 but she has forgotten about that one. She did fantastic and the dentist was pleased with her teeth!!! YAAAAA!!!!

Valentines Day.....

Valentines Day 2009

......For our little MONKEY!!

Baby doll clothes....

Playing at preschool with her class...muscial chairs but with a twist...everyone gets to sit down....if they can fit!!! It was a lot of fun to see!!

Can you guess what song this is?

Here is Jazmyn once again singing her "silly song's". This one seems to have a familiar beat to it, but I have NO idea what song it might be. Any ideas? She truly loves to sing, but seldom lets me record her actually singing a good song. She only allows me to record her when she is being goofy. Have fun watching it.

Things around the Marimon house are going good. We have been busy this past week planning for our trip to Dallas at the end of the month. We have our Beauticontrol Leadership conference that starts Feb 26th. I am so looking forward to going. Last August when we went to Celebration in Dallas I was a little leary of going so far away and leaving Jazzy home with Aunt Theresa and Daddy (though all turned out great).....well .....this time....She is going with me. I am at ease about making the trip this year! While I am at my conference, Jaz and daddy are going to be visiting with his brother only a few hours away from Dallas!

I will post pictures of Jazmyn's preschool Valentine's party in the near future. Have a fabulous weekend and enjoy your loved ones tomorrow on your special day together. We have plans to go out for dinner and a movie as it is also our Anniversary! Remember to be thankful for all of those you love!