Elonna's Silence on The Corner

[Elonna]

I just wanted to give you all a quick update from my corner of the USA.

Our daughter Taryn's wedding was 12/1, absolutely beautiful and absolutely exhausting! LOL The several weeks prior and the week leading up to her wedding were packed with all the last minute acts that take place be for a wedding: Showers, decorations and decorating, rehearsal, and making sure everything goes off without too much of an issue the day of the big event. Things were good. She was absolutely beautiful and walking on air. We are so blessed to have so many friends that pitched in to help us accomplish this undertaking. Without them, I do not believe we would have been able to do everything she wanted.

Rob and I just got back last night (Monday) from a quick trip to North Carolina to be with our daughter Brenna during a time where her husband Dan had to undergo a very risky surgery on his brain and C1 vertebra. This was done on Friday in the early afternoon. He was diagnosed with a condition called Chiari Malformation. This is a condition where brain tissue protrudes into the spinal canal. It occurs when part of your skull is abnormally small or misshapen, pressing on your brain and forcing it downward. When this happens, it blocks the proper circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is the protective fluid that circulates through the brain and the spinal cord. Our son-in-law has experienced pretty horrific headaches since he was about 15. Recently, they have been happening on a daily basis and he was experiencing dizziness, blurred vision, imbalance at times with the headaches; things along these lines. So, our daughter encouraged him to have this investigated. The investigation lead to this diagnosis and recommendation of surgery. He was told that if he continued without surgery, he could expect continue and advancement of the loss of neurological function, numbness and tingling in his hands, arms, feet and legs, and that if he did nothing, he was expected to become completely paralyzed. They decided to do the surgery. It appears that the surgery was a success. He has been told that recovery was 6-8 weeks and that he could still experience the headaches for about another year. We all would appreciate prayers for his full recovery, including the resolution of the headaches; so, if or when he might cross your mind, please take a minute to pray for his recovery.

We are back home now. But this quick recent trip involved 8 1/2 hours of riding in a car on Friday and then again on Monday. For me, this will most likely create a lot of pain this coming week. So, I appreciate your continue patience as well as prayers for my quick bounce back from this trip which was so close to our other daughter's wedding/reception and my pushing through that.

For those of you that have been trying to reach me by phone of over the last month, I apologize for not being a readily available and hope that you can understand that family events must take presence. I do apologize for any issues my unavailability might have caused in your life/lives and pray that my gap was covered for you. You are still welcome to call me whenever you need to talk or have questions/concerns. Please know that while I would love to be able to return phone calls, it is an impossibility for me to do so. Just periodically keep trying to reach me. Please respect also the day and times that I have noted for availability.


Thank you all very much!