I can't quite put into words how humbled and grateful we are with the overwhelming response that you all have given Liza. Just the simple fact that wherever we go people say "we've been praying," or "how's Liza...we've been thinking of her." Fellow students of mine at DTS have their whole church praying for Liza and I just don't know what to say. Thank you seems so small and inadequate.
Several of our friends and family here in The Woodlands area have even put together a Benefit that they've loosely called "lovin' on Liza." It will be Friday, November 9, at The Woodlands United Methodist Church. They've put together things like a silent auction and lists for people to help out with food and the kids. Liza's own professional dance company, Ballet Excelsior of Houston will be performing (a couple pieces are brand new choreography from Liza for this show) One of Liza's former dance companies may also be coming, Dance Ad Deum, and another of our friends from Missouri, a concert pianist, Larry Dalton. All I can say about that is - this is what the church is supposed to be like. It's a beautiful and humbling thing to witness, especially since we're on the receiving end. If any of you would like to be involved, you can probably get connected to somebody through posts on this site.
Last night was not a good night so Liza stayed home from church today and tried to sleep - which was successful actually. She slept till almost noon and had to "force herself out of bed." She's got a bad headache now but it's not debilitating. Yesterday she was able to contact by phone one of Dr. Comair's recent patients who received the very same surgery that Liza will be having. That gave her a lot of courage as she was able to hear mostly good things about post-surgery condition and freedom from pain. We also expect the hospital stay to be significantly longer than 2 days based on that conversation.
So again, thank you all for your responses. Tell others about this blog to keep them informed and keep them praying. We are confident that God is a responsive God and that He has very good things planned for the Polloks. Join us as we've been meditating on Psalm 28 and Psalm 44. I, for one, am strangely excited about the things God has in store for us on this difficult road. I'm grateful for even a tragedy like this when it brings our family and church family together and deepens our dependence on God. I cannot get this thought out of my head: "Our only hope is in Him who is Infinitely Good."
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Approval from the Clan
I started this blog earlier today and just showed it to Liza and the kids. They approve. They also pointed out some mistakes that I needed to make. What a wonderful family of editors.
We've got another appointment at St. Luke's on Monday where they will take some of Liza's blood and run some other preliminary tests. More after that appointment.
We've got another appointment at St. Luke's on Monday where they will take some of Liza's blood and run some other preliminary tests. More after that appointment.
Purpose of "The Glory"
I'm starting this blog site (short for "web log" for you newbies) to keep everyone updated on all the happenings of the "The Glory" of the Pollok family, the best mother and wife on the planet - Liza Pollok.
You're probably on this site because you know that Liza has been recently diagnosed with a brain condition and is currently waiting for brain surgery scheduled for October 9. In order to get up to date and first hand information on everything, this is the site you can come to. I (Scot) hope to update this site on a very regular basis.
History:
The condition that Liza has is congenital but the symptoms began on August 24, possibly before that. On the 24th Liza began to have numbness, topical nerve pain, and general discomfort on the left side of her face. Over the next few days the numbness and pain extended to her left chest and arm, left ear, and even her tongue. We called our family doctor Dr. Mabry the following day and he advised us to take this seriously and at least consider going to the emergency room. His initial response was to rule out very serious things like stroke or tumor. Liza did not have a good experience in the emergency room last time (bladder infection) so she elected not to go.
The following Monday (two days later) she went to see Dr. Mabry first thing. He ordered an MRI and a MRA of the brain to rule out the most serious possibilities. It turned out that she was not suffering from a small stroke and there was no sign of tumor. But when Dr. Mabry had access to the results and the report from the MRI he called me and had me write down a very strange word - Arnold-chiari malformation. He advised us to check this out and see a neurologist as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, we were busy searching and researching this strange word on the Internet (feel free to do the same). Through a family friend Liza and her mom went to see a neurologist down on 2920 later that week. He ordered a second round of MRI with and without contrast to make sure. Afterwards, he said that she definitely had a chiari. He officially put Liza on "observation" for one month with another MRI at the end to track any progress in the condition and then begin the conversation about surgery.
We were not willing to wait that long and began to seek other opinions, all the while doing our own research and talking to more and more people - Sonja Staines, Liza's mother, was largely responsible for a great deal of research and contact information.
Next we got a quick appointment with another neurologist/neurosurgeon in The Woodlands. He lead us in a totally different direction and recommended traction and patience. He made some rather interesting comments about surgery, which he highly cautioned us against, and largely made Liza feel uncomfortable and frustrated.
So we made another appointment. This time we got in to see Dr. Youssef Comair at the Baylor Clinic and St. Luke's. He has been focusing on this condition for most of his career and has been mentored in Montreal and UCLA by two of the pioneers in chiari surgery. Our first appointment with her was awesome. He was very patient and explanatory and positive about the results of surgery. His Nurse Practitioner, Shirley, was awesome as well. We left there feeling very good about both of them and their diagnosis/prognosis. Liza even said, "I feel very comfortable with Him cutting me open."
He ordered yet another round of MRI - this time of the thoracic spine - and a cervical spine X-ray. Liza went to St. Luke's in The Woodlands for that on Friday, Sept. 21 and then we went to see Dr. Comair again on Monday the 24th.
At that appointment we got more good news about the MRI and X-ray - neither showed possible difficulties that he wanted to rule out. SM - or syringomyelia, a very serious byproduct of chiari - is not present in Liza's spine, and her C1 vertebrae was not fused to the base of her spine. These were both good results.
All the while, Liza's symptoms are getting progressively worse. The pain, numbness, and "flu-like" chills and discomfort, and horrible pressure headaches are coming on stronger and more frequently. They have spread to the right side by now and down to both her legs and arms. Her old bleeding ulcer (that is been blissfully dormant recently) is back and very active. She has been struggling with stomach pain and nausea. She is largely unable to sleep because of pain and unable to do many of the things she enjoys doing at work and with the kids.
That day we tried to begin the surgery scheduling process. We hoped there would be an opening on the following Wednesday - 2 days from then, but if not then, October 8 or 9 would be the next opening because Dr. Comair was going out of town. We went home waiting for a phone call about Wednesday. I called three times to get some news without receiving any.
So we went to sleep Monday night preparing mentally and emotionally for October 8 or 9. That night I also committed to fill in for a friend by speaking to a large Bible study on Tuesday night. But early Tuesday morning, Liza got a call on her cell phone attempting to get her ready for surgery on Wednesday morning! What! We thought...? Well, we had to make another decision and felt too pressured to do it that soon, especially when we had prepared for surgery in another two weeks. Besides, Amy and Jacob, Liza's brother, gave birth to their new son Zander on that day. We've got a bit going on.
So, surgery in on October 9 - at 11:00 in the morning, second on the docket for the day. We have to be there by 9:00 AM.
The surgery is going to be highly involved and will take between 3 and 4 hours. A small area at the base of Liza's skull will have to be shaved - much less that she originally feared. A vertical incision will be made there about 4+ inches long. Through that opening Dr. Comair will take out a very small piece of the C1 vertebrae to create more space there. He will then "polarize" the tonsils of the cerebellum so that they separate and hopefully "suck" back up. If they don't got back up into their proper place on their own, which is possible with the release of pressure and polarization, then he will attach them back up. He will also create a "cistern" in the incision site of the skull and patch it with a tissue transplant from Liza's thigh (the lining of the quadriceps muscle which is predictably thick and easily sewn). The release of pressure, creating of more space, etc. will hopefully increase the flow of cerebral spinal fluid and replace the cerebellum in its proper place - relieving the symptoms.
That's the plan in short and that is our prayer - that this surgery will RELIEVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS.
She will spend on night in the ICU and then at least one night in a regular hospital room. The recovery process will be lengthy and hard but she should be able to return to her career and lifestyle relatively soon according to Dr. Comair. Please pray for that as well.
More to come soon.
You're probably on this site because you know that Liza has been recently diagnosed with a brain condition and is currently waiting for brain surgery scheduled for October 9. In order to get up to date and first hand information on everything, this is the site you can come to. I (Scot) hope to update this site on a very regular basis.
History:
The condition that Liza has is congenital but the symptoms began on August 24, possibly before that. On the 24th Liza began to have numbness, topical nerve pain, and general discomfort on the left side of her face. Over the next few days the numbness and pain extended to her left chest and arm, left ear, and even her tongue. We called our family doctor Dr. Mabry the following day and he advised us to take this seriously and at least consider going to the emergency room. His initial response was to rule out very serious things like stroke or tumor. Liza did not have a good experience in the emergency room last time (bladder infection) so she elected not to go.
The following Monday (two days later) she went to see Dr. Mabry first thing. He ordered an MRI and a MRA of the brain to rule out the most serious possibilities. It turned out that she was not suffering from a small stroke and there was no sign of tumor. But when Dr. Mabry had access to the results and the report from the MRI he called me and had me write down a very strange word - Arnold-chiari malformation. He advised us to check this out and see a neurologist as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, we were busy searching and researching this strange word on the Internet (feel free to do the same). Through a family friend Liza and her mom went to see a neurologist down on 2920 later that week. He ordered a second round of MRI with and without contrast to make sure. Afterwards, he said that she definitely had a chiari. He officially put Liza on "observation" for one month with another MRI at the end to track any progress in the condition and then begin the conversation about surgery.
We were not willing to wait that long and began to seek other opinions, all the while doing our own research and talking to more and more people - Sonja Staines, Liza's mother, was largely responsible for a great deal of research and contact information.
Next we got a quick appointment with another neurologist/neurosurgeon in The Woodlands. He lead us in a totally different direction and recommended traction and patience. He made some rather interesting comments about surgery, which he highly cautioned us against, and largely made Liza feel uncomfortable and frustrated.
So we made another appointment. This time we got in to see Dr. Youssef Comair at the Baylor Clinic and St. Luke's. He has been focusing on this condition for most of his career and has been mentored in Montreal and UCLA by two of the pioneers in chiari surgery. Our first appointment with her was awesome. He was very patient and explanatory and positive about the results of surgery. His Nurse Practitioner, Shirley, was awesome as well. We left there feeling very good about both of them and their diagnosis/prognosis. Liza even said, "I feel very comfortable with Him cutting me open."
He ordered yet another round of MRI - this time of the thoracic spine - and a cervical spine X-ray. Liza went to St. Luke's in The Woodlands for that on Friday, Sept. 21 and then we went to see Dr. Comair again on Monday the 24th.
At that appointment we got more good news about the MRI and X-ray - neither showed possible difficulties that he wanted to rule out. SM - or syringomyelia, a very serious byproduct of chiari - is not present in Liza's spine, and her C1 vertebrae was not fused to the base of her spine. These were both good results.
All the while, Liza's symptoms are getting progressively worse. The pain, numbness, and "flu-like" chills and discomfort, and horrible pressure headaches are coming on stronger and more frequently. They have spread to the right side by now and down to both her legs and arms. Her old bleeding ulcer (that is been blissfully dormant recently) is back and very active. She has been struggling with stomach pain and nausea. She is largely unable to sleep because of pain and unable to do many of the things she enjoys doing at work and with the kids.
That day we tried to begin the surgery scheduling process. We hoped there would be an opening on the following Wednesday - 2 days from then, but if not then, October 8 or 9 would be the next opening because Dr. Comair was going out of town. We went home waiting for a phone call about Wednesday. I called three times to get some news without receiving any.
So we went to sleep Monday night preparing mentally and emotionally for October 8 or 9. That night I also committed to fill in for a friend by speaking to a large Bible study on Tuesday night. But early Tuesday morning, Liza got a call on her cell phone attempting to get her ready for surgery on Wednesday morning! What! We thought...? Well, we had to make another decision and felt too pressured to do it that soon, especially when we had prepared for surgery in another two weeks. Besides, Amy and Jacob, Liza's brother, gave birth to their new son Zander on that day. We've got a bit going on.
So, surgery in on October 9 - at 11:00 in the morning, second on the docket for the day. We have to be there by 9:00 AM.
The surgery is going to be highly involved and will take between 3 and 4 hours. A small area at the base of Liza's skull will have to be shaved - much less that she originally feared. A vertical incision will be made there about 4+ inches long. Through that opening Dr. Comair will take out a very small piece of the C1 vertebrae to create more space there. He will then "polarize" the tonsils of the cerebellum so that they separate and hopefully "suck" back up. If they don't got back up into their proper place on their own, which is possible with the release of pressure and polarization, then he will attach them back up. He will also create a "cistern" in the incision site of the skull and patch it with a tissue transplant from Liza's thigh (the lining of the quadriceps muscle which is predictably thick and easily sewn). The release of pressure, creating of more space, etc. will hopefully increase the flow of cerebral spinal fluid and replace the cerebellum in its proper place - relieving the symptoms.
That's the plan in short and that is our prayer - that this surgery will RELIEVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS.
She will spend on night in the ICU and then at least one night in a regular hospital room. The recovery process will be lengthy and hard but she should be able to return to her career and lifestyle relatively soon according to Dr. Comair. Please pray for that as well.
More to come soon.
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