Journal entry by Jessica Hibl —
Tune into KVRR tonight at 6 PM for the short version and at 9 pm for the long story of Ciara's recovery and what we went through after we got home.
Last week we traveled to Minneapolis to meet with Dr. Moen, her neurologist. We spent about an hour with her and she took the time and effort to answer every question we had and to go through our plan going forward. We absolutely love our care with her.
At this time, we are looking at a 2-year plan. Sometime this fall, Ciara will have an EEG to determine if she is still suffering from any seizures that are not 'coming through' while on her two anti-seizure medications. She will not be staying in the hospital overnight; it will just be a for an hour or so in the morning. Then after Dr. Moen has a chance to review the results, we will meet with her later that day to discuss the outcome. Our hope is that there are no signs of activity and that we will be able to reduce her medication or stop taking one and increase the other slightly. We will then continue that process every 4 to 6 months until she is off the medication completely or is on a regiment that is necessary for her care. When we left the hospital, we were told there is an 80% chance that she will not have lifelong seizures and that after the initial time we were in the hospital, they will stop on their own. We still hold out that that is the case. She also put in a referral for neuropsychology.
We were also supposed to meet with Dr. Thomas in Minneapolis on Monday but we were able to cancel the appointment. She conferred with Dr. Thompson in Fargo after we met with him last week and agreed with his findings. So its official: her coronary artery has returned to its normal size!!!! We will continue with her care solely in Fargo.
We spent the weekend with my brother, sister and my two nieces. It was nice to do some fun things! Spent Saturday in the wind tunnel of downtown St. Paul watching the St. Patrick's Day parade and concluded Sunday with a visit to an aquarium in Rosedale and a visit with my cousin and her daughter. We returned to Fargo and Ciara had dance practice and then a band concert. It makes me so happy watching her continue on with the things she loves the most.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to pray and send love to Ciara and my family. We are greatly humbled by you all.
Last week we traveled to Minneapolis to meet with Dr. Moen, her neurologist. We spent about an hour with her and she took the time and effort to answer every question we had and to go through our plan going forward. We absolutely love our care with her.
At this time, we are looking at a 2-year plan. Sometime this fall, Ciara will have an EEG to determine if she is still suffering from any seizures that are not 'coming through' while on her two anti-seizure medications. She will not be staying in the hospital overnight; it will just be a for an hour or so in the morning. Then after Dr. Moen has a chance to review the results, we will meet with her later that day to discuss the outcome. Our hope is that there are no signs of activity and that we will be able to reduce her medication or stop taking one and increase the other slightly. We will then continue that process every 4 to 6 months until she is off the medication completely or is on a regiment that is necessary for her care. When we left the hospital, we were told there is an 80% chance that she will not have lifelong seizures and that after the initial time we were in the hospital, they will stop on their own. We still hold out that that is the case. She also put in a referral for neuropsychology.
We were also supposed to meet with Dr. Thomas in Minneapolis on Monday but we were able to cancel the appointment. She conferred with Dr. Thompson in Fargo after we met with him last week and agreed with his findings. So its official: her coronary artery has returned to its normal size!!!! We will continue with her care solely in Fargo.
We spent the weekend with my brother, sister and my two nieces. It was nice to do some fun things! Spent Saturday in the wind tunnel of downtown St. Paul watching the St. Patrick's Day parade and concluded Sunday with a visit to an aquarium in Rosedale and a visit with my cousin and her daughter. We returned to Fargo and Ciara had dance practice and then a band concert. It makes me so happy watching her continue on with the things she loves the most.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to pray and send love to Ciara and my family. We are greatly humbled by you all.
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