February 26 2008

Posting taken from emails sent by Rhonda Lacey and Karen Lindia, Rhonda's cousin, on February 25, 2008

Email from Rhonda
Some of you are not aware of the complications that occurred yesterday with Eric. Some of you may not even be aware that Eric had a tumor removed Thursday that was diagnosed as cancerous. The tumor was not an Ependymoma like they thought, but was a vascular tumor in his brain stem. It was a very difficult surgery but Eric pulled through it and went home a day earlier than expected (Saturday). Sunday he began having a lot of pain and numbness in his right arm, jaw and temple. It was so severe that we called an ambulance to transport him back to Duke. They realized that the area where the tumor was removed was bleeding internally and the prognosis was not good. We spent the evening not knowing if he would make it. He was not responsive and on a ventilator. Early this morning, things began turning around. It's truly a miracle that Eric's alive. He's so strong and fighting so hard. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. I know he'll be coming home soon. (Read below)

Karen continues below.....
A quick update for all of you. First, thank you so very much for your prayers!!! God is showing his power and love! I now have a little better understanding of what happened last night that I can share. A blood clot separated from the surgery site in the brain stem area, allowing blood to flow from that area and into the brain. He lost consciousness almost immediately after they recognized that something was wrong and EMS took him to Duke’s ED. They drained the blood and put in a shunt. He was admitted to the IDU. The initial report was that he either would make it, or he wouldn’t, and that we’d have to wait until this morning to see if he could come off the ventilator.

During the night he made amazing progress in terms of consciousness/awareness and motor ability. This afternoon, they extubated him (took out the tube connecting him to the ventilator) and he is breathing on his own. He had his usual fun spirit even with the tube in – flirtatiously giving Rhonda that double eye-brow raise when she kissed him. Rhonda and Eric’s mom, Carol, finally went home at 2 p.m. today for showers and to talk with the kids, who are missing their parents and no doubt have question . When Rhonda told him she’d be back at 5 p.m., he responded that he’d be there “with bells on”!

Once again with Eric, the doctors are amazed, and we are giving God all the credit!! We still need lots of prayer. His speech is slurred more than after the initial surgery. The area affected controls the senses. The doctors said Sunday night that if he came though it there would not be a quick recovery. There has been no discussion yet of next steps or what may lie ahead. But we are exceedingly encouraged by his determination and good spirits, as well as by the surprise on the part of the docs!!

Please pray for continued and steady progress, for sufficient attentiveness on the part of his caregivers (they’ve been great!), for God-inspired decision-making, and for God to be glorified in all this. Please also pray for strength and peace for Rhonda, Carol, the kids (Garrett and Erica) and Eric’s dad and sister (Tom and Autumn, who just drove back here from Indiana last night after being here for the surgery last Thursday).