Day 6 Early Edition

(Message sent by email to family, close friends, and a few key individuals to communicate to school, work, etc on Mar 27, recorded to blog on Mar 28)

As we write this at 1:30 AM Tuesday (3/27) morning, the past 10 hours have been extra challenging for Amber. But she is again holding stable. Please, keep her in your thoughts and prayers, as we have a very difficult road ahead of us.

Monday (3/26) late afternoon, we received the results of the pathology report. The tumor was most likely an aggressive glioma (specifically, “glioblastoma”), which is not good. There is hope, but we have a long road ahead as we consider options for recovery.

Following this information, a CT scan was performed as a precaution and revealed that blood was not properly flowing to the right side of her brain, due to ongoing swelling of the brain from the tumor and it’s removal on Thursday (Mar 22). It was decided necessary to immediately go in for another surgery to reduce pressure by removing additional tissue from the brain.

This surgery started at 9:15 PM Monday night, and continued until a little after midnight. It was successful in reducing pressure and restoring blood flow. Her siblings were able to visit shortly after.

Now, we spend the next 3-4 days watching to make sure she remains stable, and meeting with different types of doctors to discuss possible next steps. If she does remain stable, we begin with an MRI to get a real detailed look at the state of things, and determine the appropriate path from there. We look forward to the point that she can begin waking from the sedation.

Please understand that this is pretty much all we know at the moment. We are sure you all have questions, and we probably have the same questions. But right now, we are very much focused on 24 hours at a time as that is about all we can fathom.

We truly appreciate all of the prayers and thoughts for Amber. Please keep them coming strong, as she will need all the help she can get for this journey.

We have great faith in the staff at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to do everything they can for Amber; and we have great Faith that God will do what is best for her.