Thank you Zoe and Damiea. That is indeed interesting Zoe, that the time period with your surgery and the returning of your symptoms is similar to Evie's. Perhaps that is the length of time it takes for the polyps to grow? I am uncertain. Evie has been treated with high doses of prednisone to keep the polyps at bay, however prednisone has severe side effects in the long term, so the physicians are reluctant to keep her on it indefinitely.

Evie had a rather bad night, she was up off and on for most of it and so was I. It was emotional rather than physical, though that does not minimize the situation in the slightest! She is working on some PTSD issues currently and many things are coming to the surface. I must say I am most proud of her for soldiering on. It is not easy and from what I understand things will become even worse. I did feel encouraged however, that she came to me, woke me up and asked for help and to talk. That is certainly not something she would have done even a month ago. I felt touched that she had to courage to come to me, she often worries about disturbing Jim and myself. So, that is real progress for her.

That is certainly good to hear, and please tell Evie to continue doing so, as its only going to get worse and she will need to be strong and come to you both to discuss everything even more so.

I know Evie hates it when people say this but i just had to say it again. She is sooooooooooo lucky to have such a supportive extended family. Please take good care of yourselves and Evie. You are in my thought and prayers.

Kathy,


Please tell Evie that I send well wishes and hugs along with her on Friday while she has her treatments...

She will be in my thoughts.....

Wendy

She is indeed fortunate, however we feel every bit as fortunate to have her. It is not often mentioned here, however Evie is supportive of us as well, as much as she's able. She is an important member of our family, and she would be sorely missed, were she not with us.

Yes we have been encouraging her to come to us, especially as we understand things will only become more difficult. She talks so much more freely now. It is very exciting! Truly, I don't believe people here are aware of just how shy and quiet she is face to face, even with family. It is a vast improvement and Jim and I both are over the moon at the change!

Thank you Pandora and Wendy for your wishes for Evie. Tomorrow morning is her first chemotherapy treatment, and tonight I am bracing for an episode of major anxiety. Last night Jim was up with her, as she awoke with nightmares and chest pains (anxiety related). Tonight is my turn. She is sleeping peacefully now, however that could very well change. I am hoping for the best for her, for tonight and for tomorrow.

Evie's first chemotherapy treatment is over with, and I must say I am greatly relieved. It did not go quite as well as we hoped, however it also could have been far worse. The positive bit is, she was well enough to come home; sometimes patients must remain in hospital for a few days after their first treatment.

The negative bits, well... :frown:

Due to anxiety she did not go to bed last night at all, and when she returned home, she was in quite the foul mood. Jim had a brief albeit heated argument with her, during which she threatened to pull out her central line, a kind of catheter/IV which was inserted in her chest this morning and will remain for the duration of the treatments. Additionally, the new anti-nausea medication had no effect. She vomited pretty much non stop for about 5 hours, though her stomach seems settled now; she was able to keep down a small amount of tea and toast before falling asleep. She is on morphine for 2 days to help with the initial pain of the central line insertion. So, we expect she will sleep away the next 2 days, as the morphine makes her quite drowsy. I am certain the rest will improve her mood and overall outlook on things. Now that the initial treatment is over with, her anxiety should wane. Agonizing over the first treatment caused her tremendous grief.

Now that Evie is resting for the next 2 days, Jim and I will be getting a much-needed rest as well! This week has been stressful and tiring for all, not just because of Evie - Jacob also resumed school this week, and we have been chauffering to football and so on. We have been busy and are looking forward to having some extra sleep of our own! :sleep:

Hugs to all of you......

Wen

Jim and I brought Evie home from hospital earlier this afternoon. She was admitted for approximately 48 hours, due to a brief episode of psychosis. We feel badly about it, as actions of ours were the direct cause, however she is much improved now, though exhausted and still quite confused.

To explain, there was a family secret which Evie was never privy to. We had agonized for months about telling her, always putting it off because of her physical health and how she might react. However, by the same token, we felt strongly she had the right to know. Additionally, we demand honesty and openness from her, and we were beginning to feel quite the hypocrites, as we were keeping this secret from her. She has reached a point in her PTSD healing process where this information (the secret) will be vital for her continued healing. So, along with Anthony's and Dr. Roerich's helpful advice (thank you so much to the pair of you!), we told her, this past weekend.

Her reaction was not what we were expecting. We were bracing ourselves for rage, extreme anger or a similar outburst. Instead Evie fainted several times, was very confused and disoriented, and after a few hours, disorganized in her speech patterns. From my clinical experience, I suspected she was having a psychotic break, so we took her to hospital, where my suspicions were confirmed. Her diagnosis was a brief reactive psychosis due to extreme stress. She was treated with heavy does of antipsychotics for 2 days, to bring her out of the psychosis. Florid psychosis is dangerous in a person as young as Evie, it can cause permanent brain damage. So bringing her out of it quickly was imperative.

She is herself again now. We brought her home this afternoon, and although quite exhausted and tearful, she seems glad to know the information. I will not share the "secret" here, it is Evie's to share if and when she feels ready. We are simply relieved she is all right after her 2 day ordeal, and are still struggling with some guilt over telling her. However, by all accounts it was for the best. We shall see how Evie responds in the next few days, but we are hopeful things will be well. We look forward to her having a much brighter future, now that she knows this information and can continue with her PTSD healing.

Kathy,

All of us can sit here and tell you not to beat up on yourself for withholding information from Evie. We can all tell you that you did what you felt was right at the time. We can tell you a lot of things, but you have to believe them......

We all do things that we feel are the best at the time, even if they feel wrong. We all make decisions based on things sometimes out of our control. We do things because of love and true concern for the other person....So please don't feel that you need to explain anything...You and Jim did what you felt was best for Evie. You did it out of love and concern. End of story in my book.....

I hope with all my heart that this will help Evie to continue to heal with her emotional struggles with PTSD. She is a sweet kid, with a nasty temper...LOL!!!!!! But sweet non the less. She deserves to be happy, and to have a life filled with happiness and love... Not torture, and nightmares.....

Please tell her that when she is feeling better, I will send her more BORING videos of Pittsfield, and our wonderful cultural life here...GAG!!!!!!!

Hugs to ALL of you, and I do truly hope that all of you can get some well deserved rest soon....

Many hugs,

Wendy

Kathy,

I'm so sorry to hear about this very, very difficult episode. I can certainly understand how you and Jim felt re. the need to disclose. I'm also so sorry to hear about its effect on Evie. Yet, as Wendy said, we do what we think is best at the time, with our human imperfections. You two made the best decision you could and with input you gathered from trusted, informed others. I'm praying it all works out to the good, believing that God (or Whomever) draws straight with our crooked lines.

Hodge