Annalie is now in Neuro Intensive Care

This morning they put her in a halo which requires drilling some holes in her skull. Then they drilled an additional hole to perform the biopsy. She was under local anesthesia during this process. She needed to be conscious for them to make sure all was well. Everything was finished around 9:30. Gordon and I spoke with Dr. Pickett afterward. He says they aren't certain if they were able to obtain any of the tissue from the tumor to test. They use a very dull needle for the procedure. The prevents any brain tissue from being torn as the needle passes by. The problem they can run into is if the tumor is tough or rubbery in texture. That can keep the needle from being able to penetrate the tumor and extract any of its tissue.

At this point, we are waiting for them to determine if the cells removed were from the tumor or if they were normal cells. If they are from the tumor, they will continue to test and see if they are cancerous or not. Based on their findings, they would then determine the course of action. If they find that they didn't not get into the tumor, they will schedule surgery to just remove the tumor and biopsy it after the removal.

She is supposed to move to a regular room sometime tomorrow. I haven't seen her since the surgery yet since the visting times are so limited. Gordon was able to go in for about 5 minutes around 11:00 and he said she was hurting some and on pain medication but she was awake and talking. They had to shave a little more of her hair and have a lot of mercurochrome all over it. Gordon said she looked terrible based on that and the hole in her head. But, I'm sure you aren't at your lovliest following brain surgery :)

She will be required to stay for probably two more days to recover from the biopsy. But of course, they may just extend her stay and perform surgery if that is what they need to do based on what they find from the biopsy.

There are so many unknowns at this point, but we know who she belongs to. There is no doubt about that. Keep uplifting us all in your prayers. We appreciate you all so much!

Elesha