Update on Daniel...

Well after this week's events and today's emergency room visit, I needed to give a quick update on Daniel's health.

Since seeing the ENT a couple of weeks ago, Daniel has been on a steriod regiment while taking all of these tests to identify what exactly is causing his headaches and dizziness. He took a hearing test as well as a balance test, during both he got extremely dizzy. He had actually gotten to a point where he could go through his day and survive, I guess you would say. We were even able to drive to Arizona for a friend's wedding.

However, last Saturday, things took a sharp turn for the worse. Since then Daniel's dizziness and spinning have been non-stop to a point that he cannot function for periods of time. He had to come home from work early several times this week and just lay in bed to get through the rest of the day. Even when he just turns his head, the room starts spinning uncontrollably.

This morning when he woke up, he said things were different, not in a good way. The best way he could explain it is that he felt outside of himself. He was trying to just watch a movie with Emma and had to go lay down on the bed. I went to go check on him and to tell him that I was going to take the girls to the zoo (since the weather here is beautiful!). As we were talking, all of a sudden he said that he was numb on the right side of his face and down his right side through his hands. Then he literally lost all motor control of his head, and it rolled from one side to the other with no impulse from Daniel. I immediately called 911, thinking maybe he was having a stroke or something. He never lost consciousness but even tually the numbness spread to his left arm and hand. He also started shaking uncontrollably, probably due to shock. Kristen and Summer came over to take care of the girls immediately while Daniel and I went to the hospital in an ambulance. Blessedly, Summer had Emma playing in her room with the door closed so she didn't see daddy being wheeled out. I told her that Daddy's head was hurting even more (she's been very aware that he has been sick and hasn't been able to play with her as much as he normally does) and so mommy was taking him to the hospital in an ambulance to have the doctors check him.

At the hospital, they drew blood samples, and all of his vitals looked good. He got another cat-scan to make sure his cyst wasn't leaking or growing. Laying down in a dark room helped Daniel a little bit, and he eventually did regain feeling in his arms. They did give him a medicine through an iv for headaches/nausea as well as a bag of fluid. All of his tests showed that he did not have a stroke or anything that would be of immediate danger. Basically we got a diagnosis of exclusion- knowing everything it wasn't. The doctor (named Dr. Disney by the way which we thought was unusual!) basically thought that the numbness was just a manifestation of bad side-effects of whatever is causing all of Daniel's symptoms. He told Daniel to rest, gave us a prescription for the headache/nausesa medicine and told him to call his ENT when their office opens on Tuesday (argh Labor Day).

Once we got home, Daniel ate a little bit and then needed to go lay down and slept for several hours. When he woke up, he was back to the "status quo"-- nonstop spinning and headache like he has been feeling for the past week. So we'll keep our eye out for any additional symptoms and prayerfully, we are close to a diagnosis this week now that his tests are pretty much complete.

Thank you again for all of your prayers. We are pretty exhausted over this all, but thankful because we know there are many things that are worse.