An AWESOME Update

Well, today was our follow up appointment with Dr. Jea, Haleigh's neurologist. We had an MRI on December 2, and got our results today. We got the "all clear" for now, and even better news...Dr. Jea is so impressed with Haleigh's progress that he has decided to move our MRI's from every 4 months to every 6 months. That is awesome news for us because Jared and I hate having to put Haleigh through the torture of getting an IV - it's hell for her.

Someone upstairs must really love us because she has been doing so well lately. She's walking (almost running now), talking, and loving life. Haleigh is an amazing child and we truly are blessed. I don't think we could be any luckier.

I'll post pictures on Sunday. There are a lot I need to update so check back Monday.
much love,
jess

A Belated Update...

Again, so much has gone on since the last post.

We had Haleigh's first birthday party, and it was so much fun. The weather was perfect, we had her friends and family over, and the day was just great. Haleigh got lots of amazing toys, clothes, books, and is still getting used to all of the new things around the house.

Jared had his 26th birthday, and we celebrated with a big family dinner at Melting Pot. Great food and conversation was had by all! He really is an old man ;-)

We met some more of our neighbors, and hopefully we'll meet more during the holidays.

On a sad note, my Mimi passed away this past Sunday. It's been a rough few days. Haleigh and Jared have been such troopers - we are staying with my dad & Aimee and their house, and they are doing everything they can to help Mommy get through this.

We are looking forward to the holidays, but they are going to be insanely busy. I will update the website with more pictures this weekend.

love to all,
jess

So much has happened....

Since the last time I updated this.

We had Hurricane Ike roll through here...My 25th birthday, Haleigh's first birthday, Jared & I went to Dallas for the UT/OU football game, and this week we have Jared's 26th birthday and Haleigh's party.

Hurricane Ike was awful. We stated here at home in The Woodlands, and decided to wait out the storm. The rain started about midnight, then came the howling winds, and then came a big dose of my anxiety! About 4:30am, Jared, Haleigh and I came downstairs and camped out in our little closet in the living room. Haleigh thought it was playtime, so she was playing with the radio antenna and flash lights. She finally fell asleep after lots of rocking, but it was not very comfortable in there. We came out of the storm perfectly. Some branches fell off of the trees in the back, we need to replace some roof shingles and fence posts, but other than that, we are golden. We were without power for two weeks, and we are so grateful for the Weber family for letting us camp out at their house while waiting for power.

Haleigh had her One Year check-up today with her primary care doctor. Dr. Hill is quite impressed with Miss Priss, and we'll go back in three months from now. She is doing well on her height and weight, and we are off of formula :-) Haleigh has three teeth - two on the bottom and one up top. She looks pretty silly with just one up top, but we still love her. She's eating so much "big girl food" now, and she's a great eater. Haleigh is willing to try most anything, as long as it's on a spoon being served to her.

We have pictures uploaded, so email me at jessandjared@gmail.com if you want the link to our picture website.

Happy Monday!
love
jess

New pictures!

Well, once again I've slacked off and not posted for a while. I'm attaching new pictures of Haleigh, the last ones were updated today.

Haleigh had her 2nd post-op MRI on August 1st. We had to go in and meet with her oncologist, Dr. Okcu, and we got the all clear. Dr. Okcu is pleased with Haleigh's progress, and we even get to move her MRI's from every 3 months to every 4 months. Little victories like this are awesome!

Haleigh is pulling up on everything in sight, crawling so fast, and very curious about everything around her. She loves to read books and is obsessed with looking at trees. We've been enjoying the gymnastics part of the Olympics, so maybe one day she'll be a gymnast!

No new teeth yet...still just 2. Hopefully we'll have some soon :-)

more later.
love
jess, jared & haleigh

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=210161218931475127/l=420264056/g=33526050/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Adding to yesterday's post...

Haleigh is growing like a weed, and her personality is developing so very quickly. She is quite sassy, and has increadibly expressive eyes.

We're almost done with her room decorating, so I will be uploading pictures of that when it's done.

that's about it. everyone here is great, haleigh is perfect, and our life is pretty easy!
take care
love
jess

We have a crawler!!! AND teeth!!!

Big news from the Griffith household...Haleigh has started crawling and popped out 2 teeth for us :-) She's been practicing her crawling like crazy, and is going to be speedy gonzales before we know it!

Her middle bottom two teeth have broken the surface, and you can see them coming in!

Here are some pictures from Father's Day at the Weber house, Haleigh crawling, and just other randoms! Small Fry just woke up so I promise I will update more later tonight or tomorrow!

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=224685114/a=33526050/t_=33526050

love
jess

We're Back!!!

I've got to get better at updating this blog...I promised myself I would, so I'm going to make a real effort to update more frequently.

Things here have been relatively calm around here, but about to get insanely hectic in the coming weeks. Haleigh had her 6month check up with Dr. Hill not too long ago. She is coming in at 95% of height and 25% of weight for her age group. Miss Priss got her shots, and we were good to go! She was super fussy that day, but slept like a champ.

Haleigh is talking up a storm, rolling over, and stretching her body in any possible way to get something she wants off of the floor. We're even eating in a big girl high chair with baby foods :-) Haleigh LOVES the bananas and applesauce, we're still working on peaches and sweet potatoes. She's done an awesome job of not making too big of a mess while eating.

She's getting used to seeing Aunt Mi & Uncle Johnny (John & Michelle Anderson) weekly, and Uncle Johnny is finally coming around to holding her. He still calls her "champ", so we'll have to work on that. Baby steps, though!

The lil Griffith family has a big summer ahead of us. Haleigh will FINALLY take her first plane ride this weekend. We're going up to Kansas for a wedding on Saturday, then heading home on Sunday. The following weekend, we'll be in Austin for another wedding, and then my dad (Roy) is taking Jared & I to Florida to watch the shuttle launch, and then the big shabang... My mom (Kathi) is taking Jared & I to Mexico! and Haleigh will be staying in Kansas for the week. We get back from Mexico and then head to Austin for July 4th weekend, and then it's back to our boring old life.

Here are some recent pictures of Miss Priss. Hopefully the link works! I'll take a lot of pictures with Haleigh all dressed up this weekend and post them early next week!

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=224264623/a=33526050/t_=33526050

more later.
much love
jess

Better late than never....

Haleigh's MRI came back and Dr. Jea has given us the "all clear" for the time being!!!!

We go back in to see Dr. Jea for our technical 3 month check up, and after that we won't see him until August.

Haleigh's room is coming along, more quickly than the rest of the house, and I will be posting pictures as soon as it's complete!

much love
jess

Pictures & MRI

Well, a lot has been going on in this little Griffith household lately. We have been living in a construction site, basically. There are rooms left half unpainted, with all of the paint and accessories all over the floor. Boxes galore in the kitchen - some unpacked, others just opened to get one item out and then left. And laundry piles like I've never seen. I do laundry daily, and there is still SO much left to do. Oh well. It's OUR house. And we want to take the time to make it perfect for us.

As I type this, I'm uploading pictures of the house, running the washing machine & dishwasher, listening to Haleigh talk to her froggy toy, and waiting on Mr. DirecTv. Who knows how long he's going to take! Miss Priss has done amazingly well through all of this - she's such an awesome lil baby!!!

Her first MRI since we left Texas Children's was yesterday. It was scheduled for Tuesday, but we had a little time issue. Driving to the Med Center from The Woodlands is COMPLETELY different from driving in from the Heights...Needless to say, after a few choice words to some of the less than brilliant people that were working, we were rescheduled for Thursday. We went in, got there 40 minutes early, and got all of the questions asked of us by the staff before we got called back (which I love - less BS in the back, faster to get her to MRI). Once we got called back, the nurse came in and said they were going to put in her IV. Now, most of you know that Haleigh has inherited Griffith veins - pretty much impossible to find - thanks for that one, Griffith ladies ;-). This nurse was awesome - one prick, and the IV was in. Haleigh was comforted by Sugar for that part as I do not do needles very well. Anyway...Haleigh got called down early (very rare!), and once they gave her the anastesia, she was out in about 10 seconds - no lie! When we went back to see her in recovery, she was awake & having some yummy pedialite. She was not as drunk of a baby as she was last time, but still pretty funny to watch.

I call in at 10am to get results, so I will post them as soon as I get them.

Here are the pictures from moving days, crawfish boil, Haleigh's first Easter, and Uncle Johnny holding Haleigh Bug for the first time ever!!!

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=223844729/a=33526050/t_=33526050

More later.
much love,
Jess

The New House!

Well, after a long weekend, we are somewhat settled into the new house in The Woodlands. Jared & I are going on virtually no sleep, attempting to get as much done in every waking hour possible. We are still lacking a fridge, sink faucet, disposal, working dishwasher, and all of our furniture from the apartment. Jared & his dad moved all of the boxes from the apartment over on Friday, and we've attempted to unpack some...I'm hesitant to unpack before we clean up after the lady that lived here before us.

I got some great pictures this weekend, and will upload them to the website soon.
Hope all is well.
love
jess & jared

First Post-Op Check Up with Dr. Jea

So, Haleigh had her first post op check up today. We met with Dr. Jea (the neurosurgeon) and Dr. Okcu (the oncologist). There were a few scheduling problems (boys really shouldn't be left to this stuff!), but thankfully we made both of our appointments.

Dr. Jea said that Haleigh looked great, her incision was healing nicely, and her soft spot felt normal. He suggested that we bumped up the first MRI from 3 months post op to 6 weeks post op, so they'll be calling us tomorrow to schedule this. At that appointment, we'll also check the level of her medicine to see if it's still the correct level.

Dr. Okcu said the same thing - that Haleigh looked great and he was glad to see her in such good spirits. Dr. Okcu's office was in the cancer center, and it was quite a big awakening. I was pretty nervous sitting in there, and praying to God that we'd never have to put Haleigh what those kids were going through. I feel completely awful for these children, but they all looked like they were in such great spirits, so I just slapped a smile on my face for them.

All in all, it was an OK day. Haleigh has had a fever today, has been throwing up a bit more than normal, and I'm just a little stressed out. Oh well...things could be MUCH worse.

Off to cook dinner, do laundry, pack, and entertain the baby & husband!

More later.
Much love,
Jess

New Pictures.

I've added some new pictures to Haleigh's snapfish account. They're pretty cute!

Hope all is well.

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=254131202923796237/l=348584997/g=33526050/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Four Month Check-Up Today!

We ventured out to The Woodlands today for Haleigh's four month appointment today. While the doctor was late, Haleigh did amazingly well with the shots. Jared & I were expecting her to gain quite a bit of weight since she ate so much in the hospital (due to the steroids), but she's actually still listed as 25% on the charts. She came in at 12lbs 14ozs, and was 25 1/2 " long (75%). Her head is right in the middle, so that's good news.

Dr. Hill was pretty surprised to hear about Haleigh's last week (our primary care doctor, Dr. Hill was out of town while our adventure was going on), but glad to see that she was doing so well.

It's been an insanely long day, starting at 7am and Haleigh just now taking a nap with her daddy. We are hoping and praying that Haleigh gets back into her old sleep routine soon - her daddy & I aren't faring so well with such little sleep.

Off to go cook dinner...just wanted to update everyone on her 4 month check up!

Hope all is well.
Much love,
Jess & Jared

Home again, home again.

We're home and settled. Well, somewhat. We came home and I realized just how much crap needed to be done here - dishes, laundry, cleaning the house for the week, going to the grocery store...

Haleigh took a 2 hour nap during our lunch, and then napped with her daddy for about 2 and a half hours this afternoon. Hopefully that sleeping pattern will continue through the night. I desperately need the sleep - Jared, on the other hand, has snuck in naps and got a break tonight so he's good to go.

It's pretty overwhelming being home. It's insane to think that a week ago we were praying over our little girl before bed, preparing to send her off to surgery. And now she's home with us, ready to play just like nothing happened.

The plan is for me to get LOTS of housework and laundry done tonight so we're ready to go for the week. We have Haleigh's Valentine's we still need to send out - oops! Kinda got a little distracted.

Gonna go play with the baby, then more laundry, and lots & lots of thank you notes! I don't anticipate getting any sleep for a while!

More later.
Much love,
Jess

Officially Discharged!!!

THE LAST POST FROM THE HOSPITAL!!!!

Well, after yet another night of VERY little sleep, Dr. Jea came in this morning around 7 to tell us that we were going home today and we'd see him in a couple of weeks for a check up. Woo hoo! Officially discharged!!! Definately a huge step for Haleigh, just a little nervous on how we're going to do if 2-3 hours of sleep continues.

Haleigh is just like her momma - it takes a lot of meds to knock her out. Everyone said that the tylenol with codine (sp?) would knock her out, but not so...maybe for like an hour or so, but then she's up again and ready to play. Although we are running way past empty, we are so grateful that our little girl is so eager to play with us at all hours of the day.

I think Miss Priss will be gaining like 15lbs from this trip - she's been eating 4ozs every hour and half for the past 2 days...She normally eats every 3-4 hours, so it'll be interesting to see how much weight she gains. She goes in for her 4month check up& immunizations on Feb 20th, so we'll know the answer to that then!

I have some more pictures that my Mom took and I'll upload them this evening and post them for all to see. We'll be taking more pictures of our miracle baby and posting them on the snapfish account. I'll repost the link to that everytime I post new pictures so you won't have to search through all of these posts for it.

Thank you to everyone for every ounce of support. Jared, Haleigh & I couldn't have gone through this without every bit of it. We will never be able to repay everyone for the prayers, calls, emails, texts, notes, gifts, flowers, and visits. All we can say is thank you.

More later.
Much Love,
Jess & Jared

P.S. Haleigh says "I really am a rock star baby, Aunt Pat. I have a rock star scar!"

Almost home.

Today is off to a very relaxing start! Woo hoo :-)

Haleigh is currently on a walk with mom, Jared has taken a load of stuff back home so we don't have 10 suitcases of junk to take home tomorrow, and I am here trying to clean up the room, updating the blog, and looking at the fabulous Sunday ads to figure out what treasures we need to buy. I've also spent way too much time doing word searches and crossword puzzles.

While at lunch with Pods today, we missed Gates & Linda's visit, but they brought Haleigh an adorable pink lion - it's the pink lion she almost got the other day from her daddy! We'll have to make a trip upto CSK soon so Mrs. Linda can see the precious lil baby!

Some people have asked a few good questions...One from Mrs. Janice Brown asking mom, "How many people do you think prayed for Haleigh?" The answer to that is pretty hard - we had KSBJ (the Christian radio station in town) ask its listeners for prayers, Lakewood Church, Second Baptist, Spring Woodlands Church, Kingwood Church of Christ, Memorial Drive, Pleasant Valley, and I could keep going and going...The prayer chain seems endless, and we are eternally grateful for each and every one of the prayers.

The other question...Are we going to update this blog once we go home? The answer is YES! Not only does this give me something to do, we also have a busy few months to keep everyone posted on. Plus, we'll have all of her MRI check ups to update everyone on.

The nurse came in this morning about 8 asking what the plan for today was...she said it was in the doctors orders to let us "lay low" in preperation of going home. Basically that means that the nurse has only come in to drop off the meds, but the PCA (nurse assistant) has come in and checked up on us every hour to make sure we're still doing OK. Everyone here has been amazing and it will be pretty wierd to go home where it's just Jared, Haleigh & I. We are thrilled to go home, just praying that Haleigh goes back to her pre-surgery routine soon (it's perfectly fine if she doesn't for a while, we just want her sleeping a little more than she has been getting).

Last night was another long night - Haleigh waking every 2-3 hours to eat and play. It makes us so sad that our little girl can't sleep through the night, we just hope she isn't in too much pain.

We're going to go walk outside - it's too gorgeous to be spent cooped up in a hospital room!

Have a great Sunday!
More later.
Much Love,
Jess & Jared

Saturday Morning...

Jared & I slept through Dr. Jea coming in this morning...but he looked at Haleigh's head and everything still looks great! He switched her meds from IV to oral in preperation to go home. We miss a lot of things about home, but there are also some ways we are not ready to venture home.

I don't think we'll speak to the doctor again today, and he'll be gone tomorrow, but she's doing so well so he's not too concerned about missing her for a day. I anticipate today to be full of visitors (the room is packed now), so we'll all be exhausted by the end of the day and ready to go to bed!

We'll try to take some pictures and update them soon. I'm anxious to show everyone how great her scar looks (it's not gross at all - trust me!). Gotta go entertain!

More later.
Much love,
Jess & Jared

TGIF!!!

Not that it really matters to us, but it's the weekend! I hope everyone has a great weekend :-)

Haleigh's had a busy day full of visitors. She didn't get much sleep in, but oh well. We'll deal with that later.

Cheryl came to visit us again today and brought us some celebratory champagne! We're celebrating how well Haleigh did in surgery, how she is cancer free!!!!, and how she is rebounding so quick! Cheers! (I kinda wish Cousin Evey was here so she could cheers us, too.)

We had a good day as far as Haleigh returning to normal, so to speak. She smiled a lot more today than in previous days, and giggled when her daddy was changing her diaper. After the diaper changing, she stayed in the crip and giggled and played with her daddy and I. She's a pretty cute kid!

Dr. Jea came back in again this afternoon to check up on her, and he is still impressed with her recovery. He said that he'd be out on Sunday, but if everything was the same, we could go home then. I'm not so sure I feel comfortable just yet going home with a baby that just had brain surgery. We'll have to see how the weekend goes.

She's doing amazingly well overall, and we cannot wait to see our little princess grow up and recover fully. She is our "angel baby", and she has proved this to us on more than one occassion!

Once again, thanks for all of the support and have a great weekend.
More later.
Much love,
Jess & Jared

Happy Friday!

Haleigh didn't have such a great night. Once we got in the room, she didn't want to go to sleep. I had a serious headache, so I layed down. Haleigh's AWESOME daddy stayed up with her, rocking her pretty much constantly. She had maybe 3 hours of sleep last night, and so did we. It's going to be a long day today.

This morning, Dr. Jea came in to see Miss Priss. We were told we can start bathing her like we normally would, even shampooing her hair! I might be a little too nervous to do this just yet, but we are definately thrilled he's so happy with her progress. Maybe she'll get a bath today - I'll leave the hair washing to the nurses while I can!

Haleigh is understandibly still in pain. She only has an order for Tylenol for pain, but we spoke to the doctor and finally got some Tylenol with Codine. Haleigh is about to pass out, and her daddy & I would LOVE to pass out. But Grammy & Grandad are on their way, so we will stay awake.

More later.
Much love,
Jess & Jared

A NEW ROOM!!!

Well, kiddos we're upstairs! Finally out of PICU in our own private room. Jared has got the blow up mattress ready to go so we can pass out - it's been an emotionally and physically exhausting day.

Our new room number is 1019 and the new phone number is 832.826.1019.

Have a great Valentine's Night!

Much love,
Jess & Jared

Please pray...

for all of the families in here.

As I sit here typing this, one young family just found out that their daughter is not going to make it. The father of the child ran in to sit by his dying child, and the mother fell into the arms of her friend in tears.

The family I spoke about earlier (with the children) are still in the private room with a child life specialist. Jared & I have some extra coloring books at the hotel, so we're going to bring them back over for the little girl (she keeps asking for some new coloring books). The dad looks like he's just been punched in the gut.

This room is full of 2 groups of people - one like us who have gotten nothing but amazing news since Haleigh had her surgery and the other group - ones who have recieved nothing but bad news. We all know how good God is to us, so pray for these families. These families need God's loving hands holding them and giving them nothing but peace, hope, and understanding.

Thank you, everyone, for everything. We could never thank you enough.

Much love,
Jess

Mixed Bag...

Well, this note is a total hot and cold. I'll start out on a sad note that made me realize just how serious this situation is. I just heard children find out that their sibling had passed away. Pod 2 (the part Haleigh is not in) is closed until further notice, and the crying father just pulled his 3 kids (they looked to be 2, 3, and 7) into a private room with a counselor and a child life specialist. Please pray for this family. Please pray that God holds them together and gives them the strength to get through this. I cannot even begin to imagine their pain, so please please PLEASE put them in your prayers also.

A great note for Haleigh...she's cancer free! The oncologist came by about 30 minutes ago to let us know that it was just a papaloma (sp?), and that we'll just monitor her from afar! She is so blessed!

Gonna go hold my baby!
More later.
Much love,
Jess & Jared

GREAT Start to Thursday

Haleigh is doing amazing this morning. Last night she only had one dose of Tylenol because she was a little cranky. She was getting ready to eat this morning when I got here, so as soon as I walked in, I got to feed the hungry baby. She sucked down 6ozs in about 10 minutes...she was a hungry hungry little girl. I turned her to the side to burp her, and in true Haleigh fashion, she burped pretty loud and even the nurses were shocked!

By the time Dr. Jea came in, Jared was here so we both got to ask a few questions, and he told us that she was looking great. We are FINALLY waiting on a private room - he said yesterday we were going upstairs, but because of her status (not enough time after surgery), they decided to keep her in ICU another night. So now, we're playing the waiting game again. Jared & I have gotten pretty good at being more patient. We've had to do a lot of waiting these past few days.

We get to start picking her up today! It was wierd holding her again, but you could tell she loved it. She was crying, but as soon as we picked her up, she was at peace - just holding on so tight and playing with her lovie. Haleigh has also figured out that if she pulls on the leads, they'll come off! She's such a smart girl :-) Her cathider (sp?) and they took her arterial IV out, too. Her artery that had the arterial IV in it shot out blood when they pulled it out. Lovely!

Jared & I are going to eat breakfast and then hopefully we'll have a room soon. We'll update as soon as we're in a room. We'd love visitors this weekend, but please call us before you come up - we want to see everyone, but we just don't want to overwhelm her or us for that matter.

Much love,
Jess & Jared

Pictures!

Here's the link to some pictures...I'm not sure if it'll work, but I'll try this. If it doesn't work, I'll try something else! They're from the day we first got here up until Tuesday morning...Happy Viewing!

http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=254131202923796237/l=348584997/g=33526050/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Another note - we are not in room 1009 anymore. We're in PICU waiting for another room. The doctor came down and looked at the MRI we had this morning, and the doctor said that everything looked great, all of the mass was taken out, and we're getting put in a regular room before anticipated.

Everything here is going better than expected! We were supposed to be in ICU for 24-48 hours, but the doctor has already put in the order to move her into a room up on the 10th floor. Her incision is much smaller than we had anticipated, and they had to shave MUCH MUCH less than we had thought they were going to have to.

Overall, everything here is great. Jared & I are so happy that we have our baby girl happy & kicking around. Our nurse in the PICU, Jenny, said that she's never seen a little "munchkin" move around as much as Haleigh is. What can we say - she's pretty much a rockstar!

More updates as soon as we know what room we're going to be assigned to, as well as a new room number.

Much Love,
Jess & Jared

We've seen the baby...

Well, Haleigh no longer has a hot pink wrap on her head!

Jared and I got to see her after her surgery last night while she was in recovery. She was groggy, but responsive to our voices. She gripped my hand pretty tightly, and latched onto Jared's too. Her voice was pretty hoarse from the breathing tube, but looked pretty cute.

Once she left recovery, we got to see her in the ICU room. She was a little irritable, but who wouldn't be?!? We just stayed for a bit - we didn't like to see her all hooked up to tubes & crap like that. We kissed her and then came back to spend time with the families.

This morning, I woke up bright and early, and eager to see my baby Haleigh. Mom & I took the first shift, and then my dad came over. Jared followed behind shortly with Dustin, and right now he's in with Sandy. Oh...Grammy Griffith is heading in now.

Haleigh is doing well this morning. I spoke with the nurse when I went in to go visit Haleigh, and apparently Miss Priss had 3 doses of morphine last night! She looks great right now, though. We're waiting on her to go in for an MRI to make sure that all of the tumor is taken out. Hopefully they'll call her back soon so we can get the ball rolling.

I've uploaded some pictures, and am going to try to post them soon. I'll update later after the MRI.

Thanks for everything!
Much love,
Jess & Jared

She's done with surgery....

AND IT WAS A PERFECT SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!

It took less than 6 hours, they didn't have to do a blood transfusion, and they didn't have to use the neck line that they had put in!!!!!!!!

Praise God! Our prayers have been answered in a BIG big way.

Also, an update...the tumor WAS 3 CENTIMETERS by 2 CENTIMETERS. It was huge. I had said that it was centimeters, but everyone was convinced that that size was too big for her head. Oh, boy...I was right on this one.

We still haven't heard from the pathology, but it's OK. Haleigh is out of surgery and doing well. The doctor said that she was awake and moving, but a little irritable. Who cares - she's out and we get to go see her! We're waiting on them to go clean her up so we can see our little baby girl.

I cannot begin to express to you how happy Jared and I are. We are just over the moon right now...More updates later and hopefully some pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

Much love,
Jess & Jared

Update two from the nurse...

So far, so good!

The nurse just called us and said that the majority of the tumor is already out, and they are just working on the area around the main part of the tumor. From what it sounds like, we are close to being finished. I could be totally wrong, though. Doctor time is completely different than realistic time. We're all just sitting around in the lobby, reading trashy gossip magazines, and updating the blog!

We're getting a little anxious, but seeing as though we're only 4 hours in, we could be here for a MUCH longer time! Hopefully Haleigh is having sweet dreams about the new house her daddy bought us and her new pink room and fun playroom. Maybe even about the awesome new neighbors we're about to have (my aunt & uncle, Jared's aunt & uncle, and Uncle Johnny & Aunt Shelly). Or maybe even about how awesome her mommy and daddy are.

Haleigh has been such a doll and we cannot wait for her to wake up and play with us...maybe even give us a big girl smile when we kiss her chubby cheeks!

I'll update again as soon as we hear something! I told y'all I'd update this as much as possible ;-)

Much love,
Jess & Jared

Update one from the Surgeon...

So Haleigh went back around 1pm today...and we just now got an update. A nurse came back just a minute ago saying that they just made the incision, so it'll be a while longer before they come back with another update.

If anyone wants to send a note to Haleigh, you can use this website to send her a note free of charge. They will print off the note and deliver it to her room. It's spelled Haleigh Griffith (as I'm sure all of you know!).

http://www.texaschildrens.org/parents/patientgreeting/default.aspx

Thanks again for everything! Updates soon.

Much love
Jess & Jared

FINALLY off to surgery....

So it's 1pm Houston time, and Haleigh is finally off into surgery. Jared & I have had an insanely crazy morning, but our little princess is off with the nurse to go get her anastetic (sp?) and then finally to surgery. The weather here is totally craptastic so it's a little depressing but it's also good napping weather - it'd be totally nice to nap, but I don't anticipate us getting any rest today.

She has been so great today. We last fed her at 9pm last night, so the poor child was starving by the time they took her. Haleigh has spent all day playing around and talking to her Mommy & Daddy.

After we gave Haleigh over to the nurse, we came back out to the waiting room and found a host of people out here to support us. We are so very grateful for the support and visits and we feel insanely rude for asking to sit alone for a while, but this is a huge test for us and we need some alone time. Please know how appreciative we are to those of you who have come to support us, who have called, texted and emailed us. As I've said before, we are truly blessed with amazing people surrounding us.

The nurse told us that it could be anywhere from 5-12 hours, so it's going to be one hell of a crazy today. Hopefully Jared & I will be calm and at peace with the lack of control that we have (for anyone that knows me well, I hate to be out of control!).

I'll be updating the blog as soon as we get any valuable information. Jared & I will be getting calls to update us and we will post anything that is of importance.

Much love,
Jess & Jared

Tuesday morning update...

What do you know...Surgery has been delayed! Uncle Dustin (Jared's brother) saw the residents and fellows in the hallway, and they told him that surgery was pushed back until 9am today. About 30 minutes later, the doctor came and talked to us. Dr. Jea told us that she'll be going down to surgery at 9am, and it will be on the 3rd floor. We'll be there all day, so feel free to come and visit us!

It was a long night for Jared and I, and we are ready to get through today. We had lots of quality time with Haleigh, and for the first time, we've had time to ourselves to talk about things.

Continue to pray...these next few days are going to be a huge test for everyone. We are anxious to see our baby girl happy, healthy, and ready to play without wires and monitors everywhere.

Thank you to everyone who has called, texted, emailed, visited (Steve & Gray from Sterling - thank you so much for coming to see us) and who has sent us little greetings off of the Texas Children's website. We have gotten all of the notecards, and they are absolutely amazing. We are grateful to have such amazing and strong people surrounding us!

Keep praying for us! That's all I can say...

I'll update sometime later today. I'm sure today will be full of updates!

Much Love,
Jess & Jared

BIG Update for Monday - Day 2

Surgery WILL be at tomorrow morning at 730am. The neurosurgeon was supposed to come and speak with us today, but apparently he forgot. I had the nurse page him, and he was sleeping. He seemed quite irritated when I asked him, but I don't care...I was told he would come speak to us again about surgery, and he did not.

Anyway...She had her eyes checked out today, and has not been having too much fun with the nurses. Her IV had to be taken out again, and they cannot find good veins to put another one. Haleigh's uncle Dustin has suggested a PICLINE, so we're waiting approval on that so we can get that working. Right now, she's fast asleep and being a sweet angel like she normally is.

There's lots of family here, so I'm going to cut this short. We WILL be changing rooms after her surgery. Jared and I will both have our cell phones, and we will still have access to the internet. We will keep everyone posted once we know something tomorrow. Thanks, again for all of the support.

Much love
Jess & Jared

832.527.6233 - Jess
512.784.2315 - Jared

First Update for Day 2 (Monday)

So, I started typing a note, and the oncologist came in to meet us. He was very nice, but I told him I hope I never see you again or have to work with you! Hope that didn't hurt his feelings, but really I don't want to have to work with him ;-)

Haleigh did amazing last night. She slept great, only waking at 1am to eat, and then going back to sleep until 6am. She slept through 2 rounds of vitals, which apparently is unheard of with this PCA she had last night. Jared & I slept much better than we did Saturday night. My dad brought us up a blow up mattress, so Jared took the pull out bed and I took the blow up mattress. I love the kid, but right now sleep is quite necessary. We slept amazingly well, and are much more rested and more patient with eachother this morning (so far...we have only been awake for 3 hours!). Haleigh & her daddy are currently sleeping on the pull out bed together. Pretty sweet. (We've been taking pictures but won't be able to upload them until we get back home).

Yesterday, we were blessed with some visitors! Our friends, R.J. and Kristin, came up to see us yesterday while Haleigh was in her MRI. Kristin brought us her lucky elephant, and it's been in Haleigh's crib since she got it! Sugar (my mom) also came home from Lubbock to come see Haleigh bug. And Dad's friend, Melanie, came to visit us. Her boys, Nathan and Justice, gave Haleigh one of their stuffed animals - a cute blue dog with a heart! And Mel brought us junk food. LOTS of junk food. I think Jared & I are going to be complete whales when we leave here! I want us to weigh ourselves today, and weigh again on the day we leave. Could be pretty interesting!

Back to results. The neurosurgeon fellow came in this morning while Haleigh was eating and basically just told us that she would be back later to speak with us in more depth, and that Dustin couldn't sit in on the surgery since he is family. A little later, the neurosurgeon came in and told us that we are still trying to secure the 730am surgery slot tomorrow morning. He also looked over the MRI and MRA and had his reading of them for us. Since Haleigh was all hooked up to her IV and heart monitors, Jared and Haleigh had to sit in the room while I went outside and looked at the results with the neurosurgeon, and he explained to me what they were going to be doing and where they were going to be doing the procedure. Dr.Jea (the neurosurgeon) will be coming in later today to tell us a definate time for the surgery and answer any more questions that we might come up with during the day.

We are truly grateful for all of the calls, emails, texts, and support we've been getting. As said before, please be patient with us if we do not return these right now. I think as surgery gets closer, we are starting to face reality and there are going to be times where we're not the most pleasant people.

As soon as we hear anything else, I'll update you!

Much love,
Jess & Jared

Another update for day 1

So here's the deal as we know it...

They FINALLY came in to get her for her MRI at 1pm today. She was supposed to go in at 730am, so we stopped feeding her at 145am. Needless to say, baby Haleigh wasn't very happy about going to long without food! But really, who is happy going 15 hours without food?

Her MRI and MRA went awesome, and she ended up having to go under the anastetic (sp?). Once we met her in recovery, she was like a little drunk woman (kinda like her momma on a Friday night!), but so cute! She had a little cotton mouth, but was super cute when she was trying to talk to us and smile at us.

Basically, she's doing awesome. She's sleeping away right now. I am about to crash but I probably won't sleep tonight because of my nerves. Such is the life of a mom, right?

Off to watch TV and relax for for the night. More updates in the morning when the neurosurgeon and radiologist come talk to us.

Sorry for my craptastic spelling...I will work on this!

much love
jess & jared

Update - day 1

So we just spoke to the neurologist. He is so very nice and willing to answer any (and all) of our questions. Here is what we know so far.
- Surgery will take 6-8 hours
- Average hospital stay following surgery is 5-7 days, 1-2 of which are in the ICU
- The incision will be a 4-6" lateral incision
- There are really no known causes other than genetics and bad luck (as the doctor put it)
- Since she is so young, they do not anticipate any lasting effects from this surgery
- It is definately much better to do the surgery while she is so young
- The function of the part of the brain where the tumor is located is not known
- We are AWESOME parents for bringing her in right away :-) - i added that on my own! no DR said that-

Grammy and Grandad Griffith (Scott & Sandy) are planning on coming down here later tonight or tomorrow, if I understand correctly. And Uncle Dustin will be headed down the night before her surgery.

The MRI will take place around noon today. Keep in mind they've told us that we'd be going in around 730am, so we're ready to get rolling!

More later.
Much love,
Jess & Jared

Hospital Day 1

So here we are. It's 7:43am on Sunday morning, and it's been one hell of a long night. I'll start at the beginning of our 'journey' for everyone...

Saturday, Jared, Haleigh and I went out for breakfast. We came back to the apartment, and I was getting Haleigh out of her carseat. She didn't respond to us at all. She normally freaks out when I take her out of her carseat, but this time she just was a limp body. Her leg was twitching, but we thought it might be from the cold. We walked back to our apartment, and she continued to be wierd. We laid her down on the floor, and it was the scariest thing ever. Her eyes were in the back of her head, she had her neck arched, her leg was twitching, and she would not respond to us. Jared snapped in her face and nothing. She did not respond at all. At that time, we looked at eachother, got the diaper bag and got ready to come to the ER. While we were putting her blanket on inside the apartment, she threw up big chunks on me, and then was her normal self.

We made it here to Texas Childrens around 10am. We had to sit in line, but they moved so very fast downstairs. The ER staff was absolutely amazing (besides the MEAN lady that sucked at taking her blood), and got us in very fast. Within 3 hours of being in the ER, we had an IV of anti-seizure meds, CAT scan, and they were working on getting her admitted and waiting for the neurosurgeon to come and speak with us. Our ER doctor was increadible. He was very patient with us, even bringing in tissues for us as he explained his diagnosis - Choroid Plexus Tumor.

So, we finally got up into a room about 5pm, we were in our own private room! Let me be the first to tell you - the rooms at Texas Children's are awesome! We have our own bathroom, a pull-out bed, and plenty of storage space. We also have a great view of the med center! Haleigh is hooked up to an IV in her heel, and a heart monitor on her toe, along with some crap on her chest measuring something. Basically, she's pretty wired!

Once we got up here, our nurse told us that the neurosurgeon wouldn't come in at night (Saturday), so we prepared to calm down and just relax. Dad, Cheryl (a family friend that's also a nurse!), Aunt Dawn & Aunt Donale left us for the night and we just started watching TV and doing some research on Choroid Plexus Tumor. (Dad left us his computer so we could email our family & friends, and to keep us entertained!). Much to our surprise, the neurosurgeons DID come visit us quickly last night. They briefly explained to us what was going to happen, and told us that they'd see us in the morning.

Here we are...Sunday morning. Haleigh is playing with her Daddy - flirting away with him. She's starting to get a little fussy because we cannot feed her - We are scheduled for an MRI and an MRA this morning. The MRI department was supposed to open at 730am, but we're still waiting on a call for them to bring her down.

Now we play the waiting game. As most of you know, Jared & I are NOT good at being patient when it comes to the well-being of our baby girl. But what parents are?!? Haleigh is being a "rock star" as her Aunt Patty would say, and we're just praying that she stays this way.

As it stands, we're having an MRI and MRA this morning, the neurosurgeons will come in and speak to us, and a biopsy is scheduled for Tuesday morning. Ovbiously, if they find something more pressing in the MRI or MRA, they will bump up the biopsy to Monday.

I am going to try and keep this thing updated as much as humanly possible. Please understand if I do not! Jared & I both have access to our email, cell phones, and we also have a direct line in our room if you didn't know. The number is 832.826.1009..

I apoligize if this is just completely scatterbrained and rambling...it's been a long 24 hours full of way too much information and way too little sleep!

Please continue to pray for Haleigh and for the doctors that will be operating on her. We know that she is in God's hands, and we know that our angels were watching out for us in letting us see her siezure.

Thank you for everything!
Much love,
Jess & Jared