PT Cruising

They brought Jess her brace last night after I posted last night. It's really just pieces of hard molded plastic with straps. It was really hard to put on laying down-- it will be a lot easier when she is cleared to put it on while sitting up. The PT (physical therapist) did a great job (as did Jess!) and she was able to sit up for the first time since surgery. She'll be doing PT once a day for now, but she's cruising along. We are hoping Jess will be able to move up to a room on the oncology floor today or tomorrow, but right now she is great care in ICU.

I read a post asking about how to give money. The way our community has come together has been unbelievable as well as very humbling for Jess and I as we are both joyful givers and not as good at receiving. I believe an awesome account called the Jessica Kaylor fund has been set up. I don't know much about it as some wonderful person set one set up for us while we were gone. So if you know more about it please post a comment.

Headache Problem Solved

I noticed that Wendy Casas posted that Jessa's headache might be as a result of spinal fluid loss and she nailed it: that is exactly what the doctors found (even before I checked the blog). They have kept the drain at the surgery site but have stopped the pump-- no more spinal fluid being pumped out and presto-- a happier Jess!

One thing I have learned on this San Diego segment of Our Journey with Jessica is to take one day at a time. There are several exciting possibilities in the works but they are not realities yet. I just got a phone call that the goal of raising money for a med flight home has been met. You can help by praying for total doctor support of this; a safe, uneventful trip home; and for Jess to choose the right medical facility in Dallas to go to for rehab/radiation/other medical treatment. Also in the works is for more visitors coming here to San Diego, including our three precious daughters.

God has asked a lot of us, but we are asking a lot of Him-- don't we have a big God?

One final thing: I need a computer techie person to tell me how I can download a video of Zander Curtis's baptism this Sunday so we can watch it here. I know LABC videotapes the services, so this isn't too far of a stretch. Just post a comment if you know how. Jess and I would love to see our nephew take the plunge!

Another headache :(

Jess had another headache last night-- and was sick to her stomach again. Then she had another one this afternoon. One of her oncologists here (Dr. Abidoye) sent her for a CT scan right away on her brain. The preliminary results show nothing suspicious, but I'm very impressed at how quickly he acted. We'll know the official results tomorrow. Jess is sleeping right now. It was a sad day for her as Katelyn, her mom, and her stepdad all left this afternoon. As for me I miss them already and I miss Jadyn and Bryn horribly. I have parked in the parking garage so many times now that I can't remember which level I parked on. While Katelyn was here we made up rhymes tell help us remember the correct level. For example, "Level one is so much fun. I like to run and eat a honey bun." I already miss being silly with her. She has a heart of gold too-- as we were leaving hospital parking she offered to pay the $2 (Jessa's stepdad paid for it instead). I love hearing the reports of prayer for us-- keep it up!

A Rollercoaster of a Day

Jess was in a great mood this morning-- as if having extensive surgery the night before was no big deal. Later, she got measured for a custom orthotic that will brace her back. It's very likely that she will have to wear the brace the rest of her life, but on the plus side it will help prevent other vetebrate from collapsing. A little bit after two Jess starting got a bad headache. They were able to get the pain under control, but in the meantime Jess got sick to her stomach. There was a long stretch of time this afternoon and tonight that we let Jess rest. So, while she rested, we went out to eat with Jessa's cousin(Krista), Katelyn, my mother/father in-love, my Aunt Terry and my Uncle Ron. I love my family. Then we came back and waited around a bit-- the nurse finally let us in about 8:30 and we stayed until after 10. Jess was feeling much, much better, so we ended with a high point in a rollercoaster of a day. By the way the blog posts the time in Central Time, so it's late but not as late as it posts. Thank you for your prayers and good night.

Mission Accomplished!

Dr. Coufal just came out to see us. The surgery went smoothly. Jess is going to back in her room in about twenty minutes, and I can't wait to see her. Thank you for praying, but now I have another assignment for you, pray for her recovery!

Surgery Duration

Jess went into surgery at 5:30-- she had to wait for the operating room to be available. I forgot to post on the last blog that the surgery will be about four hours. Scripps is one of the few places in the country that monitor neurological pathways when doing middle of the back surgery. I found that out today and thought that was pretty cool. Jessa's surgery will be in the T6-T10 vertebrate.

It was real boost for Jess to see Katelyn today and to read your emails. Your emails don't have to be funny but I think she really likes those ones. It's great to see her smile. I'm going to grab a quick bite to eat and then head back to the hospital. Keep praying!

Surgery Time

Jessa will be having surgery at 4 PM. Remember we are in Pacific Time, so if you live in a different time zone than California it will be later where you are. Pray for Dr. Coufal and his medical team here at Scripps.


A tired Katelyn got in last night. Her plane was making weird noises so they got everyone off before take-off and switched planes-- making her get in at 11:30 PM instead of 9:20.

Thanks for praying!

Precious Little Sleep for the Princess

Katelyn is coming in tonight, so I am at my mother-in-love's hotel where they have Internet access to update you this afternoon. Jess had a hard time sleeping last night. She felt jittery after taking her oral medicines last night, but the worse thing happened later. Her night nurse took out her IV (so she could put in a new one) but forgot to take off her blood pressure cuff. The cuff automatically takes her blood pressure every 15 minute and started squeezing her arm. Blood started squirting and it took awhile for it to stop. Needless to say Jess is very tired and the day nurse she has now has been extra careful with her today. On the plus side a nurse that knows massage came in and helped Jess to feel both comfortable and relaxed. Another plus is that Jess has really enjoyed messages sent via Scripps. The neurosurgeon talked to Jessa's nurse and said that the surgery will be Friday or Saturday. When I hear a definite time I will post it.

Feeling More Comfortable

Jess had a much better day today. She was much more comfortable (thank you prayer warriors!)-- just tired. Her neurosurgeon talked to us tonight-- he is shooting for Friday for the surgery where he will put in screws and rods to stabilize her spine. He said it would take less than two weeks for her to heal from the surgery and then she will be able to fly back, hopefully on some kind of medical flight. Emotionally this provided a big boost to Jess today-- she has been dreading sitting up for the three hour flight-- and the spinal surgery has just compounded that dread. Also providing a big boost is Katelyn coming in tomorrow night for the weekend. Jess really, really misses our daughters. Jadyn and Bryn are too young to visit Jess in ICU (the age limit is ten) so they will be enjoying a weekend of camping with friends. Jess got to talk to the Yikes (Younger Kaylor Kids) tonight which was both relieving and awesome for Jess tonight. No cell phones are allowed in ICU, but her nurse set up a phone where she could talk to them. If you would like to send a message to Jessica, you can still do so even though she has no Internet accesss. You can send a message through Scripps which will print out your message and deliver it to Jess. The web address that you will need to go to is http://www.scrippshealth.org/emailpatient.asp
The big prayer request is to pray for Jessa's upcoming surgery. Jess has such an awesome surgeon it's easy to forget that he is operating on her spine-- so pray for steady hands and success in stabilizing her spine!

Pray for Jess to be Comfortable

Jess was pretty uncomfortable today-- she couldn't get comfortable in her bed and just plain felt lousy. Please pray that she would feel better tomorrow I know that would lift her spirits. There were several things to be thankful for today. There were two new developments: 1st Jess started feeling good tingles down her legs ( I say good because before she lost the use of her legs she was feeling bad tingles that felt like her legs were going to sleep) and 2nd she was able to tell which direction the doctor was moving her toes. The oncologist came into tonight and was able to help Jess understand what was going to happen next (thank you Wendy for praying for this specifically). She was feeling aprehensive about not having a plan and he helped her feel much calmer. Here's the plan: stabilize her backbone with rods and screws. In about two weeks radiate the three problem areas in her vertebrate-- one in her neck, one in her mid-back (we found out from him that she actually has fractures in that area on vertebrae that were not taken out), and one in her lower back. They will also radiate her hip which (and I'm sorry I don't know which parts were broken) is broken in several places. In the meantime they are going to be treating her cancer systemically with hormone therapy. Hormone therapy is generally not very aggressive and usually takes awhile to have an effect, but her oncologist (actually she also has another oncologist here who is a female) wants to be treating her while Jess is healing from surgery. He said he would tell us more details about the hormone therapy tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers!!!!!!!!!

Get Her Some Boots 'Cause Her Feet Our Dancing

Just her moving her toes on just one foot would have been enough today to make it perfect. However, it became an amazing day when Jess was able to move both her feet today from side to side. Our family that is here have already given thanks that Jess did not get on the plane earlier. What if during her transfer she had permanent damage? We are also very grateful that she was able to have such a wonderful surgeon in San Diego. We now know that Jess fell because of pressure on her spinal cord which caused her legs to not work right.

I wasn't very clear when I talked to my dad about further treatment. There is no plan to treat her hip until after her spine is taken care of. Now that she has movement she will have metal inserts put in to stabilize her back. Then the doctors here will see what they can do to treat her hip and her cancer in general before we return home.

I am very grateful for my principal at my school, the parents of the kids on the soccer team I coach, for family taking care of my three darling girls, but I am especially grateful to YOU for praying. This has been a very difficult week and prayer has made all difference.

I have about a zillion other things to say but my brain has refused to keep working, so good night.

Jess Moves her Left Toes!

Thank God and thank you for your prayers!

Jess just moved the toes on her left side so God has allowed the surgery to enable her to regain some nerve functionality. When she first woke up from surgery she was not able to move anything below her waist. Her doctor said they will know soon whether she will regain feeling on her right side. It will take some time for her to regain the feeling in her legs. If Jess successfully regains feeling to a certain level then she will undergo surgery again to install metal support in her spine. The two verterbrea that had collapsed were removed during the surgery last night.

The doctor confirmed that it will be at least 10 days before Jess will be able to travel home. He also said that Jess's hip issue will not be treated in San Diego. That problem has been assigned a lower priority and is planned to be treated back in Texas through either surgery/radiation or just radiation.

Please pray for movement on Jess's right side.

In Christ,
Jim Kaylor

Jess's Surgery Went Great!

Hello Faithful Prayers.

Great news about the surgery from Jake! Dr Coufal told Jake the surgery went very well. All of the spinal tumors were removed and Dr Coufal was able to decompress Jess's spine.

The tumors were wrapped around the spinal cord and had broken through at least one vertabrea. Hence, we will have to wait and see how much if any permanent nerve damage exists. There is no time frame for that assessment just yet. Jess is still sadated and will be kept in ICU tonight. She will need to remain in the hospital in San Diego for at least 10 days to recover.

Another surgery will be required to add support to Jess's spine. Exactly what and when that will take place is also not known tonight.

Thank you all for your prayers and thank you God for your mercy. Please continue to pray for minimal nerve damage, strength, encouragement and recovery for Jess.

In Christ,
Jim Kaylor

Please Pray Now For Jess's Surgery

Hello Everyone.
This is Jim Kaylor (Jake's Dad)relaying a message and request for immediate prayer for Jess and Jake. Today Jess lost feeling in her legs. A MRI was done to help determine the problem. It was discovered that her cancer had spread to her spine and that two of her vertibrae had collasped. She was told that unless she agreed to have emergency surgery (Jess is still in San Diego) that she would be permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

Please pray for Jess and her surgeon (Dr Coufal)that the surgery is a success. The surgery is to remove the tumors on her spine and then decompress her spine. If possible they would also like to put in support for her spine. They suspect that procedure will not be possible until a future surgery.

Thank you in advance for your ferverent prayers.
In Christ,
Jim

Breaking News

First, let me thank you for praying for us whole-heartedly. Tonight I ran into two families that were already knew our situation and were already praying for us. They represent the many people who are praying.

The latest plan is for Jess to come home Saturday to have surgery in Dallas. Pray for me to make my flight early tomorrow morning, for the kids to feel secure and peaceful, and above all for as little pain as possible for Jess as Jshe makes the plane trip. Aunt Sandy will also like me to add for you to pray for a private jet for Jess!

No news yet

There is not a consensus yet among Jessa's doctors whether to fly or back home or treat her there. I tried to fly to San Diego today, but if you'll look at a weather map you'll see why I didn't. There's a big red spot over the two big airports here. Flash flooding caused one of the airports to cancel over 700 flights today.

Broken Hip

Jess spent the weekend in California with her dear Aunt Sandy. She was supposed to come back today, but fell and broke her hip. Dr. Haley had recommended that she get a pin put in in to prevent such a thing but frustratingly Jessa's orthopedic surgeon told her on Thursday that she didn't need a pin right now. The plan right now is to have scans to determine whether or not she can fly back and what treatment she'll have. I plan on keeping you updated. In other news, Jess saw a doctor in a research hospital (Mary Crowley at Baylor). He felt like she was a great canidate to try a new medicine next month. Medicines go through three phases of testing before they are approved by the FDA medicine. This medicine is a phase one drug, in fact she would be third person ever to try it. Over the last year and a half no traditional chemo medicine has been effective in slowing or preventing the cancer from growing, so we are hoping and praying that this will be one will work. If it works it will actually repair the damaged DNA in the cancer cells.