The week of the tumor

The week started off with me having a crazy calm come over me.  If you don't know why I am so stressed, go check out my blog post before this one.  In a nut shell, upon an eye exam we were sent to the ER in Wamego and then onto the ER in Topeka Kansas for immediate brain surgery.  We ended up having to wait on the surgery as they tried to get some of the swelling down with massive doses of steroids.  I am going to break this down day by day, so I can read back on this nightmare when we are on the other side.

Monday:  I had to work which was a good thing.  Staying busy keeps my mind from wandering and I had lots to do at work to keep me busy.  We also got a call that our football family had something for us.  Upon arriving at his defensive coach's house, we were given a huge basket filled with gift cards, snacks, cards, and goodies to keep Tony busy post surgery.  We are so blessed by our wonderful community for lifting us up in prayer and for taking over for Andrew and me. 

 

Tuesday: Surgery day.  Up at 4 am to head to Topeka to be there before they wheeled him out for anesthesia.  We joked that he was going to be Harry Potter for Halloween with his surgeon's initials looking like Harry's scar.   They were very good about giving us updates throughout the process of pre op and keeping us calm.  We got to stay with him till they rolled him back to be put under.  The surgeon came in and we talked briefly about the plan.  He was very optimistic this would be doable with complete recovery.   Tony was in surgery for about 4 hours and in recovery for about 2 hours before we could see him.  I let his mom go in first and then I went in second.  He looked amazing for just having brain surgery!  He was in and out of grogginess, but he had no deficits when it came to neurological functions and he could talk and answer questions.  

Wednesday:  Came to the hospital in the morning to see Tony up and eating!!!!  I was so shocked.  The doctor had warned us that he would be out of it for a day or two.  He was awake, talking, and eating like no big deal.  He got his drain out, his arterial line out, and his picu line out all in one day and at that one day post surgery!  He also got moved to a regular room, so we could all be there.  

Thursday: Lots of PT, lots of walking, lots of more steps to get to come home.  Being back in a regular room means a ton less interruptions.  The moms took over so I could focus on working my science job. I am out of PTO until I earn more.  

Friday:  GO HOME DAY!  I am still very blown away that we could leave the hospital this quickly, but also very thankful.  At the point of writing this, he is still having much confusion and having some memory issues and swelling on his face, but he is mobile and on his way to recovery!  

Saturday/Sunday: Lots of eating, lots of walking, lots of working for me and lots of love from all over.  He is so excited to get to the other side of life minus that huge tumor.  He is going back over all of the things he has done lately and thinking, hmmm, was that the tumor that made me do that?  We also got out a few times and did some walking and went over to A and H farms to spend a couple of hours enjoying the sunshine and awesome fall temps.  

A couple of pictures to end.  This has been one very crazy and quick journey.  Our community has been so amazing doing a gift card shower for us.  We got a variety of cards with money, gift cards, snack boxes, chips, and so much love and prayers sent our way.  So many prayers and positive thoughts sent our way and we could feel every single one.  I have never had that kind of calm come over me like I did during all of this.  Our racing and football family have really stepped up and our community as a whole have taken care of us immensely, even taking care of my mom this week as well.  

This is a picture of a third of the tumor and those are my hands holding it.  It's a meningioma and it's non cancerous.  We are so very lucky that it is what it is even if it is huge.  His brain will have a period of time of healing and getting back to it's normal size minus that huge depression.  He is home and motoring around but still has some issues with memory loss and confusion.  They say that is all to be expected.  

I will never be able to thank everyone enough for what they have done for our family.  We have felt so much love over the last two weeks of this nightmare.  I am not sure how long the moms will be here but just having them here has allowed me to be able to focus so much more and not worry about every little thing.  I will never be able to repay them.  

Have a great week y'all!  I did get three runs in by the skin of my teeth.  I could have gotten four ,but chose to watch Chiefs football instead and just spend the day with family.