[flagallery gid=10 name=”Gallery”]
On Dec 29, I went to the dr to find out why I had been having severe problems with dizziness and coordination to the point where it had become difficult to walk. It had started in November, for the most part. The Dr told me after examining me that I needed to go directly to the hospital. I had driven myself to the doctor, which I look back at now incredulously now. My dogs were in the car and I had planned to go to Petsmart to buy them food. But I drove myself to the local hospital, only a few blocks away. I drove clear around the city to get there. My brain was so impaired that it mapped out a very illogical route for me. Of course, I didn’t know that my brain was impaired… at the time. At the hospital they did a CT scan and came in to tell me that there was a 4cm mass in my brain. The news took some time to sink in. Initially, it struck me as being a little bit comical. I remember thinking “there’s a light in my brain that won’t light on one side”. My heart went out to the doctor who had to come in to give me the news. I tried to assure him that I was alright. Within minutes after that, I was packed up into an ambulance, and whisked off to Skyline Medical Center, a hospital known for their expertise in Neurology. After a couple of days it was determined that it was a tumor and that it was most likely benign. But somehow, I already knew that. And that was the beginning of a story that I have had great difficulty writing. It is multifaceted, with what happened in the natural, and the spiritual. As a result of it, I have seen wonders, miracles. And I have felt the Spirit of God ‘hold’ me through trial and tribulation that I know I could never have walked through alone.
My children flew out from California to be with me. It felt as though their presence gave me the strength to live, it meant so much to me. My church home group were there, and they were so supportive that I’ll never be able to adequately thank them. The nurses in the hospital were all the most amazing and precious people I have ever seen in action. And my surgical team, were miracle workers. My dearest friend Nancy also flew all the way from California to help take care of me when I came home.
The tumor was originally said to be 4 centimeters in size, but ended up being larger in one dimension (it was shaped sort of like a distorted teardrop). It was located at the back of my head- which was good because that meant that I would not have to deal with seizures after the surgery, but bad because the muscles on the back of the head, where they had to go in, are thick, and the spasms as they heal are pretty awful. The tumor was located deep inside my brain and dangerously close to my brain stem. The Surgeon said we should operate immediately because of the risk that the tumor would reach my brain stem. But they had to get the swelling down before they could go in. So they pumped me full of steroids for 5 days first.
I had planned to go to the pet store that day. We sure don’t plan our lives.