It’s been an eventful last couple days. After a month of having what we thought was a pinched nerve I went into the ER on Tuesday due to some concerning escalated stroke-like symptoms. CT scan And MRI found the issue: there’s a pretty good size mass in the right side of my brain (insert small brain, easy to find joke here). I’m now at Swedish Cherry Hill with some of the best neurosurgeons around and am having the tumor removed at 11:30 today. It is in God’s and surgeons’ hands, I am confident it will go well, and will be happy with any result that sees me keeping my sparkling personality, crazy good looks, sharp wit and sense of humor. If however I am limited in any way later, know that I’ll be the same person that values our relationship and interaction and will find a way to be “me”. If you’re the praying type, throw some up for me and the fam, heck even if you’re not, I could use ‘em and I think God will still hear you! I love you all, see you on the other side.
Facebook Updates: May 24, 2018
Update 1: Things are going well and he’s doing good. He’s been in surgery for almost 4 hours now. Thank you all for the overwhelming amount of love, support and prayers... we feel it! I’ll send another update when he’s out of surgery.
Update 2: Ed is out of surgery and in recovery. Surgery lasted about 4.5 hours. We just met with the surgeon and all went as planned. Thank you Lord. Ed is able to move everything. As suspected, the tumor was cancerous and we’ll know more within the next couple days regarding the type and grade. He will most likely need some radiation and maybe chemo to just make sure there’s no residual cancerous tissue. Thank you again for all the love.
Update 3: One more update on Ed before we all get some much needed rest. We were able to see him about an hour ago and he's doing amazing. We expected him to be completely groggy but as soon as we walked in the room he said "I see some beautiful faces" - we were shocked that he was so awake and talking. He was already cracking jokes and making us laugh... that's my hubby. He is beyond grateful with how it went... the best we could have hoped for and he wants me to tell everyone thank you so much for everything. He will continue to be monitored closely, to make sure there's no bleeding etc, and we're not sure how long he'll be in the hospital or what the future looks like with his recovery. The team at Swedish has been incredible.
Facebook Update: May 25, 2018
Friday update on Ed - he's doing really well and we are just beyond thankful. He didn't sleep much overnight since they were monitoring him so much and he had another MRI at 3am but everything is looking really good. Some minor loss of movement in hand, arm, face on his left side at times, like before, but doctor said that is normal and should get better. He's sitting up and eating a little food even. Quite a large horseshoe shaped incision... he's such a fighter, so brave and I'm just blown away by him.
For those asking, we don't know how long he'll be in the hospital, probably through the weekend and as far as visitors go, he's very tired and needs to rest so he's just requesting a few family members here and there but we appreciate everyone's outpouring love. And I know many have asked about meals... a meal train will be sent out at some point but we're holding off for just a bit as I don't want to be overwhelmed with so much food and have anything go to waste. Stay tuned on that.
And I just want to say thank you again for the hundreds of messages and texts, I think I've read them all and believe me, they helped so much yesterday when my mind was going to dark places knowing my husband was having a brain tumor removed... so I thank you with all my heart, for Ed, me and my boys.
I'll probably send another update this evening or tomorrow but know that all your messages are being read and I've told Ed how much he is loved and supported, we all feel it.
Facebook Update: May 26, 2018
Update on my amazing hubby Ed - he’s currently in a deep sleep which is incredible because he has not slept much due to having the hiccups since Wednesday, super annoying... most likely a reaction from the steroids. But as he’s said “if all I have to complain about after having a brain tumor removed is the hiccups, I’m doing ok”. Other than that, the incredible team here continues to monitor his pain level, his muscle movement/motor skills, and now his white blood cell count to make sure there’s no infections anywhere.
Once he heads home, which at the soonest would be tomorrow (but that still feels crazy to me) he’ll be taking it real easy for a couple weeks then starting some radiation and possibly chemo depending on what the pathology report shows us.
We continue to be filled with so much gratitude for the outpouring of love and support we have received... thank you so much friends... I know it’s helping his healing and has been an amazing amount of comfort for me too.
Facebook Update: May 27, 2018
Sunday update on Ed - my precious cargo is now home. He was discharged a couple hours ago and now fully asleep resting well. What an emotional whirlwind. It feels a bit crazy to be home just three days after brain surgery but he was progressing well and the surgeon and nurses were comfortable with him coming home. The nasty hiccups have stayed away and he’s pretty much been sleeping off and on since noon yesterday. We’re all set with his recovery plan and loaded up with all his meds. He’ll be taking it real easy for a while with light walking around and good nutrition being key. One day at a time.
Thank you to friends and family who’ve already helped me so much. And the hundreds of prayers and messages... it’s very overwhelming but in the best way.
My husband just had a brain tumor removed and has a large horseshoe size/shape incision on his head yet continues to blow me away with his strength, love, and positive energy as he battles this. I’m in absolute awe. All the emotions. ❤️
And I’m pretty much in love with all the nurses at Swedish... is it weird to say I’ll really miss them? The sweetest and so caring. Bless all of you who are in that field.
Facebook Update: May 31, 2018
It’s been one week since Ed’s craniotomy to remove the tumor, less than 48 hours after we found out it existed. He’s been sleeping and resting since coming home on Sunday. He pretty much slept Saturday through Monday but is feeling a little more alert each day. All the meds and just walking from one room to another on occasion, wipes him out.
We have the follow up tomorrow at 4pm with the surgeon and will go over the pathology results etc. We already have an oncologist appt and radiology consultation appt set up for next week. I will post another update tomorrow night sometime. We continue to feel the outpouring of love from everyone, thank you so much.
Worry about nothing pray about everything.