Looking Good!

Holly is doing better each day. She's looking good and was walking around today. Some of the swelling has gone down as well. The CT scan showed some bleeding still but should absorb over time so they are watching that. If she has a good night she should be able to come home tomorrow. She enjoyed some visitors and phone calls today and is looking forward to coming home and not being poked all the time and getting some rest!

Good Day!

Holly had a good day. The pain is less and under control. She feels better than yesterday. The Dr. took out the drainage tube too. She is out of ICU and in regular room now. Finally off all the monitors and stopped the IV's. The swelling and the black eye are starting to show which is normal. Of course not getting much sleep but who does in a hospital! They'll do another CT scan tomorrow and the Dr. thinks she may be able to come home on Monday if all goes well. She's happy to eat real food now and a little more comfortable in the new room! You're welcome to call or visit. She's at Banner Desert Hospital on Dobson.

24 Hours Later

Holly is doing well. The CT scan was good and they'll do another on Sunday. The drainage tube maybe for another day. They had her sit up twice today but not walking yet. She's still having lots of pain and they are trying to adjust the morphine and meds. Still very sleepy. She looks good and progressing nicely. She's still in ICU and will probably go to a regular room tomorrow. She's not quite up to visitors yet. We appreciate all your love and prayers!

Update

Holly is doing well. Still in a lot of pain but had a fairly good night. She's having a CT scan this morning to check things and hopefully to be able to take out the drainage tube. They haven't had her out of bed yet. Her spirits are good and has felt all your love and prayers.

Surgery update: post surgery

Holly's surgery went well. It was a little longer than the surgeons anticipated because of the previous surgery's scar tissue. Of course she is very sore and tired.
The surgeon said that it went well and they think that they got it all. They were glad to catch it before it got too big. She is currently in the ICU and won't be able to have visitors Friday. We will keep you posted on visitor status for Saturday. It all just depends on how she is feeling and where they have her. Again thank you for all the prayers in her behalf.

It's a Brain Tumor!

Hello family and friends. I decided this would be an easier way for my family and I to update everyone on my recovery and health. I have to say there are no words to express the love and gratitude I feel for the outpouring of love I continue to feel for all of the prayers, wishes, and thoughts that have been on my behalf. It is humbling to imagine how this experience has not only influenced my life, but that of others around me.

I suppose it is only right to give a little history. 12 years ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, technically it is called a craniopharyngioma. It's amazing how you learn such technical terms so quickly. I even know how to spell it (I looked it up)! It's not cancerous, but it was located in an extremely invasive place in the center of the brain. It was pushing on my optic nerve, hypothalamus, and pituitary gland (just a few important centers up there).

I often get asked how did you know? Of course I had headaches, anyone who knows me knows I've had headaches my entire life. I started to wonder what was wrong with me??? I even had a coworker once who mentioned she didn't comprehend what a headache felt like, boy did I want to help her feel one (not physically of course).

I was also experiencing other symptoms, which I now know was the hormone imbalances. The pituitary gland is the control center for all hormone functioning, which means mine wasn't doing it properly. The biggest concern, which sent red flags to the doctors, was when I started losing my vision. That was scary! I started to see black clouds obstructing my view everywhere I looked. I couldn't read, drive or do anything independently now. I could still see a little but I had to move my head to see around the "black clouds."

So, a few MRI's and Drs. visits later it was diagnosed. It was the quickest result to an MRI I ever received. I now know if the doctor calls you the day of your tests it's not good news. They also offered me medicine to help me sleep or calm down. This just made me laugh because I was calm the entire time. I had the love of my parents with me and faith that everything would be alright. I was honestly relieved because now something was found so we could move forward and treat it. I was in the surgeon's office the next day and plans were made.

Surgery was scheduled for Halloween day (I didn't have any plans). With the faith and prayers of many family and friends the tumor was removed. The surgeon thought it was miraculous, but I know otherwise. Going into the surgery, the plan wasn't to completely remove the tumor, but to remove as much as possible and diagnose the problem. Because of the location, and the tumor's presence on the other centers of the brain (pituitary gland, hypothalamus) the surgeon already said he wouldn't touch those areas, knowing it could make matters worse. We would have to discuss treatment after.


For 11 years, there was no sign of the tumor on follow up scans. This past year, the headaches came back and I knew they were not the usual stress or day to day headaches. After several months of more testing, it was positive that the tumor had in fact come back. Apparently this is somewhat common and we always knew there was that possibility.

I really wanted to schedule the surgery for Halloween again this year to be sentimental (I'm just crazy that way) but decided against it since now I enjoy the holiday with my young niece and nephews. I also needed to postpone the surgery a little to finish my commitments to an online class I was teaching and a family trip to Disneyland in Oct. (I have my priorities -- Disney always comes before health).

Thus, the time has come. On Thursday, Nov. 5 I will be at Banner Desert Samaritan Hospital for surgery a second time. The good news is the tumor is smaller, and not pressing on the same areas, with the exception of my optic nerve. It's a blessing I still have my vision to this day really.

I'm confident in the surgeon and health professionals. However, I'm more confident in my Savior, who guided me through the last experience with peace. At a time like this it is only my faith in my loving Father in Heaven that will give me the strength to continue to smile and endure the pain as I am asked to.