The Brain Blob

Matt and I have had a crazy week. Now that I can sit down with my computer I figured I'd document everything that has happened...

On December 19, I started having some numbness in my right foot and leg. Throughout the week my numbness moved up my leg and thigh. I went to the doctor, who told me I probably had a pinched nerve and should go home and stretch. It became a family joke, everyone making fun of my dead leg. As time passed, the numbness continued to climb the right side of my body, to the point where my face and top of my head felt tingly.

On January 3, I went back to the doctor (demanding that I NOT see the same doctor I did before) and she still didn't know what was going on. So she had me set up for some blood tests and an MRI. On Thursday night, after my MRI, the doctor called and told me that my vitamin levels were super low, which was probably causing the numbness. She set me up for B12 shots every day and a heavy dose of vitamin D.

On Friday, January 6, I got another call from the doctor. She told me that she had my MRI results and that there was a mass in the left parietal lobe of my brain that could be causing my numbness. She made arrangements for me to be seen by a neurosurgeon on Monday. No one really told us anything about what to expect or what to plan for, so we were pretty much blind all weekend.

On Monday we went in to see the neurosurgeon who told us the same thing: we don't know what the mass is and there is no way to know what it is without taking it out or taking a sample of it. So it was decided that the doctor would do a biopsy to find out what the "brain blob" is. Luckily, he had an appointment available on Tuesday, so we made arrangements to go in on Tuesday for surgery.

Tuesday we went in early for another MRI. The surgeon had to shave parts of my hair for the sensors, luckily he didn't seriously maim my head. I did have to wear the sensor stickers for the rest of the morning, which caused some children to point and stare... Finally I went into surgery. The surgeon took a sample of the mass by making an incision on my head and using a needle from there. I was surprised when I woke up because I couldn't swallow. My throat was killing me when I woke up and I was being moved into the ICU. I couldn't figure out why my throat hurt until they told me that they had to put in a breathing tube during surgery. I was also told that being in the ICU is standard after a brain biopsy. My surgeon came in and told me that things went well and that they were sending the sample out to pathology for more answers, but that he was pretty sure it was not an infection.



I spent the rest of the night in the ICU and got to go home on Wednesday afternoon with a lot of painkillers. I have 10 staples in my head that will come out next week. We should hear back about the mass next week as well. We are very blessed with so many people who are helping to take care of us and have been praying for us. Thank you everyone for everything you have done for us this week. We are lucky to be through this first stage of this process with so much help and love and support! We love you all!