Blessings In Disguise!

You never know what life challenges will be thrown at you; always count your blessings as they go by. What some may view as devastation others may recognize as blessings in disguise. There haven't been any postings on here for a while as Sarah has been busy with everyday life-things as all mothers with children have.

During Sarah's pregnancy she began to experience symptoms of various kinds: loss of hearing in left ear, paralysis of the left cheek and right hand, blurred and double vision, slurred speech, loss of balance while walking, easily tired, very loud snoring and a few others not mentioned. A few months after the birth of her son these symptoms didn't go away so she was persuaded to go to the Dr.

Day 1 - Nurse Practitioner ordered an MRI, Sleep Study and appointment with a Neurologist.

Day 2-6 - waited for appointments to arrive.

Day 7 - MRI Appointment; learned of Brain Tumor possibly on brain stem.

Day 8 - Neurosurgeon called to inform that the tumor was approximately 3 in diameter and set up an appointment with him on Monday February 4, 2013 on his normal day off.

Day 11 - Met with Neurosurgeon, Emilio Nardone. Informed that tumor is 68.6 mm by 38.3mm by 50mm (this translates to approximately 7 cm front to back; 4 cm left to right and 5 cm top to bottom).  This tumor is not attached to but is pressing on the Brain Stem and needs to be removed; it is beginning to grow into the cavity of the skull. If it goes another 3-4 weeks it will cause death. The tumor is too large to remove at one time and will be removed in 2 surgeries. He said that from the symptoms having been since summer he feels that this tumor has been growing for many years. Surgery has been set up for Friday, February 8 at 7:30a.m. She needs to be there by 5:30 a.m. for pre-op.

This may sound strange but I was hoping these symptoms were a slight stroke which happened during pregnancy and was going to disapate as time goes on. How many hope for "only a stroke"? Where is the blessing in this? We have gone from only knowing there is a brain tumor and wondering if it is operable or not. We now know that it is Operable; had it been in the stem there would have been no choice but to leave it. This is such a relief knowing there is hope. Second - we have heard from several people that he is the best surgeon around and couldn't ask for a better one. Count your blessings everyday and every doubt will fly.

This is being written by Sarah's family as Sarah is a little busy and someone will keep you posted on her progress.

As Sarah recovers, please check back here for regular updates on how she is doing.

We want to thank everyone for all of their thoughts, prayers and support. We are so grateful and blessed to have all of you surrounding her.