Just before Hunter turned three months old, at the end of September, my headaches started getting worse again. I had added symptoms of pain at the back base of my neck and vomiting once in a while. My mom had a condition called Chiari Malformation a few years back and had to have brain surgery to deal with that. I knew that condition was hereditary, so I wanted to go back to the doctor to have him examine me again. Luckily, I had my mom take me to that doctor appointment because my head hurt so bad that I didn't even trust myself to drive. She has the same doctor as me, so I think him seeing her with me made him think that maybe I had the Chiari Malformation too. He told me to go get an MRI as soon as possible. I made the appointment for the next day, which was Friday, October 1.
I drove myself to the MRI because I was feeling alright that day. They loaded me up into the MRI machine and started the test. It was really loud and tight in the tunnel and it sounded like a jackhammer in my head. I was supposed to have the test without any contrast material injected into me, but half-way through the technician came in and said that the doctor on staff wanted me injected with the contrast so that he could see something better. I knew right away that that couldn't be a good sign... So they shot me up with the contrast material and started the test again. As soon as I got out of the MRI, the doctor said that he saw a "lesion" on my brain and that I had an immediate appointment already made with a neurosurgeon. I didn't trust myself to drive to that appointment by myself, so I called Kyle and he picked me up at the MRI office to drive me to the neurosurgeon.
At the neurosurgeon's office, he explained that I actually had a 6 cm brain tumor. It was located right at the front of my head, off a little to the left. He said that he was 99% sure that the tumor was not malignant because it homogeneously picked up the contrast material. He thought that the tumor had been growing for maybe five to six months, but that it needed to be removed right away. He got me scheduled for surgery only four days later on Tuesday, October 5. He also promised me that I wouldn't have headaches anymore after the surgery. I'm praying he's right about that!
I went to the hospital the day before the surgery to have my pre-op testing. They needed to take some blood and do another MRI to pinpoint exactly where the surgery was going to take place in my brain. Here is the last picture of my with all of my hair, the night before the surgery.
Tuesday morning we needed to be at the hospital at 6:00 am. The boys stayed the night before at my parents' house so that we didn't need to worry about them. My dad met us at the hospital and my mom stayed home with the boys to keep her occupied. Here's me right before I went in for the surgery. Sexy, huh? 
I went in for the surgery around 7:30 am. The surgery took at least 5 hours, I think. I don't think I ever really woke up for the rest of the day. Kyle and my dad just hung out at the hospital all day waiting for me while I was in surgery. The doctor gave an update or two, but mostly just worked on me. I guess while I was in surgery two other people got put on life support due to botched surgeries. That didn't instill much confidence in Kyle or my dad, but I turned out ok! I think Kyle said both of those other people ended up dying that day.
There was a video board that was supposed to update my guests throughout my surgery, but I don't think the doctors actually used it. Finally, Kyle was getting antsy, so he checked on me and it turns out I was back in the recovery room, but no one alerted him or my dad that my surgery was finished. They let them come back to see me though, even though I don't remember talking to them at all. After the recovery room, they moved me to the ICU. Again, I don't really remember anything from that evening because I was still sleeping off the anesthesia. I was in the ICU until Friday. I had headaches during the day on Wednesday and Thursday and it took lots of different pain medications to get a handle on them. I think the doctors said the headaches were due to the pressure in my brain from the surgery and the position that I was sitting/sleeping in. I mostly slept through my days in the ICU too due to all of the medicines. They moved me to a regular room Friday around lunchtime and then I was discharged from the hospital on Saturday afternoon. The doctor said that was he able to get about 80% of the tumor out. The remaining portion couldn't be removed due to its location in the brain.
Here I am after I got home from the hospital. I especially loved my black puffy eyes and bruises all up and down my arms from the millions of times that they needed to stick me to take blood while I was in the hospital. In fact, I still have a black eye and bruises on my arms, and it's been two weeks since my surgery. I look like a crack whore. It's awesome, heh.
I went back to the neurosurgeon on Friday to have my bandages and staples removed from my head. Kyle said that there were about 40 staples in my head. Obviously this was the first time that I saw my shaved head. It's shaved like a mullet and it doesn't look good! I was pretty sad when I saw it for the first time. I still haven't cried about it, but I want to. The rest of my hair has been falling out in clumps, which is also pretty depressing. I might end up having Kyle shave the rest of it. But in the meantime, I've bought some "cute" scarfs and a hat to wear in public. I know in my head that it is dumb to be so sad over losing my hair, but at the same time, it's a big deal!
I have a consultations with two more doctors tomorrow and Thursday. I will need some radiation therapy and oral chemotherapy doses to get rid of the other 20% of the tumor that the surgeon could not remove. I will update with the details from those appointments after I go to them.
It's been a pretty stressful time lately. Not only do I have a brain tumor at 28 years old, but I'm being laid off from my job at the end of the month and as of right now, I carry our health insurance. Hopefully the transition to Kyle's insurance will be smooth, because I don't know what we'd do if I was denied coverage due to my preexisting condition. I just have to pray that everything will work out...
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