I have a Surgery Date to Remove the Brain Tumor

I have a Surgery Date to Remove the Brain Tumor

I met with my ENT surgeon, Dr. Vories, this morning. He'll be working with the Neurosurgeon for my upcoming surgery, which is scheduled for next week, Thursday, November 21st. He was super nice as well. I found out that I also have a deviated septum. Basically I've been breathing out of my right nostril as the passage to my left is mostly blocked. Again, you only know what you know, right? He said he could fix it with a septoplasty while he's already in there after the neurosurgeon removes the brain tumor and it would just take an additional 10 minutes. So I’ll be getting two things done at once. As a teen I thought I might want a nose job, I never thought this kind of inside nose job. Lol. Of course as I got older I didn’t want any kind of surgery but here we are. He said the septoplasty will probably hurt the worst as I’ll have to have rubber splints for a week. But I won’t be breathing out of my nose for 4 weeks anyway, so this would be the time to have it done, I guess.

He told me there’s the possibility of having to have radiation after the tumor is removed as reoccurrence is possible and my tumor is quite large. He said he’s impressed that Dr. Lee is able to do this and trusts him completely and has been working with him for years. We are praying for the best outcome possible.

Specific prayers would be for my children. It’s a lot for kids to understand. I’m already difficult at times to live with and I will not have much energy for a while after surgery. My hormones likely will never be the same. The first 4-6 weeks I really have to limit what I do and rest and let the bone heal that leads to where the tumor is. I’ll meet with my endocrinologist 6 weeks post surgery to start the process of leveling my hormones.

This surgery is more serious than I anticipated. I really thought they’d go in there, get the tumor, then life would return to normal. Unfortunately, I won’t know the outcome until after surgery. The tumor is not growing out of the pituitary gland, all of my hormone levels are normal (yay! Except that there’s nothing but surgery to stop the growth of it). It is abutting the undersurface of the optic nerve and on the right aspect of the pituitary gland, with extension into the suprasellar space and along the pituitary stalk.

Thank you all again for the prayers, meals, and love you’ve shown our family.

I’m going to meditate on the command that God gave Joshua. While the promise of this passage is specific to Joshua, I believe that the principle extends to us today.

Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

For me, that is going into surgery next week. God is with me and will see me through.