Today marks two weeks from my brain tumor surgery. As Dave Ramsey says, “I’m doing better than I deserve.” Truly, when I think of how things could have gone, I feel very blessed that God has given me the best possible outcome from this surgery. A few days after surgery, I thought I might die when we went to the ER but since getting some proper pain medicine and giving my body more time to adjust to the steroids, I’m feeling better than I have in months. My vision is better than I remember it being. I honestly did not realize how blind I had become and I am so thankful to God for that and all the prayers everyone has prayed for me.
Tonight, I’m hoping to be able to lay flat to sleep. Sleeping on an elevated slope is not comfortable. I am a stomach sleeper so it’s been rough but I’m so tired by the end of the day that I end up sleeping well despite the discomfort.
I had so many fears going into surgery. People tell me I don’t even look like I’ve had surgery. I had transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery, which means they went through my nose, sphenoid sinus to access the sella turcica to remove the tumor. It was a two surgeon operation. An ENT surgeon went through my nose to the brain and the neurosurgeon removed the tumor from the brain. You might remember that after I met with the ENT surgeon he told me I have a deviated septum. He said he could fix it for me. However, after looking at what that surgery involved I didn’t want it. My PCP told me he didn’t recommend an additional surgery as my body needed to focus on healing from the tumor being removed. Thankfully, the ENT was able to shave part of the part in my nose to get the tools through and save me from splints and the excessive packing involved in a septoplasty surgery. That surgery can always be available at another time if I wanted it–it probably won’t happen unless one day I absolutely needed it. When the neurosurgeon was removing the tumor, the tumor fell apart. It had deteriorated the bone and wall that was holding it in. I got into surgery at the right time. If we had waited the tumor would have continued to eat the bone and saddle and grown into the optic nerve more.
I want to thank everyone who has called, messaged me, come by to visit, brought us food, and prayed for us. I am unable to bend over or lift anything over 5 lbs, blow my nose, strain, sneeze, and drink from a straw for 4-6 weeks. Collin has been a blessing taking over my roles plus his. I appreciate the extra help we’ve received as well. I didn’t realize how often I bend to pick something up until I’m not supposed to bend over. This week I’ve felt like walking and it’s been recommended that I try to walk 1-2 miles a day until I get back to walking what I used to. The first week I didn’t walk more than 1k steps a day. I meet with my surgeon on Monday so I’ll give another update then. I’m taking a pretty large dose of steroids 3x a day. I’m eating more than my teenage son, so I really do need to walk. Haha. I mostly wanted to give an update and let everyone know I’m doing well and appreciate and love you all so much.
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