Brain Tumor Update

My brother-in-law’s surgery has been pushed back two weeks to allow his surgeon to do it after his vacation, which starts Friday, and to allow the department chief to scrub in on the surgery.

This will also allow my brother-in-law to get his Dilantin levels up, to decrease the odds of further seizures, to get his blood pressure down, and to otherwise improve the baseline health that would affect his surgical outcome.

Tomorrow would have been better, I think, but not with his surgeon halfway around the globe for a week or so immediately afterward.

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Posted

October 28, 2009

Mind/Body, Personal

Holly

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13 responses to “Brain Tumor Update”

Maria Norris

October 30, 2009

Just want to add my best wishes to you and your family. What a stressful time for you! Hope and pray that everything goes well. Take care of yourself, too.
Maria

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Glynis Smy

October 29, 2009

Gosh Holly, I have just played catch up and was knocked over by all your bad news. My thoughts are with you and your family. I hope your DH is keeping well.
Take time to breath and keep well yourself.
Glynis

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Deborah Robson

October 29, 2009

Sending good thoughts, and empathy, for your whole family. Glad your husband is cleared for release (by common sense, if not the system). Been down that heart-weirdness road myself.

Sending very good thoughts for your brother-in-law. I’m currently writing (on deadline) while providing companionship and some caregiving for a friend who just had a stem-cell transplant; another friend is lining up for treatment for brain cancer (post surgery); and several friends have come through situations similar to your brother-in-law’s, which is the good news to share here: they have come through those situations. Successfully. May his experience be as good as the best of those.

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Jozette

October 29, 2009

I know the difficulty of having a loved one in a life threatening situation. I know the helplessness that can grip you; I know how you feel having to put aside writing for family – no contest!

Stay strong Holly…and please know I am keeping you and your family in my prayers.

Jozette

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Katie-Anne

October 29, 2009

HUGS Hollie,

I just read your update email and came here to give you virtual hugs from Sweden. Recently a very close friend of mine died from cancer – he’d been diagnosed only 3 weeks previously following a routine medical test. From this I learned that no matter how urgent you think your “to do” list is, there’s always something more important that can make you realize how un-urgent those things are in the grander scheme of things. People you care about are more important than projects and chores – and in most cases, the to do list items will still be waiting for you when you get back to them (especially the chores cos no-one else sure wants to do them!).

Take what time you need to be with your family who need you as they wait out these period until the surgeon gets back. We’ll still be here when you get back.

And don’t forget to take care of yourself. Hospital visits are exhausting emotionally and physically!

HUGS

Katie-Anne

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EJ

October 29, 2009

Tomorrow might have been better, but what a blessing that there is a doctor there who is willing and able to do the surgery, and to scrub others in to learn to do it. If he’d had to find a doctor to do it, he probably would have waited longer than two weeks, and traveling would have added expenses. It’s not a perfect solution, but it could have been much worse.

Sending peace.

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SCBrazil

October 28, 2009

I second Julia GD. I hope all goes well.
I got a job on a privately owned island (real life, not my WIP). Bought myself a lovely netbook to take with me. Fantastic….
… But there’s no internet.
Mainland today, three days off. I have been writing but erm, not posting.
This forum is about the only thing I miss.
Hope all is going well with your projects.

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Nita Sweeney

October 28, 2009

Holly – I too haven’t checked your blog for awhile and was stunned to see what your family is going through. So here’s a hug from Ohio:

<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>

~ Nita

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Julia GD

October 28, 2009

Oh my God! I have not looked at the internet for a long while and seeing THIS….
I hope you are ok, Holly! This is a terrible, horrible thing to happen.
The only comfort is that the tumor is benign, so at least his long-term prognosis is good. My co-worker was in his early 30th when he got cancerous tumor (I think it was a size pretty close to this one, for sure more than 5 cm in diameter)
He was operated in UCSF and then had to undergo radiation and chemo. He is fine now and had no big problems with recovery (I mean, post-op complications and such)

I really hope things will go well for your brother-in-law. I know, it is hard to deal with the idea of not having insurance and being basically bankrupt after that but he has to think of his life first and foremost. Money could be raised, debts could be repaid. As long as you are alive and healthy, everything else is secondary.
I wish him the best of luck and hope he recovers well.
J.

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DasteRoad

October 28, 2009

Well, at least he’ll have the time to recover a bit before the surgery. Best wishes to you and your family Holly, please update us on any news.

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May

October 28, 2009

Sorry to hear that, Holly. Best wishes to you, your family, and your brother-in-law.

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Virginia Gruver

October 28, 2009

So sorry Holli, will be wishing you and yours the best.

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Melissa

October 28, 2009

That is horrible to hear, but the break will give him a chance to see family and get better like you said, knowing the risks of removing a brain tumor are quite high!

You must be heart broken and very stressed out right now. I can’t imagine the experience, but you will come out of it on top!

Hope all the best, and the surgery goes well and your brother will be ok!

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Brain Tumor Update

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13 responses to “Brain Tumor Update”

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