Diary of a Brain Tumor

After almost 6 months of not blogging, this was really not the way I wanted to come back.  But yes, you read that right......

Diary of a Brain Tumor......

On Sunday, May 22nd, my beautiful, sweet Nani was diagnosed with a 7cm brain tumor.

That morning started off normally.  We got up, got ready for church.  Nani was moving a little slower than normal, but I thought nothing of it.  I asked her to help me wrap a gift for her Youth Pastor & his wife, who are expecting their first baby. 

On our way to church, Nani said she had a headache.  She had complained of headaches before....every once in awhile and nothing severe.  We'd tell her to drink more water, give her some aspirin and tell her to rest.  Looking back now......all the signs were there.
We got to church and went our separate ways.....Nani to her Youth class, Nudgie to her class, and me to church.  After church, I go to pick her up and passed one of the little girls in the hall.  She asked if I was Nani's mom and told me that Nani was in the bathroom throwing up.  Her teachers caught up with me and told me the same thing.  I gathered up Nani from the bathroom and asked her how she was feeling.  She said her head still hurt and her tummy was queasy.  She mentioned a little blurry vision.  My Marine and I both have migraines, so my mind started to go there.

We got her home and into bed.  I gave her some aspirin and she fell right asleep after vomiting one last time.  She got up around 2pm and said she was hungry and feeling much better.  She ate a donut and played with her sister for a bit.  Around dinner time, she started to look sick again, so we told her to go ahead up to bed.

20 minutes later, the screaming started.

She kept holding the left side of her head saying the pain was so bad.  It would ease for a few minutes and then start up all over again.  A small part of me was still hoping for a migraine, but my momma's heart told me something else was going on.  We bundled her up and went straight to the ER.

When we got there, they immediately took her back.  Her vitals were good, no fever, but she looked so pale and lethargic.  The ER doctor immediately went to meningitis and wanted to do a spinal tap.  While we were open to all methods of treatment, we really wanted to try some pain management first before going that route.

They took blood, which came back normal except for a low potassium count.  They gave her some meds to increase that along with some Tylenol.  My Marine and I decided that I would take Nudgie home to try to get some sleep.  (This was about 9pm now).  About an hour later, My Marine called me to tell me that while the Tylenol worked at first, once it started to wear off, the pain came back.  We were looking at something other than a migraine and he gave his consent for the spinal tap.

At this point, I bundle Nudgie back up in the car and head back to the ER, which is only about 15 minutes away.  By the time I got there, My Marine told me that the doctor had ordered a CT scan before doing the tap.  About 20 minutes later, the doctor and a nurse walk in and close the door.

I knew something was wrong.....terribly wrong.

They told us that the CT scan revealed a 7 cm mass on her brain.....and it had been there for a long time.  She had immediately called over the Children's Hospital's neurology department and they wanted her immediately.  They called a chaplain for us and began making arrangements to transport my baby by ambulance ASAP.  I called my dear Army Sister to come pick up Nudgie to take her home.  The world is spinning and we're making phone calls to family and close friends letting them know the situation.  At one point, my legs totally collapsed from underneath me and the diagnosis started to set in. 

Our nightmare was just beginning............