So the first one we where able to get in to was actually the Neurologist. When we meet with him we where able to see the tumor for the first time and to me and mom it looked big but he was kinda like its not small but its not big either. He said he would send a referral to the U of U cause I would need to be seen by a Neurosurgeon. He also gave me Pills for Migraines cause he thought maybe I had those too.(FYI no help at all) I came out of that appointment feeling like all he was able to do was tell me I had a tumor. Geee thanks man.
The next one was the Eye Doctor. they did all these different test to see if the tumor was affecting my eye sight. In the end they determined it was not affecting my eyes but she said I had chronic dry eye. so she gave me drops to put in my eyes and told me to start taking my Omega 3's. More pills?? suck.
Next the Endocrinologist, this appointment went great, Dr. Grua was so informative he actually cared enough to sit and draw me a picture of what the tumor was doing to my body. He also told me that he thinks my tumor needs to be taken out. (Happy Dance) He also told me my tumor was excreting a growth hormone that causes features on people to be Larger then normal usually in the face . Aw Ha! Doc would this by chance have anything to do with my under-bite? Yes he says it can cause that, He also said after people have surgery their facial features start to soften up after a while and he said he would not be surprised if my jaw wouldn't shift back some. And he also told be that doing Dental work can also irritate it. O my Heck!! So thats why the Orthodontist is not helping....Good to know!
Now on to the Neurologist, Dr. Caldwell at the U of U. To be honest I was kinda happy he was in Salt lake cause then I had a reason to go up there and see all my peeps I never get to see. So my appointment happen to be on the same weekend they were having a benefit for my cousin Jeff who had cancer. They were taking donations for a silent auction and then all the proceeds would go to his family. I wanted to help in some way so after much pondering and experimenting I decided I would donate some flower bouquets. With much Help from my sister Melinda we ended up donating these! (Don't hate we tried)
I can't get the pictures off my phone so you are stuck with this one I stole from Cindy.'s
We went to Cindy's house to put these together and she was making us her famous spinach smoothies. Needless to say they didn't go over so well with me and mom. (blah) But we got to spend some time with Jeff and Cindy before we went to my appointment so that was nice.
Then Off to my appointment we went.
We met with Dr. Caldwell and he told me I needed the tumor out, How they would take it out, and some complications that they may run into depending on what they find up there. Still sounds great to me Doc. Can we do the surgery now? He said no he was to busy but he could do it the following week. So we got it all scheduled before we left. Later that night we went to the benefit for Jeff. They had a good turnout and quit a few things in the auction. We ended up wining 2 baby blankets and mom won her some beads that my cousin Kim later helped her make necklaces and Courtney made her a watch band out of them.
So on march 2nd we headed up to Salt lake to preregister for surgery where they took blood, made me pee in a cup, and put my ID bracelet on. (witch I got to show off as we went shopping and stuff later that day)
Day of surgery!!! I was first on the schedule that day at 7:30 so we had to be there by 6 am. I got signed in and hooked up and I was ready to go. I was not nervous until I got wheeled into the surgical room and they wanted me to move beds. ( I thought to myself How do I do this without them seeing by butt!) Yes I am very shy about showing off my body. Next thing I new I was out.
When I was Kinda conscious again all I new is that my nose hurt and I was thirsty so they shot me with pain killers and mom helped me drink and back to sleep I went. I was in and out for A while but later that day I woke up and I wanted to eat something so they gave me chocolate pudding witch I ate about half of then I needed a break. Thats when mom and aunt Carylee showed up and I was chatting with them. my stomach was hurting a little but not bad and then all of a sudden I turned to mom and said I need to throw up! she grabbed something fast and handed it to aunt Carylee and it was just in time. I spewed My pudding !!!! mom ran and Carylee held my dish. After that my stomach felt better. Mom and Carylee took that as there Que to leave. that was ok cause I was ready to sleep some more. I spent the rest of the night in and out of sleep asking for more drugs and water, they would give them to me so that was nice.
when I woke up in the morning I was finely coherent enough to realize my headaches were GONE! this is what I and many other people have been praying for for 2 years. Then the cute little tag team nurses that were assigned to me asked me what I wanted to eat for breakfast, after they named a few things I decided on a PB&J. It was so good!! Mom came and they had me walk around and then then mom took Pictures to send to dad why we waited to be moved out of the Niccu.
They shot me one more time with pain killers to move me and that was the lats time I had them. Cause I was doing and feeling so good. My room was nice but the TV could have been bigger. We spent the next three days walking around some and watching movies. Aunt Carylee and Kim came to visit me in the hospital and that was really nice! Kim brought me a present from her and Cindy, It was a stuffed Elephant that smells. I LOVE IT!! And I got flowers from Aunt Carm and the Mortensons and phone calls, text, pictures, and a shake form Melinda. I had really nice nurses but man they would not let me sleep they would wake me up every 2 hours to take my vitals and there was beeping in the hallway all night so come Sunday I was freaking ready to get out of there. We went to stay at Aunt Carylee's for the rest of Sunday and then we planed to go home Monday morning. The ride from the hospital was eye opening I didn't hurt every time we hit a bump in the road. It was amazing the change in my health so fast after surgery.
Monday morning we got up and we talked to my dad and he said the storm has already hit Enterprise and the roads were nasty so he thought we should wait one more day to come home. I thought yes! now we can go see Cindy before we go home. So I text her and asked if we could come see her and she said we could but she warned us she might be coming down with something ....Crap! I wanted to see her but I did not want to get sick after just having surgery but then she told me Jeff was not doing well so If I wanted to see him I should come. Well then I was coming! She even had a mask for me to wear to help keep germs away. So we went and visited for a few hours, I like to overstay my welcome :) And Cindy informed us it would be a matter of weeks before Jeff would be gone. What? What? this can't be happening! I didn't want to except this so I still had hope for him to pull out of this. I told mom I felt bad that I was getting better now and Jeff was getting worse......But I couldn't change it, it was in gods hands.
When we got home Tuesday we had Taryne to watch for a few days why Melinda and Curtis were on a cruise and she was sick so I had to wear that AWESOME mask Cindy gave me still. She was easy to watch when she is sick cause she just wants to chill and watch TV so that made it easy for me to watch her so mom could go to work. We only had Issues with me not being able to lift her cause the doctor told me I could not lift over ten pounds for a month. But in the mean time I have kinda broke that rule by lifting Grayson.
That Saturday We received a phone call that Jeff had past away :(...... I was so sad to hear this, How could we loose such an amazing man? and why so early? This is going to leave A huge hole in our family. but I was happy he was out of pain. His Funeral was the following Wednesday. It was A really nice funeral. One of my favorite parts was when I got to wright on a balloon and then on the count of 3 we all released our balloons in the air. ( I know I am such a kid)
Since then I have been home recovering and feeling great! ready to take life by the horns again. I just recently I had a follow up with Dr. Grua and he says I am looking good and he thinks I will be ready to go back on the mission in about another month. We see Dr. Caldwell on April 4th for his follow up appointment and I have a feeling I will pass with flying colors.
2 comments:
So glad to hear you are feeling better. When we saw you at the funeral it was apparent that you were doing well after surgery. You looked great. I hope you continue to feel better!
Oh Jenn I'm so excited to hear the whole story and I'm so glad it worked! This fixes so many things all at once! Those darn nurses, not letting people sleep in the hospital. ;) I'm really sorry to hear about Jeff. That's great that you got to see him though. I miss ya!
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