Aunt Betsy :*(
Here's the word from my cousin re his mother, aka my Aunt Betsy:
Well, as the neurosurgeon put it, "It went as we expected." The most immediately important news is that Mom came through the surgery very well (given the circumstances). We spent as much time as we could with her post-surgery and she has clearly retained her cognitive ability, sense of humour, and overall awareness. Interestingly, she already seems to have more strength in her left leg than she had pre-surgery. When we left her today around 6:30pm she was resting comfortably, but was fatigued and complained a bit of a headache (again, not surprising given the circumstances).Here are some specific results from the surgery. I'll explain it the best that I can, but I'm sure that this won't be 100% technically/medically accurate. As the surgeon expected, the tumor was a glioma and was malignant. [Sarah: :*(] He had to do a "radical resection" of the right frontal lobe to get most of the tumor out. I originally thought that the tumor was almost completely encapsulated, but I guess this wasn't the case. As a result, the surgeon had to take out a significant portion of her frontal lobe to get the tumor. On the one hand, the surgeon said that no unexpected problems arose during the surgery, that they did all they could do from a surgical perspective, and he did expect her to recover well from the surgery. However, given the severity of the procedure, the surgeon told us that he did not expect her to get back to who she was before all this started(emotionally? physically?).Given that there is a high risk of recurrence with glioma tumors, the surgeon recommended that "adjunctive procedures" (e.g., chemotherapy/radiation) would be necessary to deal with what's left. The surgeon is meeting tomorrow (around 11am) with the team of radiologists/oncologists and then we'll all meet (along with Mom) to discuss the path from here on out.
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That was from my cousin John.
This is Sarah. I am crushed. I feel so much anguish for my whole family, going through this again. I feel zero innocence or optimism. Only hope for comfort and compassion. I mean, REALLY? We really have this terror in our family, again?
Well, as the neurosurgeon put it, "It went as we expected." The most immediately important news is that Mom came through the surgery very well (given the circumstances). We spent as much time as we could with her post-surgery and she has clearly retained her cognitive ability, sense of humour, and overall awareness. Interestingly, she already seems to have more strength in her left leg than she had pre-surgery. When we left her today around 6:30pm she was resting comfortably, but was fatigued and complained a bit of a headache (again, not surprising given the circumstances).Here are some specific results from the surgery. I'll explain it the best that I can, but I'm sure that this won't be 100% technically/medically accurate. As the surgeon expected, the tumor was a glioma and was malignant. [Sarah: :*(] He had to do a "radical resection" of the right frontal lobe to get most of the tumor out. I originally thought that the tumor was almost completely encapsulated, but I guess this wasn't the case. As a result, the surgeon had to take out a significant portion of her frontal lobe to get the tumor. On the one hand, the surgeon said that no unexpected problems arose during the surgery, that they did all they could do from a surgical perspective, and he did expect her to recover well from the surgery. However, given the severity of the procedure, the surgeon told us that he did not expect her to get back to who she was before all this started(emotionally? physically?).Given that there is a high risk of recurrence with glioma tumors, the surgeon recommended that "adjunctive procedures" (e.g., chemotherapy/radiation) would be necessary to deal with what's left. The surgeon is meeting tomorrow (around 11am) with the team of radiologists/oncologists and then we'll all meet (along with Mom) to discuss the path from here on out.
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That was from my cousin John.
This is Sarah. I am crushed. I feel so much anguish for my whole family, going through this again. I feel zero innocence or optimism. Only hope for comfort and compassion. I mean, REALLY? We really have this terror in our family, again?
Replies
Sending you love and hugs, Colleen
Oh gosh - I am so sorry. This stirs up so many memories, I\'m sure. Thinking of you and Aunt Betsy - sending you prayers, strength and peace ~ Joanna
I\'m so sorry Sarah. It is so hard for you & your family and very sad for your Aunt Betsy. It must be totally devastating for you all, and especially painful for you so soon after Andy. I understand. It must be triggering your deep hurt & disturbing memories & all your fears. I hope you have been able to sleep Sarah. Thinking of you, with Love, Kriss xx
That must be terribly hard, to have to relive all the terror, again, as you say. Your aunt\'s family cannot get a better advocate than you. Your knowledge can help them tremendously, most doctors don\'t have the time to explain medical speak and most of us just nod our heads and hope we \"got it.\" Not an easy thing to do, I\'m sure...helping another through the horror when you\'re still trying to recover from your own nightmare. Love to you, Donna