The Road to Recovery

I was in the hospital recovery room in the brain institute until Saturday morning. They didn't have room on their rehab floor to admit me, so I had to move hospitals. On Saturday morning I was discharged from St Lukes on the Plaza and admitted to Menorah Medical Center In-Patient Rehabilitation.

Menorah had blocked off a shared room for me to have as a private room so it was quite roomy! There was my own shower in the bathroom and a big vanity sink in the room. I had physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy twice a day. I worked on walking with a cane and my balance in physical therapy. Their food was pretty good for hospital food, but after being there a while it got kind of boring!

My grandma came up to help out with Mikey for the week that Sunday. She brought Mikey up to see me everyday! My mom didn't stay with me every night, since she lived so close she was able to go home at night and come back in the mornings. When I wasn't in therapy we played rummy, marbles and Family Fued on facebook! I also have enjoyed reading my nook, and would be incredibly bored if I didn't have it!

I got to get my stitches out of my incision on Wednesday morning and I was finally able to wash my hair! It felt so good! After almost 10 days without washing your hair it definitely starts to feel gross! I had my patient meeting with the doctor and all the therapists on Friday February 25th, and I was really hoping I would get to go home, but I have to stay a couple of more days. I should be discharged either Monday afternoon or Tuesday. After I get discharged I will go into out-patient therapy.

I am so excited to go home! I miss my dog Beau so much, and I will be very excited to see him!

Surgery and the Recovery Begins

It has been over a week since I have posted because I had surgery on Monday February 14th to remove the rest of my tumor! The good news is, they got it all! The bad news is my facial nerve on the right side of my face is gone.

Thursday February 10th, my husband and I celebrated our Valentines day, and we had a wonderful time with just the two of us that night! We went to CinemaSuites at AMC Olathe and saw "No Strings Attached". Michial spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa Miller that night. The following morning we went to eat breakfast and went to get our taxes done. That evening we were having a fun celebration/game and prayer night for me at my parents house. I had lots of guests come to play games with us and enjoy wonderful food!

That Sunday February 13th was the day before my surgery. My husband and I went to church that morning life every other Sunday! We went to service at 9am and then our new life group at 10:45am. Pastor Jerry spoke on suffering that Sunday, and why as Christian's we suffer. He used my story as an illustration, which was wonderful!

That afternoon, my Nana, Papa, Uncle Kevin and his girlfriend Heidi drove down to spend the day with us, and accompany us to the hospital in the morning. We spent Sunday afternoon eating pizza and playing games! We then went to my brother's basketball game that evening, that he won! My husband and I got home that night, again Mikey was staying with his Grandma and Grandpa Miller's so he didn't have to go to the hospital early in the morning with us.

We got ready for bed, prayed and went to sleep while snuggling with Beau (our dog) between our legs and under the covers! The following Monday morning, February 14th we had to be up early and check in at the hospital by 6am! We arrived at the hospital and I checked in and was escorted back to the prep area like before. The same nurse that I had my first surgery was the nurse that was helping me get ready this time as well! She was really nice! After I gave my urine sample, changed into the wonderfully elegant hospital gown, and got stuck with my IV, my family was able to come back to see me.

Pastor Ken Hodges, and his wife Valerie were there to see me as well, and prayed for me before I went into surgery. I gave my whole family kisses and hugs and told them I would see them in a few hours! The anesthesiologist gave me a cocktail as he called it, his pina' cola, this little injection started making me woozy, and I don't remember anything else after that until I woke up in the NICU.

When I woke up I got to see my family. My husband came in and told us that he had good news and bad news, and the good news was that K-State was winning, and the bad news was that KU was loosing! I was excited, because before I went into to surgery that morning I told everyone that if K-State won tonight, it was all for me, and they did! My sister ended up staying with me that night, and was very helpful! It was very nice to have her there! The nurses woke me up every hour or so to ask me questions like my name, birthday, where I was, and other things, and also to take my vitals.

I stayed in NICU for 24 hours and then was able to move to a recovery room so I could see my baby boy! I was finally going to be on the road to recovery and I was so happy!!!

Summer to Fall to Winter to Surgery Again

I was back at home, but that doesn't mean I had to stop seeing doctors and go to therapy! Every morning my husband dropped me and Michial off at my parents house around 6:30am before he went to work. Since I couldn't take care of Michial by myself my mom was helping us during the day. She is a realtor (and a very good one I should add), so she works mostly from home. We got to go with her on tours and to show houses every once in a while, but mostly we had people volunteer to come over to the house while she had to leave for a bit.

I started out with in-home therapy. Three times a week a physical therapist and an occupational therapist came to my moms home to work with me. This went on for a few weeks and then they moved me to out-patient therapy. I went to St. Lukes South for outpatient therapy two times a week. I had both physical therapy and occupational therapy. So my weeks consisted of therapy and doctors appointments! I went from walking with a walker to walking with a cane. I was in outpatient therapy up until the end of November.

In October, my family had a surprise birthday party for me, and I was so surprised! I had many friends and family come! Of course we dressed up Mikey for his first Halloween. He was a very cute bumblebee! My sister, Alexa, moved back home at the end of October. We were so happy to have her home! Mikey has been spending lots of quality time with his auntie!

We did some fun things throughout the weeks. My mom took us different places like the zoo, petting zoo and pumpkin patch. We have gone out to lunch quite often. Our favorite place to eat is Jose Peppers! We have ate there so much the server knows who we are! We love their chips and salsa and then we always share a meal! It was harder to find fun things to do after it got cold because most of the things we were doing were outside.

I had a follow up MRI in November and the tumor was around 3.5 inches. It was growing. The doctor told us that he would recommend having surgery again. He said that they could try to treat it via radiation, but it was still bigger than they would recommend. We decided that I should have surgery again, and they set my surgery for February 14th 2011. So it was well after the holidays. I started having headaches on and off.

We went to almost all my brothers football games, even in the cold and rain! He is a senior at Blue Valley High School. After Thanksgiving we cheered on my brother and the Blue Valley Tigers in their state game, and they won! John and I both graduated from Blue Valley High School.

We had a wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve day with my grandma in Westmoreland, then we went to my dads family in Leonardville for Christmas Eve dinner, and then we drove to Salina to spend Christmas with my Nana and Papa. We had a great Christmas! The day after Christmas however we all got sick! John, my sister, my mom and I all got sick. We still aren't sure if we got food poisoning from something or if we all got the flu. For New Years Eve we had a fun game night at my parents house! We had lots of fun and probably stayed there the 2am!

I spent lots of wonderful time with Mikey playing on the floor, reading to him, playing peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake. Mikey loves playing in his excersauser, and he loves to jump in his johnny jump-up! When Mikey is taking a nap mom and I still play gin sometimes, other times I enjoy reading books on my Nook!

In January I started getting more and more headaches at night, my balance was getting bad again, and began to see double again. I had another MRI done, and the tumor had grown a little bit more but not a whole lot! My surgery was still going to be February 14th.

January 17th was a sad day in our home. We came home and found one of our beloved dogs Sierra lifeless. She had jumped the fence the day before and had run into a car while John was chasing after her. We had taken her into the emergency vet and they told us that she had road rash on her leg, and that she would be fine. So it was quite a shock to us all that she had died the next day. I guess she had some internal injuries that no one could see. We sure will miss her!

Sunday, we cheered our Green Bay Packers to a victory in SuperBowl XLV! Yesterday we took Mikey to the doctor because he has been coughing and he was very fussy and sleepy. Which is not normal for him at all! They ran some tests, they did a nasal suction and a chest x-ray. We found out that he has RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). They made sure his oxygen level was good and he didn't have a fever. We just have to make sure he stays hydrated and continues to have wet diapers. They said he would be very tired and just feel bad which was what was making him fussy! Keeping his head elevated when he sleeps helps him not to cough as much when he is sleeping. So last night he slept in his swing.

This week has been a really busy week and continues to be a busy week. With doctors appointments and preparing for my surgery next Monday. So if I am not able to update this blog, that is why. Please continue to pray for me and my family as I go through this next surgery. God is good and answers our prayers!

Shunt In Place & Recovery Really Begins

It was Wednesday August 25th, and I was having a shunt put in my head to drain the excess brain fluid to reduce the pressure on my brain. My surgery was at 3:00pm and I couldn't eat or drink since midnight Wednesday morning. The doctors actually took me back early, so I went back for surgery around 2:45pm and I was out in recovery by 4:30pm. So this surgery wasn't near as long! Suzie, one of my physical therapists was a trainee, and she was able to watch my surgery. I know this probably isn't what it was like, but I picture the observation deck on Grey's Anatomy. That all these people are watching me get my head cut open! This thought makes me chuckle and cringe at the same time!

Anyways after my surgery I got to see John and my mom for a short period of time in the recovery area. The nurse made me eat a pudding cup before she would let me go to my room. I ate the pudding cup with no problem and shortly they wheeled me into my new room. I was back one the first floor which is the brain and heart floor. I got to my new room and no one was there. It was about a half hour later before John, Michial, mom, dad, grandma and aunt Annette came back into the room. I guess they had gone to eat in the cafeteria. I was like, you didn't bring me any??? I had been looking forward to dinner all day! Not only had I not ate all day, but it was Chinese day at the hospital, and I love Chinese! Every week the hospital had certain days that they had chefs come in from a restaurant and cook some of their food, and Wednesday's they had someone from Bo Ling's. We called the nurse in, and I was able to order my dinner!

Later that evening everyone had went home except my mom. John and Michial went home, and grandma went with them, dad went home, and Aunt Annette drove back to Wamego. That night I got ready for bed and brushed my teeth. When I went to get into bed I had some major abdominal pain where my incision was. I guess I should explain the shunt has a small tube that drains into my abdomen. So the doctors had to make two small incisions in my abdomen to insert the drain tube. The nurse gave me some pain killers and I was able to sleep peacefully that night!

On Thursday my physical therapists came to see me. They said they could notice the difference already and I was starting to get my balance back! That night I was able to sleep with no pain medication, and I had no headaches! Dr. Camarata had said if I had no other problems I should be able to go home Friday, so being able to sleep was great!

Friday morning I woke up and I had another problem. I had a black spot that I was seeing in my eye. Dr. Lyon my eye doctor was not going to be in that day, but I was going to see his associate. I was still going to be released that day, but I had to wait for the eye doctor to come look at my eye. She finally came around 6pm that night. I had what they called a "floater" in my eye, and it was from all of the pressure I had in my head. They didn't know how long it would take for it to go away or if it would even go away at all. I was to follow up with Dr. Lyon at his office in a couple of weeks. I had had a CT scan earlier in the day, and the results of that came back and they looked great, the fluid was draining wonderfully!

I had to sign a bunch of papers so I could check-out of the hospital. I was going to start in-home therapy the next day and then three times a week at my moms house. On Monday I was going to have to make a bunch of doctors appointments, but this weekend I was going to spend at home with my family! I had been in the hospital for nearly a month and I hadn't been able to see my two dogs for that whole time and I was sure they missed me like crazy!

When we got home I sat down in our LazyBoy chair and John let the dogs out of the basement, where we keep them, and they lavished me with doggie kisses! It was so great to be home with my family and I was going to enjoy sleeping in my own bed that night!

I had much recovery yet to come, but I was finally home with my family! Recovery was just around the corner!

The Recovery Begins...or Does It?

After my eye surgery I was moved to the 8th floor, which is the in-patient rehab floor. This floor was very nice, it had a small kitchen that mom could get me stuff out of, a washer and dryer to wash clothes, and my room was huge! I was going to be going to physical therapy twice a day, occupational therapy once a day, and speech therapy once a day. My occupational therapist, Felicia, came in the mornings to help me get ready. For a few days after my eye surgery I was having a tough time. My eyelid kept oozing, and there was a big blood clot on it making it hard for me to open my eye. Dr. Lyon, my eye doctor, was able to get the blood clot off of it, and the oozing finally stopped.

My younger sister Alexa had come back from California for my surgery, and she had to go back Wednesday the 11th. This was a very emotional time for all of us, and no one wanted her to leave! I had started to run a low grade fever, and they weren't sure why. They ran some tests, and it turned out that I had a UTI, so I started to take anti-biotics to get rid of it. I hadn't been able to wash my hair, and it was starting to feel so gross! If you haven't washed your hair for a few days that doesn't even begin to explain the feeling. I wasn't allowed to wash my hair until I got my stitches out. Finally, 10 days later my stitches came out and I was able to wash my hair! It felt so good! I didn't even care that the hot water began to not work!

I was visited by psychiatrists and psychologists, and we decided that it was a good idea to start me on anti-depressants to help with my depression. I have never been depressed before, but since I had a baby and then was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after that, I had a lot to be depressed about. I still had double vision so anytime I was up moving around or doing my physical therapy I wore a patch over my right eye so that I could see straight.


I continued to have bad headaches, but only at night. I was fine during the day, but at night I was having horrible headaches. My mom continued to stay with me everyday and through the nights, which was great, because at night when some not so friendly nurses acted like they thought I was faking it, she was able to set them straight! Also when I wasn't in one of my therapies my mom and I would pass the time by playing yatzee, gin or other fun games! John brought Mikey every night to visit me and I would have a wonderful time with them! On the weekends John would stay the nights with me and give my mom a break. Michial spent those nights with his parents.

I met a lot of nice people when I was in therapy. I was probably the youngest one there though. Many of the other people had brain aneurysm or were recovering from hip replacement or something like that.

My therapists were wonderful! My physical therapists were Abby and Suzie, and my occupational therapist was Felicia. Abby and Suzie helped me start walking again. When I was in therapy with them I would walk down the halls and through the obstacles that they made with their assistance. I had to use a walker when I was back in my room because they didn't want me to fall. They also made me a towel baby and tried to weigh it down with an ankle weight. It was really cute, but it felt like it had a really full diaper since the weight was just around its waist! We also did some fun things like play the balance games on the Wii Fit!

Felicia was helping me with my eyesight and working with my right hand. She helped me work on my eye since I was still having double vision and she was helping me type and do other coordination activities with my right hand. There was one time that I got to make tacos with a group of women that were also in therapy, and one afternoon Felicia and I made cookies!

I went to a speech therapy group that was trying to encourage us to socialize and help us process thoughts and words. We played all kinds of different games, like Apples to Apples and other fun games!

I had still been having really intense headaches at night. Some nights I was waking up every half hour or so with a really bad headache. My balance began to worsen again, and I was having a more difficult time in therapy. Dr. Camarata decided that he wanted me to have another MRI. I had the MRI Tuesday morning August 17th. Later that day Dr Camarata's nurse practitioner came and told us that the MRI showed that I had blood and fluid around the surgical site, and they were going to keep an eye on it. Dr. Camarata came and talked to me that Thursday, and told me I was going to have to have another surgery to insert a shunt to drain the excess fluid from my brain because it was putting pressure on my brain and causing me to have headaches and more balance problems. The surgery was going to be scheduled for Wednesday August 25th.

Sunday August 22nd, my grandma came up for the week to help take care of Mikey. She watched him when John went to work and would bring him up to the hospital to hang out with me all day! It was great to have her there to help us take care of things!

I was going to have surgery again on Wednesday to insert the shunt, and that was supposed to make my headaches go away and help my balance recover. I was experiencing complication after complication but I was still trusting in the Lord. God was my rock and my salvation and I knew I could get through anything with Him by my side!

One Surgery Down, Another to Go

I woke up that evening in ICU, since I had brain surgery that is where I had to recover. The nurses are more attentive in ICU, and they have less patients. I really don't remember what happened much that night. I know my husband came into see me, but they wouldn't let Michial into the ICU. My mom stayed with me that night. I remember being woke up every hour or so for the nurses to take my vitals and to ask me questions like if I knew where I was, what I was doing there, and what day it was.

That next morning a speech therapist came in to make sure I could swallow. If I could I would be released to a regular room and I would finally be able to see my baby boy! I passed the swallow test! I drank some water and ate a graham cracker. They had to move from the bed to a wheelchair to take me to my room. I couldn't walk, and I was still drugged, so the move was interesting to say the least. They got me over to the wheelchair and I think my body didn't like all that movement because I vomited everywhere without any notice! After they got me cleaned up they began to move me to a new room. I don't remember how I got to the room, all I remember is trying to hold my head up, it was so heavy!

They at first put me in a shared room, which they really weren't supposed to, because I just had brain surgery and secondly my mom was staying with me over night and they wouldn't let her in a shared room. John wasn't staying with me, because he had to take care of Michial at night and go to work during the day. The hospital was full which is why they put me in a shared room in the first place. They finally got one cleaned out, and then they moved me, but this time they just moved the bed. I again don't really remember being moved, I just remember waking up in a different room.

I didn't have movement or feeling of the right side of my face. The doctors wasn't sure how long it would take for my facial features to return. They said that they thought it was just swelling, and said they thought it would come back at least in a few months. Since I didn't have function of the right side of my face, I couldn't close my eyelid on the right side. So I was going to have to have a small gold weight inserted into my eyelid to help me close it. The doctors were only able to get 85% of the tumor out and they said I was going to need surgery again in 3-5 months to get the the remaining tumor out. The tumor was bigger than they thought it was, it was 6cm, and Dr. Camarata said it was the largest tumor he had ever seen!

I can't recall much that happened in the next few days, its all a blur. People visited me and sent flowers and cards. I got to see my baby everyday, and that was the best part of my day! The physical therapist and occupational therapist came to visit me. The physical therapist were helping me walk again. I was going to start going to therapy twice a day. Towards the end of the week, I got one of the biggest surprises of my life. My father, who lives in Iowa and I hadn't seen for around five years came to see me. It was so great to see him! He even stayed over night with me in the hospital one night, and the other night that he was here, he stayed with John and Michial at our house. He had never seen our house before or met our dogs, and I never imagined that that would be the way he would see it.

Other family and friends came to visit me that weekend. Pastor Jerry and his wife Christy even came to see me after church that Sunday. The following Monday, August 9th, was when I was going to have the gold weight put in my eyelid. My surgery wasn't until later that evening so I had to stop eating and drinking after 11am that morning, which is really hard when your in physical therapy. This was only a short surgery, and they were moving me to the in-patient therapy floor after the surgery.

Recovery was going to be slow, but God and my family was going to be with me every step of the way!

The Day Had Arrived

Tuesday morning had arrived. My mom, dad (step-dad), my sister Alexa, and Nana all met us at our house around 5am that morning. John's mom had also come over because she was watching Mikey that day. We drove two cars to the hospital that morning since we all couldn't fit in one.

We arrived at the hospital around 5:45am on that warm Tuesday morning and I checked in at the PEET center at St. Luke on the Plaza with my mom, sister, and Nana while John and my dad parked the cars. There were some pretty comfy chairs in the waiting room. Recliners and rockers amongst normal chairs. We were the only people there for a while and found a nice big corner to wait in. I was shortly called back to the pre-op area. I had to go back by myself until I got situated then my family could come back.

I got back there and first I had to urinate in a cup which is kind of difficult since I hadn't drank anything since before midnight the night before, I'm not sure what they were checking for but I'm guessing its standard procedure. Then I had to get dressed in the standard hospital gown and climb into the surgical bed. The nurse inserted my IV, and the anesthesiologist came to talk to me, and tell me what they were going to do during surgery. I had to sign some papers to confirm that they went over everything and all the risks.

The nurse said I was acting so calm and that she wouldn't be so calm. I was thinking what is there not to be calm about. Ya, I was about to have brain surgery, but God was going to take care of me. Even if God had other plans for me, I knew where I was going! Being anything but calm wouldn't do me any good, I couldn't change the fact that I was about to have surgery.

Anyways, it was about that time that my husband and Pastor's Christian Newsome and Ryan Holt came in to see me. They read me passages from the Bible and prayed for me. After Pastor's Christian and Ryan left, the rest of my family came back. While I was back there getting ready my Grandma and my Aunt Annette had came. So I had many people trying to squeeze into the small little curtained off room. My husband, mom, dad, sister, Nana, my grandma, and Aunt Annette.

One of my doctors came back, Dr. Cullen, and said they were almost ready. He then explained to everyone that they would get updates about how I was doing every hour. I gave everyone hugs and everyone said that they were praying for me and that they loved me. My husband stayed back there with me as everyone else went back to the waiting room.

The anesthesiologist came back into the room and put some drugs into my IV. I gave John a hug and kiss and told him I loved him and told him that I would see him in a few hours. They started wheeling me out of the pre-op room and the next thing I knew I was waking up in the ICU.

Some of the things that I later found out was that I was in surgery for more than 12 hours. During that time, the large section of the waiting room was full with family and friends coming and going. My husband would estimate that 20-30 different people came during that time, with the most at once being around 15. The moms group that I had been going to with Mikey at our church met on Tuesday's, and they had moved their meeting that day to the hospital waiting room.

I still would have many struggles and obstacles yet to come, but God was helping me though them every step of the way!