scoop from Neurologist #1.....

Ok I just spoke w/ the Otoneurologist, they are close to finishing up. They should start to close here soon which will take an hour. He seems to think he'll be able to be visited by 6 o'clock. Brian's doing well. He was pretty sure they weren't able to save his hearing in the left ear. He said the tumor seemed larger then originally thought, it was nearly an inch in diameter. They were able to remove most of the tumor but will be leaving some behind that is wrapped around his facial nerves. They are pretty certain that the nerve is intact for now d/t the monitoring system they have to check it. He told me the other neurologist will discuss our options of dealing w/ the remaining tumor down the road but probably will treat w/ radiation if it grows. He said Bri may have some temporary weakness on the left side of his face but that should normalize over the next few days. All in all a mostly good report. Brian will be disappointed about the hearing but we'll look at options to help him later. As we hear more reports as surgery comes to a close we'll post more.

update

ok, the latest word is about the same as the last. I just spoke w/ a nurse and she said same thing, still ok, still no where near done but no problems as of now. We're doing fine. I'm a little tired but we're hanging in there. I tried to get her to give me even a guess as to how much longer, all she said was "a while". Thanks for hanging in here w/ us gang. Long day for sure but I'm glad Dee and Christine are here w/ me. I'll get the good update when they start to close. She said that takes an hour just to close and maybe the surgeon will call me before he's closed but still no clue when that'll be. I'll let you know more when I do.

update

Well we got an update it's not much of an update but it's something. He didn't get started until just after 9 this morning and they said things are 'going as planned and on time'. Whatever that means esp since they've said anywhere from 4-10 hour window. They said they'll try to call again sometime around 2 so I'll try to actually talk to the nurse for that call and get more specifics on how much longer. But technically we're only 3 hours in so we could be a while longer. Hopefully not but at least things are "going as planned" so we'll take that for sure!!! I'll write again once we hear more.

ok we're here and on

Well here we are the start of our long day. Brian is in and going now. He didn't sleep much last night (big shocker) but he was ok. A lovely Waahoo young couple decided to fight out their problems on our hospitality house lawn in the wee hours of the morning and that kept him awake. By some miracle (and a good dose of benadryl) I slept like a log. We had a lovely chilly 10 min walk over to the hospital this morning at 5:30. They got him in and set up w/ his 2 martini's in his IV and we said our 'see you laters' by 8:00. Now we wait. I felt good about his OR nurse. Sounds like the rooms going to have around 8-10 people in there watching and monitoring his nerves and hearing while they mess around. The length of surgery they now say can be anywhere from 4-10 hours so it could be a long one for him. The good thing is he will be oblivious to time now for a good while. It's me and miss Louise and Christine who are in for the wait. The circulating RN was a sweetie and said she'd call me every couple hours to keep me up to date on how he's doing. So for now we are sitting here in this lovely cafeteria (their waiting room sucks!), bellies full of candy and reading smut hollywood magazines. I promise when we hear an update I'll post again. Love you all, Alli

good day

We had a good day today. Got some good information and some details that made us just feel more comfortable knowing what to expect. His surgery will start by 0730 Friday morning and will last 4-6 hours which is better then the 6-8 we had originally thought. Still one night in the ICU (which PTL they told me I get to stay with him in the ICU d/t a new policy, yeah!) then any where from 5-7 days all together before discharge. The big hurdles they warned us of are nausea, (cause the tumor is near the center part of the brain that affects nausea) and stability and pain. He had a more in depth nerve/hearing exam and that lady told him he didn't necessarily have damage already to his hearing organs just an interruption in the nerve communication to his brain from the inflammation around the tumor which could possibly improve once the tumor is removed. Still no certainties of course but there's hope. They said they would remove all the tumor they could safely and what they couldn't they would just leave behind but shouldn't cause him any more problems through the years. They will keep an eye on him w/ it w/ MRI screenings. His and my spirits are up tonight. We're back now with the Bit at my parents house for one last squeeze then off tomorrow night to UVA. Deana is bringing a laptop through the weekend and I found a medical library w/ computers today so I can keep my blog up to date on his status. And we made sure to scout out a suitable place to get a good cup of coffee for his stay which is a big deal for us. God's taking care of all the details isn't He!!??!? :) Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!!!

ok, time to write about this....

(and, no this isn't his MRI but his looked similar to this image I found online, just on the wrong side)

Well most of you know what new and interesting craziness has taken hold of our home this spring season. I waited to post about it cause I just wasn't ready to discuss it openly. Now just for the official annual record that I order of my blog posts we can't leave this one out!! So here's the deal, Brian got diagnosed w/ an Acoustic Neuroma which is a benign tumor that grew behind his auditory nerve in the left side of his brain. We got tipped off after some bad persistent head aches since Christmas this year. A routine CT scan found the tumor in January and it's been a wild ride ever since then to determine treatment options. We are scheduled for surgery this Friday. My sweet mother and sister in law will be there for the event and some of his recovery. They anticipate a 5-7 day hospital stay and an additional 3-4 week recovery once he's home. I'm planning on posting blog updates on his status for a while while I have access to a laptop hopefully. Our spirits are up and we are ready to face this hurdle in our lives head on. God had been so good to us to turn this situation from scary to fixable and He's given us daily strength to handle this trial. We've had our ups and downs but all in all we are ready to get this over with and behind us. We appreciate all your prayers and thoughts as we head into this week. We love our church and our family and friends for all the support we've received. Thanks and we'll keep you posted on how it all goes.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40: 29-31

small group buddies....

This past weekend we had a much long overdue get together w/ our buddies from New Century Church. We've been on a bit of a break after almost the entire group decided to spit out a baby in the past year. We had some laughs pizza and a good prayer time for Brian to complete the evening. It was a great time w/ everyone. Lets do it again soon!!!