Surgery #1 – April Fool’s Day, 2005:

The night before my surgery, I went out to a comedy club with my sister and husband. I figured laughter would help ease my anxious state. We ran into some friends coincidentally and ended up having a very nice evening. It helped keep my mind off of my pending surgery. I had had one neurosurgery about 4 years prior to repair a herniated disc in my spine, but I had never had anyone cut into my brain. It was a difficult concept to accept.

After comedy, we met up with the rest of my family for a late happy hour at Beaches, one of our favorite hangouts. Since I couldn’t eat after midnight, it felt kind of like the last supper.

The next morning came too soon. I was hoping Dr. Shanno would say, “April Fool’s! There’s no tumor. We really had you going, hu?” But that would have been too good to be true. Although a cruel joke, I would have been relieved to put the whole thing behind me and go on without this thing invading my brain.

Well, no such luck. Surgery went as planned. I was nervous. My skull was going to be drilled. My brain would be penetrated. I had to let go and put my trust, my life, into the hands of my doctors and the good Lord above. It’s a little easier to do once the anesthesiologist slips you a couple of “mickeys.” I was floating towards the OR, scared but relaxed. Here goes nothing. I saw my MRI scan up on the big screen.

“Is that my head shot?” I asked.

“Yep,” someone replied. I asked if the ceiling was supposed to be spinning. They told me to close my eyes if it was bothersome. I closed my eyes and felt better, less dizzy. When I opened them up I was in the recovery unit. It’s so weird to go through such an ordeal and remember nothing. Although it’s not something one wishes to remember, it’s always strange the way you can be knocked out and not know a thing about it.

After a couple more anti-emetics were injected into my iv line, I was ready for 2 north (the neuro unit at the time). I had requested a private room, but since none were available, I was rolled into a room next to a woman named Peggy. I didn’t really want to share a room, but we ended up chatting and getting along just fine. Peggy was a post surgical patient, as well. She had injured her shoulder in a motorcycle accident. She overheard us talking about my upcoming wedding and was friendly enough to join in the conversation.

I liked Peggy so much that when they told me of a private room that had come available, I decided to stay where I was and let someone else have the private room. I had several visitors that day. My future in-laws, fiance’s cousin and aunt, my sisters, my parents, my friend DeAnn, and probably more who’s names and faces escape me at the moment. My sisters brought me a lucky bamboo. I still have it in my windowsill. Camron’s aunt and cousin brought me a plant inside a pot shaped like an angel. I still have this sitting on top of my bookshelf.

The surgery seemed to have gone well. I could already hear the whooshing getting quieter. Soon it would be gone. Dr. Shanno told me there had been a lot of fluid in my brain. I could expect some pretty intense headaches for a few weeks while the pressure in my brain changed substantially. As long as the pressure was going down, I’d take the headaches.

My first nurse on 2 north was Diane. She was a lovely woman, caring and sweet, as a nurse should be. It was only a few hours until night shift came on. Tatyana was my night nurse. She was a sweet woman with 6 children at home. I couldn’t even imagine what it must be like to have that many people to take care of. I’ve talked with her a few times since I’ve been back at work. She still remembers the room I was in 3 years after she cared for me as a patient. What an amazing memory! The next morning, Kay came on shift. She was very good, as well. I was so impressed with the nursing staff that I brought them a card and cookies after I returned to work.

I had about 3 weeks off after that 1^st surgery. My parents hadn’t moved over from Eastern Washington at this point. We spent some of the time house hunting for them, as they had decided they needed to be closer. I joked with them, saying, “What’s a girl gotta do to get you to move closer? Get a brain tumor?” It worked, and they found a house in Camas, WA. It needed a little fixing up, but my dad was retired and very handy. We all fell in love with the great room, which had been added on. It felt so homey and the acre of land behind it had several big trees, which made it feel like you were out in the woods.

Stay tuned to hear about surgeries 2-9, plus a cancer diagnosis and chemo/radiation, followed by a life flight!