Carl Foster

On August 6th, 2017 Carl experienced a seizure in bed at 3AM.  He was rushed to Promedica in Monroe by ambulance.  From there he was sent to University of Michigan by ambulance.  After a day of tests it was discovered that he has a large mass in his front right lobe, about 7cm big.  After many meetings with a neuro team at Michigan, surgery has been planned for Wednesday, Aug. 23rd.  We are taking all of this in, day by day.  It is everything you hear everyone say - a fog, whirlwind, and we are stunned.  Carl revealed that looking back, he had a few small signs (twitching eye, odd taste in his mouth, buzzing in the head, a few times of confusion).  Each of these signs lasted from 5 seconds to a minute, but would go away easily.  Jean never had any idea of these signs.  Otherwise, there was no other sign for him. WE ARE THINKING POSITIVE ABOUT THIS.  This is a large mass, and of course, very risky.  However, the doctors are thinking at this point it is not cancerous.  Regardless, it needs to be removed and there are risks to this surgery.  We absolutely know we are at the right place with THE BEST neurosurgeons.  His surgeon does this type of surgery often and this is his specialty.  He is brilliant!  Assuming all goes as planned, Carl will be out of work for 3-4 months with recovery, etc.  Of course, this is something we will know better after surgery.   We feel the support and love of our family and friends.  It has been surrounding us since the second this has happened.  Until the surgery, Carl is home and we living life as normal.  Carl is coaching and is just being CARL.  His only restriction at this time is that he cannot drive. Otherwise, life is "normal."  We need your positive thoughts, prayers and support. We need support for our kids - they know all of this.  They are amazing, and like us, have times of sadness and many questions.  But overall, they have handled this like CHAMPIONS.  The day of surgery will be difficult for them, as they start school on Aug, 21st.  We will surround them with love and support on that day.  We ask that you and your kids treat our kids just the same as always.  Offer support and don't be afraid to let them know you know.  Ask your kids to be patient with them and understanding if they see them in moments of sadness.  Ask them to remain friendly, inclusive, and just normal fun-loving kids.  This is important for them, as they are asking us what will happen if they feel sad at school.  I reassured them that everyone will understand that.  Don't hesitate to offer Carl support when you see him (or if your kids do as well).  We are being taken care of - we know this.  There will be more we need later and we will reach out. Looking ahead, we will be looking for people who might possibly commute to U of M until his driving restrictions are lifted.  We know - that is far in the future, but if you have someone in mind, we will ask later.  For now, it is all about the next two weeks.  It is about our kids, preparing Carl, starting the first day of school, starting all of our fall activities, lunches, uniforms, and so on.  Life moves on!!!!  Our kids have been told that this is their important job for the next two weeks!  I have been describing Carl like this - 70% of the time he is CARL - normal, CARL. Another 20% of the time he has sad moments and is fearful.  Mostly this is about the kids.  The last 10% of the time he thinks this is "BULLSHIT."  So there is a little anger.  However, he is being very compliant to what he needs to do and thinking positive.  We are LUCKY to have the jobs we have that have been amazing, to have UM right here, and to have the benefits we have.  We have taken moments to remind ourselves of this.  Please also know we cannot individually thank everyone for what they have done.  We will be forgetful in our "thank yous" but please accept this as a THANK YOU! Lastly, all of you become MICHIGAN fans (even you MSU, OSU and ND people) because on August 23rd we need everyone saying, screaming and cheering a loud GO BLUE!  We need them to be LEADERS AND BEST for sure! No doubt, we are in great hands!