Colleen Brighton

On January 24, 2019, Colleen had a seizure while at work and was taken to Shore Health in Easton, MD. She had no history of seizures and after an overnight stay in the hospital and a series of tests, it was discovered that Colleen has a 3 cm mass on the right side of her brain. Colleen was released and has been staying in her dear friends  carriage house in Easton, MD. Colleen has an excellent team of doctors on her side and on February 7th, a craniotomy was performed by Dr. Kahlid Kurtom, one of the top Neurosurgeons on the East Coast. The surgery was to take 4-5 hours and after 2 hours, Dr. Kurtom saw that the mass was resting on the motor cortex, making the removal of the mass tenuous as the potential for causing paralysis was simply too risky.

Since then, Colleen has been regaining her strength and recovering from the surgery and on Feb. 18th had the staples removed from the surgery site. Her spirit is typically Colleen....brave, positive, questioning, and eager to get to the bottom of what is going on! It has certainly not been without the expected challenges, but she is surrounded by her awesome husband Jim, family, and her many friends who are chomping at the bit to do anything she needs. Her dogs, Pablo & Pearl are staying at their house in Cambridge and Jim's Dad, has been helping with them when Jim is either at work or with Colleen. Maureen, Colleen's Mom, came from South Carolina post surgery and stayed with her for a week and a huge team of Colleen's friends & family have kept Colleen company during the day.

Moving forward, the plan is to use Caring Bridge as a tool to keep her web of friends & family updated on her progress and needs as they arise. Her care team, which includes Dr. Kurtom, a Neurologist, an Oncologist, a Radiologist, etc. met on Friday, Feb. 22 to discuss the pathology of the tumor and the plan moving forward. At that time, it was determined that Colleen will have another craniotomy on March 4th to remove as much of the tumor as Dr. Kurtom can. Once Colleen has recovered from her 2nd surgery, she will get radiation treatments in Easton.

Many friends have been  sitting with Colleen while Jim is at work as they are still concerned about her having seizures. She has not had one since Feb. 11 and the medications that she is on seem to be doing their job! Our goal with this page is to share updates and to limit the number of well-intended and loving messages/inquiries/texts that she is receiving. PLEASE keep the positive love and encouragement coming though!! Colleen is so grateful for the love, well-wishes, and funny videos you all are sending.

As Colleen's journey unfolds, there will be a variety of needs that she will have and we may use Caring Bridge as a tool to set up meal delivery, transportation, and other needs as they become apparent. For now, please keep her in your thoughts and take a moment to send a message through this page. She is so grateful for the continued love, support, fabulous meals, visits, flowers, notes, and all around goodness you are sending her way!!