First post:
Nov 12, 2019 Latest post:
Apr 12, 2024
While visiting my daughter, Ashlyn at Harding University (Searcy, Arkansas) the weekend of October 20th, the unthinkable happened. I had been having headaches on and off for about a month and over the weekend, Ashlyn had actually noticed that something wasn't quite right. Well, Sunday the 20th "something not quite right" was a huge understatement. Sean and I woke up Sunday morning intending on going to church but the headache came back with a vengeance. I had seen a PA a couple of weeks before (complaining of migraine-type headaches) and she said it was likely sinus activity/drainage as I had some fluid in my ears. She prescribed an antihistamine and a steroid to relieve the sinus inflammation. I started feeling a bit better, so I figured that was it. Unfortunately, Sunday morning arrived with a migraine so bad that I was also vomiting. We decided to forego church and head home with a quick stop to the ER for a shot to take care of the migraine pain. Fortunately, they decided to do a CT which showed the brain tumor. Dr. Sherwood in the ER mentioned to Sean that one of the best neurosurgeons in the world was just 30 miles down the road, so I was then transferred to St. Vincent's north in Sherwood, AR. Yeah, really, I mean, who would think that one of the best neurosurgeons in the world was just 30 miles away from me AND that (though the tumor had been around for 1-3 months) it presented at just the right time for me to have him operate on me! I can definitely see the hand of God intervening on my behalf (I don't believe in coincidences). The surgery went went as well as could be expected. Dr. Krisht said that it was in a good location and that all of the tumor was removed with clean margins. The unfortunate part is that the tumor was a Stage IV Glioblastoma (GBM).
I want to thank the care team at Unity in Searcy, AR as well as Dr. Ali Krisht for agreeing to take my case and the care team at St. Vincent's, especially the neuro-ICU team nurses, Bradley, Ashley, Drew, Helen and Mary (and anyone else I may have forgotten).
So, the journey begins...please pray for me and my family; we love you all!
