Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. One week ago, we learned that Jake has a brain tumor on his pituitary gland.&nbsp; They found it in an MRI that was ordered due to horrible headaches with increasing pain, pressure, hearing and vision changes. For the past week, Jake has undergone lots of testing to try and come up with a diagnosis and a plan.&nbsp; Jake and I visited the brain surgeon today for a consultation to review the tests results and the plan for treatment.&nbsp; Diagnosis: Jake's tumor is rather large and has invaded the cavernous sinus and is surrounding the carotid arteries. This means his case is a little more complicated than some others and the entire tumor will not be able to be removed. The tumor is called a benign neoplasm pituitary, macroadenoma. It's causing damage to his peripheral vision, low production of certain hormones and obstructive hydrocephalus. Obstructive Hydrocephalus means the tumor is blocking the flow spinal fluid out of the brain so he has extra fluid in his brain. In his case, the tumor is blocking the flow of fluid in the third ventricle. Plan for Treatment: Jake needs to have surgery on Tuesday morning. They'll go in through his nose and debulk the tumor as much as they can. If they cannot get enough of the tumor out they will need to do another surgery where they go in through the skull to get at it. Jake will need a couple of weeks to recover, as long as there are no complications. Future Outlook: Because the entire tumor cannot be removed, he may need more surgery in the future to further debulk the tumor, radiation therapy to stunt growth of the tumor and hormone therapy. So yeah, this was definitely on the list of nightmares that we never thought would happen to our family. It's all happening very fast. We are very hopeful but also very scared. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. If I'm not able to talk to you personally in the next few weeks it's because I'm taking care of Jake and the 3 little boys.&nbsp; I'll do my best to post updates on this site so all of you, our loved ones can know how Jake is doing.&nbsp; God has blessed us with an amazing network of friends and family and we know he can make miracles happen. We love you all! Thank you for your support! -Rachel

Jake Allen

Update: My Story – by Rachel Allen