Jami raubenolt Jami (Toeppe) Raubenolt

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.  Kevin will be authoring so expect misspelled words, poor English but lots of data.


My wife Jami is an one of a kind woman.  She combines passion, competition, caring and strong family into a special personality.  
Until August 30th, I did not correlate the changes which she was experiencing over the past years.  Now i can remember example after example of when she would forget a simple thing, not remember the name of something or someone.  Most importantly, I can remember the hundreds of headaches over the years.  We first attributed them to lack of hydration, then they were caffeine related.  This year in the spring the headaches must have been Jami is starting to have allergies.   


One of those traits is Jami's strength and weakness.  She handles pain better than anyone I know.  I remember when she gave birth to Grant her OB said "Jami, it is ok to have some pain medicine.  You don't need to go 100% natural".  That pain tolerance and competition kept Jami from sharing that these memory loss items and headaches have intensified over the summer.


August 24 and 25th weekend was a turning point.  Jami told us that she had a sinus infection but her pain and behavior was much more severe.  She was very angry and stressful all weekend.  We attempted to calm her but she was not happy.  Monday at work she began to realize something was wrong.  She associated to a sinus headache was preventing her from focusing.  By Wednesday morning I was having to travel to Boston.  I took the  boys to school and then stopped back at home to have a heart to heart.  It was clear to  me she was dealing with something serious and I asked her to address it.


I went to Boston and she called her sister Jackie who she trusts and is a nurse.  Jackie got Jami to be honest with what is happening to her.  Jami understood that she can't tough it out any further.  Thursday she went to her primary care doctor, they scheduled a MRI for Friday.  I was researching from Wednesday night seeing the most likely issue was a brain bleed or tumor,  Severe migraines could cause short term memory loss and headaches.


Friday we took Jami for the MRI.  We were trying to find any  cause that wasn't a tumor.  Friday Jami was feeling pretty bad and wanted to get the kids out of school.  We were suppose to go to Illinois and visit Mike, Erin and their kids for the weekend.  Jami told the receptionist we were taking the boys on a vacation.   We were driving home from school with the boys when Jami's doctor called.  Her phone was on bluetooth and she stated "Jami, the scan came back and you have a large mass in the left side of your brain.  Is there someone with you.  Your husband will need to take you to the ER immediately."   In that instant, Jami, Grant and Carter and my life had changed.


Here is the timeline:
Friday
3:40pm we get a call about the brain mass
4:00pm we are admitted to ER
4:40pm we meet with Neuro surgeon, large tumor which need immediate removal.  planning early morning surgery
8:30pm we get admitted to prep room
Family with us until nearly 11pm
Saturday
4:00am Neuro comes and prepares Jami and I
6:00am Jami's parents show up and they are taking her down for pre-op
6 - 7:30am Jeremy (Jami's brother) and April (his wife) able to see Jami in pre-op
7:30am Jami heads to surgery
8:23am Surgery begins
10:13am Jami is taking to post-opt and ICU
Jami is really tired and exhausted, we spoke over night and she told me she is getting out of hospital in two days.  I informed her we were at this same hospital for 2 days when she gave birth to Carter.  I think brain surgery may require more time.
Sunday
9:50am Jami is moved ICU and convinces PT she should walk to her next room
Monday
10:40am Neuro surgeon sees Jami and says "We don't seem to be doing anything you can't do for yourself at home.  Do you want to leave?"   After DR leaves she reminds me of her two day exit plan
2:55pm Jami is discharged from the hospital


In less than 72 hours my wife finds out she has brain cancer, has surgery to remove and we are back home.  It was Labor day weekend, the boys and I could have missed no school or work.  I am praying her recovery and her cancer treatment go as well as this beginning.