About the middle of March Mary noticed that she was having some problems focusing . She soon made a doctor appointment and they scheduled an MRI for April 2. The last week of March she seemed to be more forgetful and disoriented. On the morning of March 30 Dave noticed that she definitely was regressing. In the afternoon, when she told him she's starting with a headache, he decided to take her to Ephata Hospital. A CAT scan showed a mass on her brain and she was transferred to Lancaster General Hospital. Gordonville Ambulance was able to do the transfer, and they even had a crew arranged to drive Dave's car to LGH for him so that he was able to ride with Mary in the ambulance. She was put in the neuro-trauma unit. They did an MRI through the night at LGH and continued the steroid treatments that Ephrata had started.
Sunday afternoon, March 31, the surgeon met with us and gave us the MRI results. She stated that Mary had a large tumor that goes onto both sides of her brain and looks like a butterfly or dumbbell. She also explained that this tumor is in a "no surgery" zone--meaning surgery to remove the tumor is NOT an option.
On Monday morning, April 1, they did the biopsy. The procedure was to take a small piece of the tumor out by using a needle, and that is what they will test to see what kind of tumor it is and if it is cancerous or not. They kept her in neuro- trauma unit overnight to monitor her very closely for any possible side effects.
On Tuesday afternoon, April 2, she was discharged to go home. She may resume normal activity as she feels up to it. Now we wait for the test results. We were told that would take a few days.
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