Welcome to our CaringBridge website for Linda Stupar. We decided to start this page to keep everyone (including all of the TPC cheerleaders!) in the loop of Linda's progress as we battle Glioblastoma. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement.
May was a rough month. After a series of doctors visits for what everyone thought was a chronic inner ear infection, we received awful news after Dad was sick of waiting around for answers. He took mom to the ER and a couple days later Mom was diagnosed with Glioblastoma. The tumor is in the middle of the brain, above the spine. It is more on the right side of her brain than the left, which have affected her left side and her vision.
I won't go into the details of the week spent up in Michigan trying to sort things out, because you will also scream out of aggravation and desperation. I've caught myself saying the past couple years "we can't have nice things in Chicago", and I am completely wrong. Northwestern (and other hospitals) have the best and most brilliant healthcare experts in the county. Dad and I busted our butts getting files, discs, reports, MyChart info, etc, and it paid off. Within a week of receiving "inoperable" news, we were fortunate enough to secure an appointment with the Lou & Jean Malanati Brain Tumor Institute at Northwestern. June would not only be a new month, but a new lease on life.
On June 3rd we packed up and headed to Chicago. We were able to meet with the incredible team at MBTI, where they already had a game plan. To hear "surgery" right off the bat, after getting the opposite opinion from another doctor, was shocking to say the least. We were told it was inoperable, this is the worst kind of brain cancer, and we would hear more about treatment in a week. This kind of situation did not work with that kind of plan. Surgery was scheduled for the upcoming Tuesday and we hunkered down in Berwyn over the weekend while Louise ran circles around all of us.
We were very concerned about her state and safety when we arrived at Northwestern. Nancy, Dad, and I all thought they would admit her immediately. They didn't. She was coming home with us because the best pre-op prep is family. I could not believe how much Mom perked up when she saw Lou. I have read a lot on how a positive mindset really matters, and it's true. We were all ready for Tuesday, Lou gave us the spirit and we also had a Big Guys Family Dinner for comfort.
Tuesday morning at 5am we arrived at Northwestern. At 7:30am she went into surgery and we received updates every couple hours. After 8 hours, she was out. We were able to speak to her on the phone and she sounded sassy and crabby, both good signs. Glioblastoma isn't beatable, but the team was able to remove a good part of the tumor, which is a huge success. Now we wait for the next steps.
Mom is crabby, a bit sore, tied, but strong. She isn't hooked up to a bunch of beeping machines and IVs, she's just recharging her batteries. Three weeks ago it was a completely different story, but we changed that, because she deserves the best.
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