Life With Clyde

So let's be honest... I'm not really a blogger. I wish I was but I just never do it. Considering that the last time I posted was 20 months ago. Also, considering that a week after that blog post I discovered I had a brain tumor that I affectionately named Clyde and had brain surgery and everything. Let's just say... My blog is SUPER behind! I want to write about my tumor... For journaling purposes. I'm not going to go into great detail. So starting a few months before I started noticing that my eyes were a little bit off. I didn't think much about it but it didn't bother me a little bit. When I went to my Aunt Carla's funeral the beginning of February I pointed it out to my sisters and they figured I should probably go get it checked out. This picture was taken in February 2012

The next week my mom pretty much dragged me to the doctor. I didn't want to go. I guess I was afraid they were going to tell me that nothing was wrong with me and think I was paranoid or worse they were going to tell me that something was wrong so I really just didn't find it necessary to go to the doctor. My mom and I walked in to see Dr. Stratford. The appointment wasn't long but he told me that he thought it could be something serious, that people's eyes didn't usually bulge out like mine was so he ordered a CT scan and suggested I go and see a specialist. That was on Friday. On Monday my mom called around to see if she could be in to see an opthamologist. She was able to get me in to see Dr. Richens that very day. I went after school and they ran a lot of tests. She told me a few scenarios it could be and then ran more tests. She also wanted me to go and get a CT scan and set one up for the next day. She also scheduled an appointment with another specialist to see on Thursday. Dr. Tarbet comes down from Seattle once a month and was even more specialized. I went home and worried about what could be wrong with me. I went to see Dr. Tarbet on Thursday and that's when I found out that it was a tumor. It was pretty shocking news but I don't think it quite sunk in all the way that day. I remember texting my sister Kristen at work very casually and telling her I had a tumor. She then had me schedule an MRI and set up an appointment with Dr. Bhupendra Patel who was another specialist who came down from Salt Lake once a month. My appointment with him was the following Tuesday. At the appointment with Dr. Patel is when I first was shocked. I remember sitting there and just quietly crying. Meet Clyde... He was always on my mind!

Dr. Patel told me that by looking at the MRI it looked like a benign Schwannoma tumor but they wouldn't know for sure until they performed the biopsy. I would hear from him that week and schedule my biopsy surgery. I was kind of a wreck that week. I was able to remain positive but shock is real. I lost 10 pounds in a few days and had zero appetite. They scheduled the biopsy surgery at the Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake on March 3. They went through my eye to drain some of the liquid and to take a piece of the tumor.

The gross stages of my eye healing.

After this surgery we were able to confirm that it was benign and a schwannoma tumor. Shortly after this surgery I was able to meet with my brain surgeon... Dr. William T. Couldwell in Salt Lake. When we met with him I knew he was the surgeon for me. When he walked into the room I got an overwhelming feeling that he was the best of the best. He is the head of Neurosurgery at the University of Utah. He told me that considering I had a brain tumor, it was the best kind to have. So that was comforting but he also told me that it was tricky and needed to come out asap. The month of March is all a blur. I don't remember much. My family took a trip to Disneyland over Spring Break. I was preparing to have a long term sub. etc. It was a busy busy month and of course I had to psych myself up to have brain surgery. All in all I had a positive attitude and it wasn't too bad. Just BUSY! I am so grateful that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. My faith really helped me in this trying time and it was able to grow stronger. I knew that everything was going to work out great and the worst that could happen was dying and that really isn't the end of the world. :) My aunt had just died and I knew that I could go live with her! I remember going to my pre-op appointment and them telling me how healthy I was after they had tested my basic health. I laughed and said yeah, except for this whole brain tumor thing I am in tip top shape. A few random pictures of me at the hospital and then a few when I got home. The picture with the scarf is when I first went to church. Also, my nephew Rett came to hang out with me after surgery. Honestly, brain surgery wasn't the worst. I told Dr. Couldwell that I would rather have brain surgery than getting my gallbladder out again. He thought I was kind of weird.

This is a very quick recap of my experience. I have tons more pictures. I will have to find the one that shows the 40 staples in my head and some others but for now it's a start!