Let’s go over how we got to the current plan of brain surgery.
Brady had an MRI in February, as he does every three or four months. Everything seemed fine in there. Some spots were visible, some changes, but they were more likely post surgical changes than anything concerning. Some necrosis, maybe. The scan wasn’t clear clear, but there were just some things to watch, which isn’t unusual.
Early in May, we all got eye appointments, and Brady got a fresh prescription. His new glasses came on May 12th. SUPER handsome, hey?? 😍
It was literal days after that when his eyes started to play tricks on him. He seemed a bit extra zoned, or just far less accurate getting around. We gave it a bit of time for him to adjust to his new prescription, going back and forth between old and new, contacts, glasses, etc.
Bradys silver MRI was at the end of May. His 25th, on the 25th 🤣 Remember how hard it was to get the first one?! We got the results a couple of days later. The findings were very similar to the February scan. A spot here or there. We saw the word “stable” a couple of times. We agreed with our family doctor that a “nothing to see here” scan would be nicer than a “keep an eye on it” scan, but its still better than “there’s a tumour in there” scan. So we called it good and forgot about it.
On June 3rd, Brady got a call from the oncologist who regularly orders his brain MRIs. He called Brady out on missing their in-person appointment, which was super strange because we didn’t have one in our calendar. He proceeded to give Brady bad news. New tumour. New growth. Not stable. Must be addressed ASAP. He said he would get a referral to Dr. Fourney, Brady’s neurosurgeon from the last two surgeries, and they would discuss further steps to take. Brady took this as his cue to take the rest of the day off. He came home and told me about the call. We sat together, completely shellshocked. Finally I asked “Well what were we reading before then??” We went back into Brady’s most recent MRI report and sure enough, everything was stable and well. Maybe the oncologist had messed something up and meant to call someone else? Or gave us someone else’s results? We didn’t know about that apparent appointment, either. It had to be a mistake. Brady tried to call back and confirm things, and the cancer centre refused to even give the doctor his message since we had a follow-up appointment already booked for that next week. That was going to be a LOT to sit with for the next eight days. We texted our family doctor about it, and she agreed that it was a VERY stressful spot to be in. She committed to helping us figure it out.
Track was two days later on June 5th. After a day or two of chasing, our doctor called in the afternoon. Brady was at chemo. I was at track. She was in her office. We set up a three way call and she told us the results were, in fact, Bradys. The bad news was ours. Deep breath.
Brady saw the eye doctor again on June 10th. His field of vision had changed drastically. He had lost most of his peripheral vision on his left side. Alarmingly quickly. Luckily, at the office we go to, we are very comfortably among friends 💜 Everyone came around us and absorbed the news. It was nice to process together. We made some plans for what’s to come with his vision, and we confirmed that his eyes themselves are very healthy. Optic nerves, too. But any concrete plan was waiting/hinging on the appointments the next day.
June 11th carried two very important appointments.
First was the oncologist. He is really awesome. He has that same character quality as Dr. Guselle where he can leave a person feeling somehow so reassured even in an impossibly bad situation. He apologized for all the confusion we had felt the week before and explained the disconnect. The February scan results were accurate, AND the May scan results were also accurate. But the radiologist who dictated the results did not compare the two scans. The spot from February had gone from 2cm to 6cm. That is incredibly significant. He spoke to us about our options and told us who he had already been in talks with. But we didn’t lock down any plans because that was the next appointment.
The neurosurgeon was next. Dr. Fourney. He is not known for his bedside manner, but he was incredibly kind to us, as he has absolutely always been. He explained to us exactly what we were looking at.
A new tumour. In the exact same spot as the last one. Right temporal lobe. This time, however, it had begun growing further back, and it was infiltrating the white matter. Really pronounce the H in there, the way fancy people do. It went into the occipital lobe. Lots of things cross in the brain, so in this case, the tumour on the ride side of his brain was getting in the way of the vision pathways of the left side. The obvious choice was to surgically remove the tumour, which oddly, it what we were hoping for at that point. Dr. Fourney agreed, and said he would come alongside another doctor, who he referred to as his protege. Apparently this guy was also his resident and assisted on Brady’s initial spine surgery! Cool, hey?
So we agreed.
- Surgery
- Four weeks for healing
- Radiation to clean up edges
The date has been set for June 24th. Aiming for midday. Noonish. But we all know that lots of things can happen unexpectedly during brain surgeries, and Brady isn’t first on the docket that day. So we expect the unexpected, in all the ways.
In the meantime!
Risks are not too too scary. They are working in the same area as last time, which didn’t leave Brady with any deficits. However, the hhhhhwhite matter is higher stakes. Surgery will not bring his lost vision back. In fact, it could make it a little bit worse than it already is. Or it could pause it in its tracks. Either way, the goal is to stop the progression of the tumour.
Brady is not driving. Which has been a tough pill to swallow. It simply isn’t safe as his eyes get progressively worse. With that, Brady is home 💜 Working at a surprisingly nice setup in our garage as much as he can.
Zak’s has, of course, been incredible. One of the owners came to our house, sat on our couch, and told Brady to let work be last on his list. They will carry us. If you know about how well they cared for us last time, I’m sure you can read between the lines to know how well they will be caring for us again. They are an enormous gift to our family.
The days leading up to surgery day are fairly full up, but frankly even if they weren’t, we’re keeping them as is 😅 As I said earlier – the unexpected, right? We still have some appointments. Some foster things. Meetings. Preparing. And arranging all the childcare for surgery day and those to follow.
I cannot express how overwhelming this whole thing has been. I don’t mean its all been bad, though. Overwhelmed with gratefulness. Overwhelmed with support and love. Overwhelmed with offers to help and pitch in. And the obvious – overwhelmed by the impending surgery and all that comes with it. All around, its been a LOT.
But God is even bigger than all of this mess. So, as always, forward we go. That is the only way. We don’t get to choose our cards, but we do get to choose how to play the ones we’re dealt. And we choose to look UP.
Praise the Lord! It is well with our souls 💜