Support for the Johnson family

As many of you already know, our life was turned upside down April 6th when we found out Evan had a large mass on his brain.

It all started when he passed out behind the wheel (doctor believes this may have been caused by a seizure) and totaled his truck. We ended up in Newton ER for what we assumed would just be a concussion. After a few scans, we were told they found slight bleeding and a mass on the brain.

He was then transferred and admitted to Morristown Memorial where he had additional scans and doctors came up with a game plan of removing the mass. Evan underwent craniotomy surgery on April 8th.

Since the tumor had also attached to part of his skull, they could not put that part of his skull back as it was essentially contaminated by the mass. He now has a partial prosthetic skull to replace what they needed to take out permanently.

Evan remained in the ICU for 6 days, hooked up to a number of medications and monitoring systems. He had an EEG placed on him for 2 days to monitor his brain waves and any possible seizure activity. He was finally transferred to a regular hospital room for one night, and then discharged home. Both PT and OT worked with him to get his strength back. He was determined to get home and did everything he could to prove he was ready to go. No additonal rehab was recommended, thankfully!

A biopsy was sent out and came back as benign meningioma. Surgeon said this tumor had been growing for 10+ years at such a slow pace that his brain or body never picked up on any changes.

This mass was grown on the surface of his right frontal lobe. The surgeon stated that they were able to remove the entire mass, however some small cells may have been left behind to not disrupt one of his main blood vessels. There is a chance that Evan may need one additional non-invasive procedure to kill off those remaining cells and we will never have to worry about this again.

While this has been a traumatic experience to say the least, it really is the best case scenario we could have asked for. Without the accident, we would never know about the brain mass.

We expect Evan to make a full recovery and are counting our blessings. There is always a silver lining. However we are anticipating hefty medical bills and some financial burdens as he is unable to work until the doctors clear him. We have been told this could be anywhere from 3-6 months.

We do not like asking for help, but we know there are so many people that have asked what can be done or how they can help, and right now this is our biggest concern and stressor - finances.

To everyone that has already helped in big ways and small, we are forever grateful for you. We could not gotten through this nightmare without the love and support we are so lucky to have.