- T
As many of you already know, my little sister just underwent surgery to remove a tumor from her brain. Here is her story...
A few weeks ago TroiAnn started having migraines. Despite rest and pain relievers, her migraines were not going away. She then started throwing up, not eating, and the pain got worse. She went to her family doctor who set up an MRI. Shortly after the MRI, she got a call stating she needed to go to the ER to get anti-seizure medications and then go to the University of Iowa Hospital via ambulance. It turns out, she had a 7x4x4cm tumor in her frontal lobe. After a few days of lab work, scans, and other tests, she was scheduled for surgery. I am not sure who was more nervous, her or our family. The day of surgery came and we all said our I love you's and see you laters. We very patiently sat in the waiting room for over 6 hours without an update. Finally we got a call saying the doctor wanted to talk to us. It turns out, while the surgery went well, they were not able to remove the entire tumor. A part of the tumor was invading the sagital sinus blood vessel and attempting to cut around that is too risky at this point. They also had to cut more of her skull than anticipated and unfortunately the additional part they cut was not able to be put back so she will now have a titanium plate on the top. Initial thoughts from the doctor was that they don't think it is cancer but we will need to wait 5-7 days for the official pathology results. Until we get those results, we also won't know what the plan will be for the remaining part of the tumor. Despite have a small complication of post op bleeding, she is doing about as well as can be expected.
As each day goes by, she gets stronger but still remains very painful and tired. It will be long road to recovery. Once she leaves the ICU she will go back to the neuro floor where she will be there for an undetermined amount of time. It will all depend on her day to day status. After that, she will need physical therapy and possibly occupational therapy and still need care at home. As you can imagine the medical expenses, despite having insurance, will still be outrageous. Not to mention, both parents have had to take work off and will continue to have to take work off. I ask that if anyone can help in any way that you please do so. Even sending prayers and thinking positive thoughts would be amazing. If anyone would like to send cards or flowers, you can send them to: 1126 13th st NW Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52405 and we'll make sure she gets them!
A few weeks ago TroiAnn started having migraines. Despite rest and pain relievers, her migraines were not going away. She then started throwing up, not eating, and the pain got worse. She went to her family doctor who set up an MRI. Shortly after the MRI, she got a call stating she needed to go to the ER to get anti-seizure medications and then go to the University of Iowa Hospital via ambulance. It turns out, she had a 7x4x4cm tumor in her frontal lobe. After a few days of lab work, scans, and other tests, she was scheduled for surgery. I am not sure who was more nervous, her or our family. The day of surgery came and we all said our I love you's and see you laters. We very patiently sat in the waiting room for over 6 hours without an update. Finally we got a call saying the doctor wanted to talk to us. It turns out, while the surgery went well, they were not able to remove the entire tumor. A part of the tumor was invading the sagital sinus blood vessel and attempting to cut around that is too risky at this point. They also had to cut more of her skull than anticipated and unfortunately the additional part they cut was not able to be put back so she will now have a titanium plate on the top. Initial thoughts from the doctor was that they don't think it is cancer but we will need to wait 5-7 days for the official pathology results. Until we get those results, we also won't know what the plan will be for the remaining part of the tumor. Despite have a small complication of post op bleeding, she is doing about as well as can be expected.
As each day goes by, she gets stronger but still remains very painful and tired. It will be long road to recovery. Once she leaves the ICU she will go back to the neuro floor where she will be there for an undetermined amount of time. It will all depend on her day to day status. After that, she will need physical therapy and possibly occupational therapy and still need care at home. As you can imagine the medical expenses, despite having insurance, will still be outrageous. Not to mention, both parents have had to take work off and will continue to have to take work off. I ask that if anyone can help in any way that you please do so. Even sending prayers and thinking positive thoughts would be amazing. If anyone would like to send cards or flowers, you can send them to: 1126 13th st NW Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52405 and we'll make sure she gets them!
Organizer and beneficiary
Patricia Lundgren
Beneficiary