Zach Khalil's Brain Tumor Journey
Intro
Hey All! I'm Brandi Khalil, a 6th grade Math Teacher with VB City Public Schools. My
husband, Zach Khalil, has worked for
Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office for the past 10+
years as a Deputy Sheriff. Over the past four
years he has been an Investigator on the
Fugitive Apprehension Unit and is a Task Force Officer with a federal agency helping make the world a safer place. We are both public servants that have given our lives to helping others and supporting our community.
We have two children, a 10 year-old daughter and a 17 month-old. On September 1st we
were pleasantly surprised to find out that we
are expecting our third child in April 2022.
Unfortunately, our excitement was short lived when we received a phone call 2 days later.
This was the life changing call informing us
that Zach has a large brain tumor measuring
just under 3cm.
If you know Zach, you’re already aware that he is a light in a dark room. Strives to bring joy to all around him and is never one to bring or see anyone else down. He is always super positive
in any given situation, especially in poor ones, where most would lose hope.
How did we find this out and what does it mean?
While playing with our son, Zach got a pretty
good pop to the mouth. This left Zach with a
tingling sensation and numbness that
eventually spread throughout the whole right side of his face.
After a few misdiagnoses and ineffective meds, they ordered an MRI and CT which lead us to that gut wrenching phone call. He has
what Dr.‘s believe to be a Vestibular Cochlear Schwannoma (or Acoustic Neuroma) which is
typically a benign tumor that is very rare,
occurring 1 in 100,000 people. Zach’s is
considered large, and is pressing against his
facial nerve and brain stem which means -
unavoidable surgery.
What is our plan moving forward?
We did our research and are fortunate enough to have the head of Neurology at Johns
Hopkins in Baltimore, MD perform the surgery Nov 2, 2021. The stay in MD will consist of: 1
day before for pre-op; a 10-12 hour surgery; 1 day in the ICU; a 5-6 day hospital stay; and 1-2 days staying in Baltimore for observation
before beginning the travel home. Following
surgery, 2-3 months of recovery (all cases vary.) Of course any surgery is going to have its
costs, even with insurance, especially a 10-12 hour surgery involving multiple surgeons.
Because we are going to Johns Hopkins (who
is out of network) we will have additional costs incurred, i.e. housing while in MD, travel,
daycare, and 2-3 months recovery.
Post-surgery will require physical therapy,
occupational therapy, acupuncture to
stimulate nerve regrowth (to prevent
permanent facial paralysis), optometrist and
audiologist visits, follow up MRI's/CT scans
and JH visits, and unfortunately a hearing
implant.
As everyone’s recovery is different, we are
hoping due to Zach's health, age, and positivity, his recovery will be on the shorter spectrum. Some patients are still not back to regular
activity after a year; however, WE are focusing on the short term and want to provide Zach
with everything we can to ensure he gets back to where he wants to be as quickly as his body will allow him.
Why the GoFundMe?
In addition to the above costs mentioned, we
also face the lack of time and income that is
inevitable. The future is unknown and quite
scary. What should be a happy event in April,
will now be another lapse in pay and
shortened time off. As community service
employees, we love our jobs, but they can only do so much when all these events are hitting
us in such a short timespan.
According to our neurologist, Zach’s most
likely going to lose his hearing in his right ear, making recouping his balance and stamina
more difficult. There are a few different
implants that can be used to help with hearing loss due to auditory nerve damage. The
doctors will evaluate and make their
suggestions once his body has healed from the initial surgery. Unfortunately, these are not
covered by insurance and costs for surgery
alone are $15,000-$17,000, not including the
implant itself. Given Zach’s line of work, we
want to do whatever we can to help him still
be able to decipher which direction sounds are coming from. This is for his safety, and to
better help him protect his community. This
would be made possible with these implants.
We had many people offer to start this
GoFundMe page for us, but I wanted to tell our story. We understand that a goal of $65,000 is a hefty one, but to be completely honest, we
have NO idea what would be a reasonable
number to get us through these upcoming
events. As we start accumulating bills and
talking to the hospital about places to stay
near JH, the recovery, the follow up required,
the baby, the jobs, the time off…It’s all
overwhelming. We understand we are not the only ones experiencing hardships. We are just asking for your prayers and support during
this time and if you are able to donate even a
small amount, it all adds up to taking some of
the stress away to allow the healing to begin.
What's Next?
Zach is adamant on starting a video diary to
help others dealing with this same life
changing predicament. He found a couple on
YouTube, one which was Mark Ruffalo's (The
Hulk), and he’s watched them numerous times saying how encouraging/informative they are and how they’ve helped him to find peace and a better understanding of what’s to come. We will be recording all parts of this journey so
everyone can be updated on Zach’s progress
and to enlighten anyone else who is, or has
loved ones, going through this same journey.
I will be updating on this page to let everyone
know how we are coming along, the processes, and how Zach is managing pre- and post-
surgery.
We love you all and appreciate your help,
support, and prayers during these difficult
times ahead.