On the evening of Dec. 29th my sister’s world was turned upside down. When her husband, Michael, came home from work she immediately noticed that he was not acting right. He was having great difficulties communicating, he could not put his words together and was not making any sense. He was taken to the emergency department at Norman Regional Hospital, and we quickly found out that he had a 4cm brain mass with surrounding edema in his left frontal region (the area responsible for speech, behavior, memory, decision-making, & personality). He was taken to surgery on 12/30/22. The neurosurgeon said the surgery went very well, he was able to successfully remove the mass. He has done thousands of these surgeries and believes the mass looks consistent with a primary malignant brain tumor (meaning a brain cancer that started in the brain). The mass was sent to pathology, and we are currently awaiting an official diagnosis. We were told this could take weeks. Once we have an official diagnosis, they will be able to come up with a definitive treatment plan for Michael.

In the meantime, Michelle and Payton need our love and support. Michael is the primary breadwinner for the family. He does construction and is self-employed, which means he does not have any banked PTO and if he is not working, money is not coming in. Michelle substitutes at her daughter’s school on occasion to supplement their income, but she has been by his side since Thursday night. Michael has a long road of recovery ahead of him. He was transferred from the ICU to a regular room yesterday. We anticipate that he will be in the hospital through the rest of this week, then he will likely be moved to an inpatient rehab facility to start working on regaining his speech and relearning some of his basic life skills. I have set up a GoFundMe for my sister to try and alleviate some of her stress and financial worries over the next few months. Any amount would be a blessing, no donation is too small. And, if you cannot contribute financially, please lift them up in your prayers. I have seen the power of prayer at work before & I have no doubt it can work again!