Thursday, January 17, 2013

Day 1: Matt's Surgery - January 17, 2013

On Friday, January, 11, we found out that Matt had a brain tumor in the middle of his brain, above his pituitary gland right by his optic nerves.

It all started on Thursday night, January 10, I came home from work around 8pm. He had picked up Parker from school earlier that day and he had not remembered that he did so. He also asked me where I had been and thought it was morning time. He had previously had pneumonia so I thought he might still be sick. He took 2 Nyquil and went back to bed.

Friday morning he woke up at 6:45 am and told me he thought someone called him to snow plow. Following is a portion of our conversation which led me to call for help from his friend Clark.



Being wheeled back to surgery.



Matt: "I think someone called me to snow plow."
Starr: "What do you mean you think someone called you?" "Look at your phone."
Matt: "Where is my wallet? Isn't it night time?"
Starr: "Downstairs on the bar. Are you ok? Feeling better?"
Matt: " I feel a little out of it. Where's my wallet?"
Starr: "It's downstairs on the bar. You asked me that."
Matt: "Oh, ok, where's my wallet?"

He then walked downstairs and I watched him slowly sway back and forth then sit on our couch and fall asleep. I then looked at his phone and called his work to tell them he would not be in that morning and that I was a bit concerned. I woke him up to check his temp because it had been 102.2 the previous night and he then asked me to get him some more oil to fry a turkey in our crockpot; which he thought we had done the day before and that didn't happen. I then called his friend Clark to come assess him and help me decide if I needed to take him to ER. After Clark arrived, Matt asked him the same question 4 times. He would receive phone calls from people at work and not remember talking to them. That's when we decided he needed to go to the doctor. Luckily Clark knew the flight nurses at the ER so he took him right over and walked him in with no waiting. While at the ER he was unclear on how he arrived there asking if he flew there and he couldn't answer who the president of the US was. They did a CT scan, then requested an MRI which showed a large mass in the middle of his brain which they said was a brain tumor. They said they could do the surgery in Idaho Falls but felt better sending him to Salt Lake City to the University. They pumped him full of steroids to bring down the inflammation that the tumor was causing; which is why he was in such a confused state.

We left Idaho Falls Sunday night, January 13, and stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Salt Lake. The next morning, we met with the neurosurgeon, Dr. Couldwell, at the U of U and they confirmed what the ER had done two days prior. He would need a craniotomy to remove the tumor that was slowly growing in his head and was currently about the size of a golf ball. They scheduled a pre op and intensive eye exam for Wednesday, January 16. We went home that Monday, played with our kids,  I went to work on Tuesday, and we headed back to Salt Lake Wednesday morning, the 16th. Luckily, my sister and mom were able to help share with kid duties to keep their week some what normal.


A "Y" for yes this is the right side to cut my head for the craniotomy.


A good patient but would much rather be someplace else.


Mom, Dad, and Matt


Ouch!! That does't feel too good. The doctor had to poke him 2 times and still couldn't find a good vein.



On Wednesday, his pre op went really well and his eye specialist said she was amazed that he didn't have more optic nerve damage compared to how big his tumor was. We were surrounded by many people who love him: his mom & dad, sister (Jen), and my cousin (Jin). We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott and headed ready to have surgery Thursday morning, January 17th. While waiting to be taken back, we were visited by many doctors coming in and out of the room. The surgical team came in and visited with us to let us know that this was a very rare and complex tumor. It had attached itself to vital parts of his brain and they wouldn't know if they would be able to remove all the tumor without removing parts of his brain. They would assess the tumor when they were in removing it. Because of the rarity of the tumor, he had senior residents and the head surgeon working on him. They also were going to video tape it in 3D.  At 11:55 am, we watched them wheel his bed back to surgery. They will need to make an incision from his ear lope to the top of his head for the craniotomy. Then they will fold the flap of skin down and remove part of his skull to get to the tumor. The surgery is suppose to last 4 hours.

No comments: