A view from the top of his head. He is resting peacefully now and they are hoping to start him on oral pain medication soon. They had to cut his jaw muscle to get to the tumor and he says that is really really sore.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
I'm laughing in this picture, not because Matt is helpless and in pain, but probably because he told us that he didn't care who was here in the room but he just wanted us to shut up, and Jen (Matt's sister has great timing on picture taking). The nurse was making lots of noise though because he needs to be waken up every hour to check vitals. After this, we dimmed the lights and only whispered.
He is doing very well but in a lot of pain. He says his pain is a 9 out of 10 and he is not a happy camper. He is super thirsty and they can't give him any water until the medication from surgery wears off. They just gave him some nausea medication and they said he can start eating when he feels ready. They think the tumor is most likely cranial meningioma but won't get pathology results back till next week to be sure. He will be in ICU for 24 hours then hopefully they'll move him out to a regular room.
He's out of surgery!!
Surgeon said he is doing very well and was getting comfortable in the ICU. We will be able to see him in about a half an hour. They said they were able to get all of the tumor and didn't have to put drain tubes in him. They did not need to use any grafts and was awake and knew where he was. They will check his vision in a few hours.
Update on Surgery:
Nurse just called from the operating room and said Matt was doing ok and he was tolerating everything they were doing to him but are having a hard time getting to the tumor. They will call again in a couple hours to give us another update. A 4 hour surgery might turn into a 5 hour surgery. I stole this last part from Jen's blog because I left it out of mine and she has a great way with words. He will have a drain for potential blood as well as fluids, so that they don't cause pressure within the brain. He will be having eye exams soon after postop and will have some jaw pain as well because they are cutting through the jaw bone at the temple. Matt was more concerned about if any of the IVs or the catheter will hurt, and if he needs to take off his underwear.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Happy New Year 2013!!!!
We got the new year started off right with some sledding near Nana's house. This was the first time the boys had ever been sledding and they loved it. We borrowed the neighbor's sleds and they had a ball with them. Cooper learned very quickly how to sit and go fast while Parker was a bit more timid and crashed almost every time. Scotlyn and Nana were able to make a few good runs.
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