With Laura being who she is, there are a lot of people that love and care for her. Therefore making phone calls is really tough without worrying that I am forgetting someone. Therefore, I have created this blog to keep people informed more consistently and effectively.
**Disclaimer** I will be attempting to use the proper medical language for this, so I apologize in advance for misspellings and misuse of the medical terms. I am going to try to be as accurate as possible, but I am not a doctor and am usually about 5 words behind in the conversation when the doctor(s) are speaking with Laura in doctor code...so bear with me.
Where We Are
For those that may not know, Laura has been having near-syncopal episodes in the past 3 months. Having vague, uncorrelated symptoms, it has been difficult for she and her doctor to determine the cause. Last week, she was in and out of the hospital due to having some more severe episodes(dizzy spells) and 4 in one day on Tuesday. She had a battery of tests done (ECG, EEG, MRI, etc.). Fortunately, when she went back to the hospital last Friday for uncontrollable nausea, they were able to get a MRI Spectroskopy test and its results.
They show that Laura has a neoplasm (mass) in her right hemisphere, though they are unclear as to whether it is truly a tumor and if it is benign or malignant (or demyelination--deterioration of the coating around the nerves in her brain). During the weekend, Laura struggled off and on with nausea, but thanks to meds, Arkadiy's numerous manipulations of her spasmed stomach and acupuncture, Liza's IV's, and some good food, support, and prayers, she has gotten a lot better. Her strength has improved a lot in the last 48 hrs due to eating more consistently now that the nausea isn't as constant.
Yesterday, Laura and I went to see her doctor. He was able to speak with some radiologists, and he was able to provide the good news that not all that we were looking at on the MRI was neoplasm (mass). Instead, it was the edema (swelling) that was making her/us very concerned as it occupies more area and lobes. Also, her doctor is not convinced the neoplasm is causing her symptoms. That being said, he reiterated our wishes to make sure she has more information upon which to base a decision.
The next steps are some more tests. She is having an evoke response (can't explain this one) done tomorrow (7 AM), and a lumbar puncture on Thursday morning (10 AM). Additional prayers during those times would be greatly appreciated. We are also getting opinions from neuroradiologists in Lansing and Detroit and from a neurosurgeon in Lansing as well. I will update again when we learn more. The goal of these opinions and tests are to rule out some things so we are not hasty in getting a biopsy.
Support
First and foremost, we cannot thank everyone enough for the prayers, visits, food, thoughts, acts of kindness and service that have been lavished on us since Friday. Laura's mother has been a calming influence of care and faith, as well as making the house clean enough to serve food off of the garage floor...not kidding, she vacuumed the garage yesterday. One of a kind. Mike, Jean and the boys came in Saturday for more support. Jean hasn't allowed Laura to lift a finger, Mike keeps randomly fixing things, while the boys add the blessing of humor, smiles, and laughter. Along with many welcome visits from friends, it has been a humbling to experience everyone's love of Laura.
Make it known that your prayers are definitely felt. It is difficult to explain the peace that is upon our home and hearts, but God is here and fast at work. Please continue to keep Laura's health (clarity of information, right hemisphere, and episode symptoms specifically) in your prayers. I will do my best to keep everyone updated.
Do not hesitate to pop in and see her, knowing that her spirits are positive and she is obviously a loving, people person. As for any calls, feel free to contact me on my mobile. Just email me and I will send you my cell # (not so sure about posting it on the net).
God Bless
