One of Michael's biggest worries is not being able to play with and teach his boys. He worries he won't be able to do the things his boys love to do. They love to ride four-wheelers, dirt bikes, play baseball, football, and anything that keeps them active. He was lucky after the first surgery to not have any side effects from the surgery. As I stated before the second surgery left him with a shaky left hand. He can't grasp anything with his left hand now. But that he considers minor compared to what could have been affected.
Since the tumor has recently started to grow again he is having coordination problems. He gets dizzy and can't make his motions do as his brain wants them to do. Here is an example: Michael is one of the coaches for our 12 year olds baseball team. At our sons last ball game he was throwing the ball up in the air and hitting it to the kids. But he was having trouble coordinating the ball to the bat, this had not happened before. Another coach noticed and helped him out by taking over for him. He is hoping that his next surgery will correct this and not make it worse.
One week from today is his surgery date...I will keep everyone updated.
Since the tumor has recently started to grow again he is having coordination problems. He gets dizzy and can't make his motions do as his brain wants them to do. Here is an example: Michael is one of the coaches for our 12 year olds baseball team. At our sons last ball game he was throwing the ball up in the air and hitting it to the kids. But he was having trouble coordinating the ball to the bat, this had not happened before. Another coach noticed and helped him out by taking over for him. He is hoping that his next surgery will correct this and not make it worse.
One week from today is his surgery date...I will keep everyone updated.
Kristy - I got word of your story from an email circulating at work and felt compelled to contact you. My husband and I are also 32 and have dealt with his major health issues for all of our 10 year marriage. This summer he had his 17th surgery since 2001. So far it's been successful. I'd love to offer my listening ear as one caregiver to another - please feel free to email me and we can meet for coffee or whatever - lmkoeste at hotmail dot com. My husband would also be willing to talk to Michael - they could commiserate on dealing with long term illness.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I recently learned that Christian recording artist Laura Story is dealing with her husband's reoccuring brain cancer - her blog contains some of the details http://laurastorymusic.com/. My husband and I have found great strength in her song Blessings and also in Casting Crowns Praise you in the Storm. Sometimes it's all we can do just to put one of those on repeat play and hold on!
Kristy - I got word of your story from an email circulating at work also.Your story sounded familiar to what we went through 22 years ago. My husband was 34 years old, a carpenter with two young sons when he was finally diagnosed with a pituary brain tumor. His tumor was not cancer but we were told that if it grew larger, since they could not remove all of it that it could become cancer. He went through 28 radiation treatments. His tumor shrank and has not grown any larger over the 22 years. When my husband had his surgery one of the side effects was the loss of sight in one eye and he had a stroke. The tumor has caused numerous health issues that we have learned to live with. Everyday is a blessing to have him with us. I know it is stressful with being the caregiver, but hang in there. The Lord be with your husband, you and your sons. Our prayers will be with you all next week.
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