A.m.a.z.i.n.g.

The week has been scary and amazing all at once.  Wednesday morning, we were at University Hospital by 5:15am to get the MRI and then to proceed with surgery.  Dr. Waziri informed us that he would not give us any updates until the surgery was complete.  At first we thought that sounded a little insensitive, but he explained that he wanted to focus 100% of his attention on Brad.  That was reason enough for us all.  The surgery lasted 8 hours, just as we were told.  The time went by relatively quickly as Carrie had thought to bring a jigsaw puzzle, Heather stopped by with snacks and for a visit (super sweet of her, by the way), and ironically I was reunited with some friends from Greeley (Sherrie and Carrie) whose Mom, Irene Lauer, was having surgery at the same time. They sat and visited with us for quite awhile.  All and all, the time passed quickly and about 3:00 Dr Waziri popped out of nowhere, to say it was done.  About 45 minutes later, we were allowed to see Brad, 2 at a time.  This is where the "amazing" comes in....When we saw him, he looked basically like nothing had transpired, except for a bandage around his head.  His first words were, "I feel great!  I can't believe how much better I can see and how much more clearly I can think!"  Ok, that was NOT what we were expecting following a resection of his brain! 

pre-surgical markers

waiting room puzzle- done!

Day 1- post op

Day 3 -EEG still connected



First look at his incision

The first 24 hours went great.  Then he began having some language issues.
It was determined after a couple of CT scans and the EEG, that he was having mini seizures in the residual tumor tissue.  The tissue was "angry" at having its' blood source removed.  Dr. Waziri added another anti-seizure drug and within a few hours, he began improving...going from not knowing his birthday or what color the sky was , implementing some "words" that were a new language to being able to answer those questions appropriately.  He struggled with word finding and then on Saturday, he really started doing better.  We had to laugh though, when we asked him that morning if he'd had breakfast and if so what. He said he'd ordered it himself, but when it arrived, it wasn't what he had in mind.  He said he had some yellow beans, some green peas, and something else.  When we asked the CNA what he had ordered, she said that the tray was filled with some random breakfast choices- 2 bananas, 2 sausage links, 2 glasses of pepsi  (which he never drinks) and a cup of coffee. Luckily, we brought him some granola and milk from the hotel, which he said was what he REALLY wanted when he ordered....just couldn't find the words! 
On Saturday, Carrie and I drove home as she was missing her kids and vice versa.  They were SO excited to see her, and as a surprise, they (supervised by Dad, Spencer) had decorated the house for Christmas. He had also made a nice dinner for us all. So thoughtful! Curt and Amie stopped by the hospital that evening to visit Brad prior to celebrating Susans' retirement from her nursing career. And now for the grand finale of our week....he was discharged on Sunday and we made it home just in time for the Bronco game (although he slept through most of it).  The girls made us soup and bread for our Sunday dinner (don't think he's quite up to cooking yet!) and the kids decorated Christmas cookies for him. I cannot find the words to describe just how thankful I am with the outcome!  He was super excited to be able to sleep in his own bed (uninterrupted) last night.....sometimes the small things mean a lot!
Getting ready to post and want to say "Happy Birthday" to Meredith (41 today....yikes!) and also to welcome Emma to the wonderful world of womanhood!  P.S.  Most of it is pretty wonderful!