Much to be thankful for...

This week has been exhausting!  On Tuesday, we travelled back to see Dr. Waziri for "the plan" and he has given us little time to adjust to what will most likely be a life changing surgery for Brad.  He offered to do the surgery the following day, but Brad declined, so it will take place Wednesday (Nov. 28) morning.  The surgery will most likely take between 8 and 10 hours, so we have reserved a motel room across the street from the hospital.
Wednesday brought a follow-up appointment with his neurologist, Dr. Siegal, who was confident that we had made the right decision in seeking a second opinion in Denver.
After "doctoring", we began getting ready for Thanksgiving, with the pie making the start of our festivities!  Early Thanksgiving morning, we (along with 3500 others) assembled for the annual "Turkey Trot".  This year our entries included Meredith, Amie, Rory, Elijah, Sophie and Gabi.  The girls ran the 5K, while the kids participated (first time ever for Sophie and Gabi) in the 2K.  They all did great and Amie placed in her age group!

 

Afterwards, we enjoyed our usual amount of wonderful Thanksgiving foods.  We were happy to include Amie's Mom, Susan, this year.

Grayson reading

Gabi polishing off Aunt Mer's jello pear salad!

 

Saturday brought the playoff game between Platte Valley and Kent Denver in Denver.  Another trip down that highway!  I will be grateful when Brad can drive again!  The game was exciting, although the outcome was not the one we wanted.  The team played hard and the community involvement was spectacular.

Afterwards. we went to Dave & Busters (sports bar/arcade) where the kids had a great time.  Rory and Elijah called it "epic"!

Sunday arrived with more family time.  While the Bronco game was on, Carrie and Amie and I took the girls to the Christmas tree exhibit at the UCCC.  They were super excited that there was a horse drawn carriage and we took a ride around Lincoln Park.

Brad made some turkey rice soup and I made a Pinterest inspired herb/cheese bread and Meredith did a scrumptious chocolate peanut butter cake (not a crumb left).

It will probably be our last Sunday dinner together for awhile, but we hope it won't be long to resume the tradition!

 

Hoping and Praying.....

This is a hard post to write this week. All of us are apprehensive about what we will find out tomorrow and how that will affect our lives.  We endured two days of driving to Denver last week and the grueling testing that Brad had to undergo.  The test on Thursday, the FMRI, was physically uncomfortable. They took him back right away, then about and hour and a half later, came and asked me if I had a copy of his eye prescription.  Hmmmm, let me just check my purse.....they finally got it so that he could see and he came away with a headache and 2 red indentations on his temples.  Friday proved to be less physically challenging, but more so mentally!  When he shared some of the questions with me, it seemed that he had just tried out for a position on Jeopardy!  I wondered how many people could realistically answer the questions he was asked. On top of the tests, my Mom had what the doctors thought was a mild heart attack.  Pam was with her and then David and John drove from Iowa.  Don and Vicki will arrive on Monday and are determined to bring her back to Colorado with them through the holidays.  I wish them luck in getting that accomplished!

On the bright side, Spencers' team won on Saturday and will advance to the State Finals, playing Denver Kent on Saturday.  One of the perks for winning (selfishly) is that they will cancel their planned Thanksgiving trip to California and spend it instead with us! It'll be good to have us all together, especially this year.

Gabi, Sophie and Corbin came over on Saturday and of course the girls wanted to do a craft project.  We tried several
things before they settled on making button embellished Christmas trees (doll sized).  I had to laugh as they were arguing over the buttons (I must have 10,000) and Gabi told Sophie to stop being "Miss Bossy Pants" and reminded her that she had previously been reprimanded by " President" Rory last weekend to which Sophie replied, "Gabi, I know.  I struggle with that".  The two of them get along for the most part, but when they don't.....Yikes!

I didn't get many pictures this week...big slacker!  Only these of the girls being silly and some of Grayson sporting his new haircut. I have to be quick capturing him on the camera, as he is always moving.....

 

"We're an aggressive family" (Brad)

We waited on pins and needles this week for Friday to get here so that we could meet with the neurosurgeon at University Hospital in Denver.  Dr. Waziri was worth the wait!  What an amazing Dr.  The five of us (Brad, Meredith, Curt, Carrie and I) spent about an hour listening to his plan for Brad.  In a nutshell, Brad is left handed, thus right brained.  Since the tumor is on the left side, Dr Waziri thinks the best course of action is to remove it.  He will test Brad with an F.M.R.I. (a functional MRI) to map out his brain function.  If this goes according to his (Dr) thoughts, Brad will undergo surgery in December.  We all came away feeling optimistic and "wowed" by Dr Waziri.  Someone asked Brad how HE felt about having such an aggressive brain surgery, to which he replied with the title of this weeks' blog!

Saturday was the semi-final game for Spencer's football team in Eaton.  Of course, the snow began about the time the game got underway, and the snow continued for the rest of the day, on into the evening.  But did those weather conditions stop the fans?  Now I know how the term  "fair weather fan" is applicable. Only the tough could be at that game!  We are excited that the Kersey team beat Eaton and is advancing to the finals, where they will play Bayfield (undefeated) next weekend.
That snowy day was also a celebration with his friends for Rory's 13th  birthday.  Soooooo hard to believe that he is 13!
He had a bowling party and I was there to capture some of the fun!

On Sunday, we had nearly a day long birthday celebration, beginning with Carrie deciding that what she really needed was a "chill" day- a day to do nothing but a jigsaw puzzle and indulge in a few snacks.  The whole gang came over about noon and the kids played out in the snow, or downstairs in their new "office" (something like the clubhouses we had as kids) where they each have a desk.  The girls (and Corbin and Elijah) also enjoyed playing the Wii dance game on the big screen.  I loved this picture with all of them mid-air.  Rory requested for his birthday dinner that we have french dip sandwiches, twice baked potatoes, crockpot mac-n-cheese, and chocolate cake.  If you didn't get enough carbs in that meal, you never will!!!!  Anyway, he really enjoyed every bite!  And when the cake was served, I think he was in heaven!

Later, the kids went outside to sled on the hill on the north side of our house.  The had a great time with very little snow left on the ground by the time they finished.

 

 

 

One day at a time....

It's been a really tough week, knowing and not knowing what we are dealing with concerning Brad's health.  He has been understandably super emotional this week and extremely fatigued.  Much of his week has been spent sleeping.  The doctor said that he would have some adjustment time to the anti-seizure medication- the side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, confusion...., all of which he's had.  On Monday, he went home from the hospital, and in a flash, it was Halloween.  We all (Brad and I, Amie and Curt, Carrie and Spencer and Meredith and all seven grand kids) went trick or treating. It was a beautiful evening, the weather nice enough that I wore flip-flops!  We enjoyed it so much and Gramma loved handing out treats while sitting on the seat of her walker.  Of course, afterwards, we had the usual trading/counting/eating of the candy. 

 Sometime during the week, Carrie was able to get an appointment for Brad at University Hospital with a neurosurgeon, Dr. Allen Waziri.  I thought scoring an appointment for just a week away was somewhat of a miracle!  We are all anxious to see what his thoughts are. 
Mid week, we were surprised by a visit from Doug, along with his Sponsor (Kelly).  He came to our house to get some warm clothes.  I've not seen him since December, and the visit went a lot more smoothly than I imagined.  He is currently living in a group home near CSU in Ft Collins.
Friday night we went to dinner with our good friends, Fred and Beth McGregor.  Had a great time and it was nice to get away from home!  Friday also brought a plane from California, carrying Sarah, Travis and their kids.  We gathered at Carrie's Saturday morning to start our hair appointments.  Brad and I both got cuts and I got mine colored.  We so appreciate them coming to visit, to say nothing of all the haircuts/colors that she does.  Corbin wanted his cut just like Elijah's!  What a cute kid!

 

 Sunday supper arrives via my boss, who had asked if he could bring us dinner.  We are so grateful for the many friends and family who have offered their help.  We had a huge amount of food, seemingly way too much, but we polished that off in a short time. Dinner included an assortment of pasta dishes, salad, bread, soup and two pies!  It was a wild evening with all 19 of us there.  The two babies played with one another, as well as bathed together.  They are so darling!
Meanwhile, Emma organized a "Spa Day" for the girls, with cucumber/avocado masks.

What a difference a day makes....

Our week started like any other.  The ending, however, was not so ordinary.  On Friday, Brad and I went to play in a tournament in Longmont.  We had had our first snow of the year, so it was a little slow going to get there.  Had a great time and went to a fabulous BBQ restaurant with our Ft Collins friends.  Did well in the tournament and planned to play again on Sunday.  Saturday morning began like all Saturdays.  We had coffee, read the paper, rehashed some of our bridge hands and discussed our plans for the day.  Carrie wanted me to go run errands with she and the kids and Brad was going to some  small electrical job. We left the house at 9:30 and he said he was going to try to finish up the job so that he could watch Spencer's team play that afternoon.  Meanwhile, Carrie & I and the kids stopped by McDonald's to pick up their soccer trophies and enjoy a cupcake.

We then picked up Meredith and her kids and made our way to Ft Collins with the intention of getting Halloween costumes for Gabi and Elijah.  Our first stop was the Princess Palace where Gabi tried on several outfits and (reluctantly) chose the "buy 1 get 1 free" off the sale rack versus the one she really wanted for $49... We left there and headed to Party City to look at boys costumes.  Corbin got a picture of the store just as we were parking. We had just unloaded everyone, when my cellphone rang with a man on the other end asking if I knew Brad Simmons. 

I was

startled to say the least!  Anyway, he went on to explain that they had found Brad down at the job site unresponsive and were loading him onto an ambulance as we spoke.  In a not-so-calm manner, we all jumped back into the car with Carrie driving (faster than she should have) to get back to Greeley and to determine where the ambulance was taking him.  On arrival at the ER, the staff was trying to calm him down (he was very combative after his second seizure) in order to get an MRI.  The test showed that there was a mass located in his central brain area that was inoperable (due to location).  That was a scary moment!  The neurologist was undecided as to whether he had a stroke or whether the tumor caused the seizures.  He was moved to ICU and my biggest fear that night was that we wasn't going to wake up. He was given sooo many drugs.  On Sunday morning, after a sleepless night, we (the kids and I) went to see him about 7:00.  I leaned over the bed and said "I love you", and praise the Lord, he responded "Love you too".  It was a really happy moment for us all, just knowing that his language wasn't lost.  It was then that we knew with certainty that he'd not had a stroke.  Later that day, the neurologist (Dr Seigel) and the neurosurgeon (Dr Blatt) came in to tell him what had happened.  He responded to all commands and seemed to understand what he was being told, but unfortunately when Monday morning rolled around (after I'd spent the night with him in the room) he had no memory of that conversation.  So, it was left to Carrie and I who were the first present to tell him why he was there.  A very rough time!  He went through a second MRI to see the tumor after the swelling had gone down and a contrast CT for the rest of his body, to rule out any other situations... Both of those came back with no new findings, and so we were sent home.  We both were exhausted and napped for awhile.  He and I had a long talk last night and although our future is uncertain, I (who have never been an overly religious person) see that God  was so involved in the whole series of events.  There seems to be no other explanation, so for now I am grateful for all I have. My children have been more than supportive and wonderful, as have their spouses and children and so many other family and friends.  We are blessed!