Saturday, August 2, 2014

Post-Surgery Update

I am going to start with a huge disclaimer right from the start, that this post is being written by Amanda's husband Cory, and my strengths do not include writing amazing blog posts. So proceed with caution....

On our early morning drive to the hospital, Amanda made me promise that I put some sort of update on "our" blog at the end of the day. I probably would have said yes to anything she asked for during that drive, so I consider myself pretty lucky. 

Once Amanda was checked in at the hospital she went straight to the back to get prepared for surgery. I think we were both caught a little off guard thinking we would have the full two-hour wait time with each other. I was really disappointed when we found out we would probably only have the half-hour right before her surgery. 

When we first found out about Amanda's tumor she wanted me to let out my emotions "because it is good for a person to cry." That one time opened the floodgates and now it cannot be controlled. The daily pep talks of "control yourself, Brouhard" are useless. So when they took Amanda back this morning I found a hidden corner of the waiting room so I could give myself a useless pep talk.

I was able to go back to Amanda a little early. We met again with most of the members of the surgical team and we both felt really confident in the team of doctors. The neurosurgeon referred to the team as the A-team and told us how everyone on the team was outstanding. Fast forward 14-hours and I do agree that the surgical team was amazing!

I was a little worried that when Amanda woke up she might forget who I was and I would have to convince her to marry me once again. What are the odds I could convince her twice? I had to give myself another pep talk when the nurse asked if I was Cory and told me that Amanda had been asking for me. It was the best feeling to know that she was awake and she still liked me.

We received a lot of good feedback on how the surgery went. The biggest piece of good news was that they confirmed the tumor was not cancerous but a highly aggressive tumor. This was a huge relief since the biopsy was leaning towards a low-grade cancer and not a benign tumor. 

More good news was that she was able to keep a good portion of her jaw line. Two weeks ago the thought was that the bone would end before the midpoint of her jawbone between her chin and the back of the jaw. The actual spot was off of the angle on the back of her jawbone. 

She still has a full head of hair. They shaved a small strip on each side of the incision. This is an added bonus.

Also, the tumor was not attached to the brain. It was into the cranial cavity and was pushing on the membrane (dura). The neurosurgeon is confident they removed all of the bad cells and was able to "patch" the opening.

The reconstruction has also gone really well so far. There is a small chance that the tissue that was transferred from her leg to her jaw will not take and they would need to try again. This is highly unlikely but one of the risks still out there. From what I have seen so far it looks like it is doing well. This is something they will watch over the next 48 hours.

There was also a huge concern with facial paralysis. They did not need to cut the nerve which is really good news. I have seen her smile, raise eyebrows, blink, wrinkle her nose, and she could feel every spot on her face that the doctor touched. However, she was not able to whistle. Luckily, she couldn't do that before either.

She was pretty out of it when I saw her but she asked how the surgery went. As I told her each of item of good news she would start to cry.

As I think back on the last 8 weeks or so, it has been a whirlwind of emotions. We have had many sad moments and we have had many happy moments. We are so grateful for the thousands of prayers that have been said on behalf of Amanda and our family. We are grateful for all of the text messages, emails, cards, notes, phone calls, meals, play dates, and help that people have provided. We have had prayers on our behalf from people we have never met and may never meet. We have felt the love of our family, friends, church ward members, co-workers, and complete strangers. 

As we met with a church leader a few weeks back he said that we would get through this trial and look back on it as a blessing and be glad that we went through it. I so look forward to when this is entirely behind us but I know we will always look at this as a blessing. I have never felt more love from our Heavenly Father than I have felt these last 8 weeks. I know as we go through the next days, weeks and months that he will be there for us and continue to pour his love out to us. 

We have been so blessed and are so fortunate that things have gone so well but Amanda is not done yet! She still has a lot of healing left. Please continue to pray for her as she recovers. 

8 comments:

  1. It was such a relief to read this post and hear all of the great news! Thanks for sharing all of your thoughts and testimony through this blog Cory and Amanda. We will keep praying for you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cory- How have you been hiding this secret blog writing talent?! If your job ever falls through you now have blogging to fall onto. Thank you for the wonderful update! Best news I've heard.... Especially the part of you not having to make her fall in love with you again. �� Although I'm pretty sure she would have. Love you guys! Give Amanda a hug from us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cory - so glad the surgery went better than expected. We'll be keeping Amanda, you and your family in our prayers as she recovers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cory, you have do have a gift for writing. Thank you for the update on Amanda's surgery. I'm so thankful for all the good news and will indeed continue to pray for her as she recovers. Sarah Barth

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wowsers! I have to say that as your former English 1A professor that your writing is stellar! Good news here. You and your family have been in our prayers constantly. We look forward to meeting you all once again at Leatherby's....yummmmmmmm sue (and henry)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! Amazing....so happy for you all! Will keep the prayers coming!

    ReplyDelete
  7. So happy that things went so well during the surgery. Now we are praying for a speedy recovery. Ted and Martha Blood

    ReplyDelete