“Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon - Dag Hammarskjold”
Oh how that quote stands so true! A year ago (September 1st), Mike underwent his brain surgery to remove the cancerous tumor. A day I will never forget. I feel that Mike was less scared than I was. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Pulling up at MD Anderson (which was still very new to us) at 5 AM in the morning to prep Mike for surgery at 6 AM. In all honesty writing this brings tears to my eyes, for the journey ahead was unknown.
Family & friends piled into the waiting room awaiting every update from the nurses. I believe we anticipated a longer surgery, but within 2 ½ hours, the nurse came out and informed us, the tumor was removed and the Doctor would be out to talk with us. My heart was still and I waited anxiously for Dr. Weinberg to turn that corner. When he came into the room, he had nothing but smiles on his face and said all went GREAT and the ENTIRE tumor was removed! To this day, I still praise GOD for the tumor being in a place that complete extraction was possible. Dr. Weinberg hugged us and said Mike is in recovery and we could see him soon. GOSH, like getting ready for our first date, I had butterflies in stomach – I did not know what to expect. I had never seen ANYONE post surgery, and did not know what Mike was going to look like. The walk to the recovery room was the LONGEST walk of my life. As we entered and rounded the corner, there laid Mike, drugged and vulnerable, yet still witty! The love of my life, who is the strongest man I know, lay there in his surgery gown, with IVs hooked up from every direction – I cried.
It wasn’t too soon after that, that Mike grabbed my hand and knew who we were (I know it sounds silly, but I truly did not know what to expect). Just having major brain surgery, I did not know if they may have snipped a nerve that would make him forget us all…I know, I watch too many movies!
The day progressed and after what seemed forever, Mike got a room (I say it was the penthouse of all hospital rooms at Hotel MDA). We settled in and the fun began! To this day I will never forget the nighttime nurse that we had – if you can imagine, she was a short little elderly red head and feisty. If you can picture it, she reminded me of the little old lady that sings “hip to the hop, hippty hop” in the Wedding Singer. Any how, she was a GREAT nurse. Poor Mike was on so much medication that caused tempers to flare, and she took it all with a grain of salt and ensured my Hubby was taken care of. Though our stay in the hospital was only 2 ½ days – YES 2 days – in fact, Mike was up and coherent the same night of his surgery! Dr. Weinberg came in the next morning and could not believe it! His exact words were “I cannot believe you had brain surgery yesterday!” Praise GOD!
As this week has been so hectic with the upcoming remembrance of 9/11, the turmoil of the wildfires spreading through Texas, the flooding in our northern states, tropical storms forming in the gulf, I completely forgot about this important date. So to me, I have to say it is quite a celebration! A time of year that will never be forgotten and a date that I will celebrate today knowing that Mike continues to defy all odds and the Cancer (which to this day is still scary), but for our family we praise GOD for coming around this curve fast and furious and kicking cancer to the curb one day at a time.
In closing, for all of you that have been on this journey since day one, for the ones that joined us along the way, and for anyone just starting the first page today --- we thank you! As I say the amount of support and love that we receive from you ALL on a daily basis, along with our GOD above is what gets us through our brightest and darkest days!
XO Lyndie
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