GRATITUDE: 2011

Dec. 2011

This month has been very busy, I am a full time college student and had tons of school work and finals, Eric has a full time job and was almost full time student with 11 Credits, Chelsey was almost full time also 11 credits and Wrestling season started.

Chad was coming home for Christmas for 10 days so we scheduled dental appointments and other follow up appointments. Here is what happened next:

Last Oct.

Chad

came home from his mission with a noticeable hearing loss. I was concerned and got both boys into the Audiologist and ENT last Dec. 2010. I had both boys checked since they both had "failed" hearing tests all through school. Something I didn't worry about when they were young because their dad "failed" those tests as well and was a full grown adult and could hear.

They had poor hearing "That of a 65 yr old man", both had blood tests and Blake had a CAT Scan which came back normal. They were both to come back for a follow up in about 6 months or so. I took Blake in for his follow up in Nov. and he had no change. Chad went in on Tuesday Dec. 17th to see the Audiologist and he said there was about a 10% loss since last year.

The ENT appt was later in the afternoon on the same day and he said Chad had a papilloma (Wart) in his mouth that needed to be removed and that Chad needed an MRI. We only had 2 days to do it, the next day (21st) or Fri. (23rd) since we would be at a wedding in Seattle on Thursday. Saturday was Christmas eve, Sunday Christmas day and Monday he was flying back to Utah. They fit him in on Wed @ 7:45 am. Then Friday was the follow up for the MRI & Surgery for the papilloma removal.

(The dates indicate that if he didn't get the MRI the next morning he would have been in Utah by Monday).

I had Hives and had taken medicine to make them go away but it also makes me sleepy. I fell asleep so we missed the 4 pm appt @ the ENT. They called and said we could still come in if we could be there in 10 min. (Thank goodness it is a small town). What if we couldn't get there in time? Eric took Chad in and was told about two brain tumors one on either side of his head by his ears. One of these tumors is rare, two is "Powerball" rare but if you have two then it probably means you have a Genetic Disorder called "Neurofibromatosis Type 2". I am amazed that we got all the infomation and were able to keep him here to get this fixed.

The main symptom is these two tumors and a couple others which he does have. He however as of today he has not been diagnosed with it yet. He will see a specialist at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute Jan 4^th.

I on the other had have had a hardness in my abdominal area for over a year and a half. I thought it was an organ that I couldn't feel before but can now. It made exercise difficult, I have had difficulty holding my bladder for very long and has made my menstrual cycle also difficult (extremely heavy).

I thought it was odd but saw my doctor at a regular check up Sept. 2010 she didn't notice it (I did not point it out to her) and so I thought I guess it's normal. Dec. 15th this year I saw her again for a checkup and pointed it out to her and told her to check out this hardness (it was bigger since last Sept. 2010).

I have experienced other new symptoms recently and was concerned. She said it was not normal and that she didn't like it. She scheduled an ultrasound and it turned out to be the same day as

Chad

's MRI.

I got my results on Thursday that I had a grapefruit sized Fibroid tumor (99% non cancerous) on my uterus. I will see a specialist Jan 12th. We will both have surgery in Jan. 2012. I hope not the same week.

It is surprising that we were both diagnosed within one day of each other and it made for a Christmas of dis-belief. We are grateful for the emotional support we have already received.

Chad now has to move out of his apartment in Provo, (BUMMED is the right word for how he feels about that!) He loves it there and will miss his friends. We reserved a storage unit and friends will be moving his stuff and storing his car until he recovers and is allowed to go back to Utah.

I will keep this blog updated in between surgeries and full time school. Thank goodness school can be done online! Stay tuned if you are interested in how things are going!