Words I Never Thought I'd Hear

"Teri, your mom has a brain tumor."

 Those were the words spoken to me by my stepdad this past Wednesday.   They hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought this kind of thing only happened to other people's parents.  Not my mom!!  Not my quick-thinking, take-charge, creative, hard-working, adventurous, fun-creating, hostess-with-the-most-ess Mom!!

For the past year or two my mom's had significant hearing loss in her left ear that she attributed to talking on the phone so much working in office jobs the past 40 years.  A few weeks ago she began experiencing  unsteadiness on her feet and brain fog.     After a recent trip to the Grand Canyon she realized that she couldn't walk even 15 feet from the edge of the canyon without feeling like she was going to fall off, so when she got home she made an appointment with her doctor and had an MRI scheduled for this past Monday. 

The MRI revealed that she has a tumor on the left side of her brain, right inside her ear called, "Acoustic Neuroma."  It's a rare, usually benign, tumor embedded on the nerve in her brain responsible for hearing.  

 

The first symptoms are hearing loss and a ringing sound in the ears, which my mom has experienced for years now.  The good news is that it is not fatal.  However, she will most likely have to undergo a complicated surgery that is very tricky and can cause a few, permanent changes such as leaving one side of her face completely paralyzed and losing her hearing completely.  

More good news is that it is a very slow growing tumor.  Right now it's a little less than 2 cm in overall size. 

 

We've spent a good amount of time researching her condition on a fantastic, informative site on Acoustic Neuroma, and she's weighing her options for treatment.  One option is the Ear Institute of Chicago which  has treated over 1,000 patients with this condition. 

 

 It just so happens that her sister lives 45 minutes from this facility, which is one of the best places one who has this condition can go for treatment.   There may also be a couple of possibilities in the Kansas City area where she lives.  We are hopeful for the best outcome, wherever she decides to go. 

Couple all of this with the fact that she is celebrating her 59th birthday today, and it's no wonder that I've been spending the past few days thinking about how much she means to me and my family.  What a wonderful, faithful support she's been for me. 

She's the kind of mom whose made it a point to be there to comfort me through the pains of natural labor all three times I've gone through it, even though she lives halfway across the country. 

And she's cherished every moment with her newborn grandsons

 

as she's stayed many days afterwards to take care of me after giving birth to them.

 

She's the kind of grandma who has spent hours making handmade Halloween costumes for her grandsons. 

And who isn't afraid to be silly.  And creative. 

Who is willing to pitch in and give a haircut when needed. 

And is the type of person to buy the whole family matching t-shirts on the 4th of July, her favorite holiday.

She's the kind of grandma who isn't afraid to take a stroll down the road into an unknown place called,

"The Play Cave" and go on an adventure with her Davy-Crockett obsessed, oldest grandson with the littler one in tow. 

The kind of grandma who springs for plane tickets for us to come and visit her at her house, and often!

The kind of grandma who dotes on her grandsons and loves spending time with them.

She's the kind of mom who steps out of her comfort zone to get a pedicure with me, even though she doesn't like at all to be pampered that way, but knows that I do. 

 

She's the kind of grandma who makes personalized capes for her grandsons by hand. 

And sits in the back seat on long road trips so that she can watch kid shows as we drive to exciting places like Silver Dollar City!

And takes us to places like the largest Bass Pro Shops in the country on the way to Silver Dollar City!

And she's the kind of grandma who springs for passes to spend many days at Silver Dollar City as we spend nights sleeping in a clean and cozy condo with her timeshare points,

And when at Silver Dollar City she's willing to get wet and have fun with her grandsons

and ride roller coasters with them

and big, scary, swinging boats with them too!

She's the type of Grandma that believes her grandsons should know what it's like

 to swim in a midwestern lake every once in a while

 So she makes it happen whenever she can by renting a boat for us all to go on and spend time together. 

She's the type of grandma who's created a beautiful oasis of a backyard that her grandsons love to enjoy and experience, complete with a goldfish pond.  The type of backyard they dream about when they're not there and talk about being there when they're back home in Florida. 

Truth be told, she's an absolutely wonderful grandma that my husband and I are so thankful to have in our children's lives. 

Happy Birthday, Mom! 

Today we celebrate you and all that you are and mean to our family. 

We love you and are praying for you!!!!

We thank God for the way you make our lives so much richer because of who you are!!