The Next Stretch Of Road

Dear Friends,

Thank you all so much for the heartwarming outpouring of support over the past few days. We cannot overstate the tremendous boost to our spirits offered by every well-wishing post and signup for “Christy Sitting.” Mom, Dad, Allie, Greg and I are all truly thankful for your love.

Mom’s surgery yesterday morning lasted about 5 hours. It was a successful surgery, and by early afternoon all 4 of us were sitting in the Neuro ICU, in the same room that we spent so many hours last November-December.

There is good news from Mom’s surgery. She came through with flying colors. There was no damage done by the operation, which is real risk whenever you fuss with the brain, and she had a beautiful, if weak, smile for her family by her bedside. Once again we have an angel for a nurse. This time it’s Dorothy; a name well suited to Mom’s Wizard of a brain surgeon.

But as with any good news, there is also news that our family must now overcome. As we were warned would likely happen eventually, the doctors found regrowth of Mom’s tumor. While this is a blow, it was not entirely unexpected. The Padin family is getting ready for Round 2, as Mom’s doctors begin planning for another, much more intense round of chemotherapy. We have a dragon to slay, but we are suited up and ready for the fight.

Mom is doing well so far post-op. Her physical appearance and overall awareness level are markedly better than at this point after her first surgery. By the time Dad, Allie and I gathered our things in the now all-to-familiar surgical waiting room, some of the pink had already returned to Mom’s cheeks, she knew what day it was, and she could read a clock. She even laughed at some of my bad jokes. These are all good signs.

Good signs or not, Mom did just have brain surgery which, by the way, deserves its reputation for intensity. Mom has some throbbing at her incision site, which we can see clear as day this time, as it is no longer hidden by hair. She is sleeping a lot, which is very good, and and eating very little, which is understandable. On a lighter note, I was somewhat disappointed by Mom’s “look” in recovery. She didn’t have a long bandage wrapped around her head this time, and there wouldn’t have been much hair left sticking out of the top anyway… but there I was facing a variant of that classic dilemma: all stocked up on Troll Doll jokes with no one to tease!

Joking aside, Mom will need some real TLC over the coming days and weeks, as nausea and seizures can both be expected. She didn’t have any seizures last time, but that is the real reason for the constant supervision over the first several weeks.

Dad, Allie and I will keep you informed about Mom’s improvement, and about how you can help. We’re looking forward to welcoming her home (hopefully on Thursday,) and we’re getting ready for her inevitable request that we all go back to work, at least part-time, and let her be with her friends. We are thrilled that the slots for "Christy Sitting" are almost full: thank you all for signing up, and so quickly! There will be other things that we will need, including more driving when Mom starts chemo again, but we'll cross that bridge once she is home.

We did read all the posts from the website to Mom yesterday, after her anesthesia fog cleared a bit. She was thrilled by the caring, supportive messages from all sorts of wonderful friends, family, coworkers, and the vast number of you that cross the lines between categories. I really believe that this kind of support was what brought the color back to her cheeks and even helped her feel well enough to choke down a small dinner last night.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to ALL of you wonderful, loving friends. Your support means the world to us, and we’re going to need it as we gear up for this next part of our journey. Please keep Mom in your thoughts and prayers, and let’s beat this together.

Warm regards,
Lizzie