So a lot of you know by now, but for those of you that don’t, I decided to write a little something so everyone who wants to be can remain in the loop…
Our world was rocked today… on Thursday my 4 year old little brother Ian, was sick and vomiting… and we didn’t really think anything of it because of how many things are going around… but there was a certain pattern of how things happened. He got a headache then would lie down, and vomit, and get really dizzy… then he’d sleep for a few hours and wake up fine. This happened again yesterday, so we took him to the doctor, and after checking him out the doctor scheduled him for a CAT Scan this morning.
It’s interesting how things can be fine, and a second later life will never be the same. The MRI revealed a brain tumor on the left side of his brain. It’s about 4cm and has calcium deposits… I have no idea what any of that means, except that they have to operate no matter what. My Mom and sister left school as soon as they found out and came home and woke me up, quickly jolting me from a pleasant dream into a terrible reality. We all gathered upstairs and played hot wheels, trying not to cry every time he asked us why we were sad. After the consultation with the surgeon they made an appointment for surgery on Thursday morning. We have to be at Memorial Hospital at 7:45am for an MRI, and the actual surgery is at 11:15am.
He’s not in any pain unless he gets a headache, and doesn’t really understand the severity of the situation. And neither do we, I guess. They won’t have results back until a few days after the surgery about whether the tumor was cancerous or not, so we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now it’s just really frightening facing this surgery where a million things can go wrong, and to stay hopeful when we just want to prepare ourselves for the worst. It’s scary thinking about all the what if’s and the possibilities. It’s hard watching him play and smile and laugh and not respond with crying, because all of a sudden tomorrow isn’t as sure as we thought it was. All of a sudden he’s not just a normal little boy anymore…
We were sitting at McDonald’s eating chicken nuggets after the consultation and we were asking him about the CAT Scan. He got to hold his two favorite stuffed animals during the process, and Susan asked him, “Were you scared?” and he thought for a second and said “Yea, but I was brave.” And we know he’ll be brave through this whole process… like Spiderman, and Batman, his favorites. We all just need some more of that bravery too.
All your encouraging words have meant so much, even though there’s not much to say… We’re keeping it together, my grandma flies in tonight, we’re getting ready for camping out at the hospital, and bracing ourselves for whatever comes next… I’ve cancelled my flight to Africa until we figure out what’s going on…
If you pray, we’d appreciate your prayers the next few days, and especially Thursday… if you don’t, we appreciate your thoughts as well. Thanks for being in our lives…
Nicole and family
