Update after surgery

I am finally starting to feel well enough to give an update about my surgery. Things were more difficult than we were hoping, but I am finally more back to normal. During surgery the doctor removed the cyst without any problems. However, after doing a sweep to see if there was anything else, the doctor discovered I had an almost complete blockage in my brainstim. It was almost completely blocking any type fluid from moving throughout my brain. The good news is that he was able to completely remove the blockage. However, this did cause
more swelling and air in the brain than was expected. Because of this, I was put into an induced coma for a week, while we waited for the swelling to go down. I now am very close to back to normal. I just have pain in my head, very bad balance, and practically no voice do to the tube while in the coma. We are able to finally go home and the doctor just says it will take time for me to get completely better.
I am very thankful I was able to go to such a skilled doctor. My husband was by my side through everything and I couldn't have done it without him. He has been completely amazing, caring, and patient.
We now are trying to figure out how to make our monthly payments.  I want to give a huge thank you to my company, DJO Global, and fellow employees for helping give to make this easier. I also want to give a huge thank you to my mother-in-laws church, Zionshill Baptist Church, as they have helped give alot to help with this. I can never thank people enough for helping monetarily and encouragingly. Any future help given will be greatly appreciated. This has been an unexpected trial we've been going through, but the encouragement from others has meant the world.

Surgery is Scheduled

I now have a surgery date for November 19! I am very excited to know I should be feeling better very soon and getting this surgery over with. I was able to secure this date because my mother-in-law was willing to pay $7,000 up front and is helping us get out there and stay. She is being a huge blessing to my family for this. I will have my consultation with the doctor on November 18, and then have my surgery on November 19. I will be in the hospital until the 21st and leaving California on the 23rd. I am very great full for her help. Without her I would not be able to go. However we can still use as much help as possible. She has taken out a loan for this so we would really like to add to the money she has gotten so it costs her less upfront and we will need to eventually pay her back for all her help. The other issue is that the doctor we have to go to because of my condition is out of network, so on top all of the other money we will be expected to pay back 25,200 in one year. Our payment per month will be about $2,235. Adam is attempting to get two jobs and I should be back to work as soon as possible, but anyone who feels like helping would be greatly appreciated. At the moment I am just overjoyed that I can have the surgery, but eventually we will have to figure out a definite way to pay for all of this. If anyone knows of any organizations or places I can apply for medical grants, I would appreciate that information as well.

How to Donate

My Brain Cyst and Need for Surgery

For a few years now I have experienced migraines on a daily basis.  At times they are worse than others, but they never go away. For the last year I have also had a loud noise sound in my ear to my heart beat.  This also never goes away. My migraines have caused a big sensitivy to light, sound, and smell. If I don't stay in a dark house most of the time, I deal with alot of pain behind my eyes. I have been working full time through this for the past few years. It has made my life at home difficult because once I get home from work I am in so much pain I can't do verymuch with my family. It has gotten worse in the last few weeks and I am no longer able to function normally. I have gone on a medical leave from work and am trying to do everything I can to get this fixed, so that I can go back to work and back to taking care of my family properly. I have tried several different migraine medications and none of them have been affective. Because of this my doctor had an MRI done to see if anything serious was going on in my brain. The results of the MRI showed that I have a 1.7 cm pineal gland. I was then referred to a neurologist who asked me to go to an optometrist to see if they can see pressure in my head behind my eyes. And they advised thete is. Because of this I was sent to a neurosurgeon to see what they think needs to be done. I was told that the pineal gland did not need to be removed because they believe it is causing no problems and that it was to risky to remove. It is true that a pineal cyst .5 cm or smaller is considered common and usually has no side effects. However mine is 1.7 cm large and according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders classifies any pineal cyst larger than .5 cm are rare. Like most cyst it will also enlarge over time. Once it gets big enough it will start to cause actually brain damage. So of course my husband and I looked deeper into research as this seems like a substantial problem and don't understand how I'm supposed to live with these side effects forever. The reason the surgery is so risky is because in this area and most places in the US they must drill either 6 in wide hole in your scull that is put back after surgery or a hole the size of a quarter that is never put back and is expected to partially grow back over 10 years. Because the cyst is located in the center of the brain, they must move brain matter and possibly cut some of it to reach this area. With these procedures there is a very good chance of being blind or paralyzed as well as other things. However, as with most cyst in this area, it will continue to grow until removed. Once it gets large enough, I would eventually have some brain damage and at that point they would finally do an emergency surgery to remove it. However, I do have better news. We have located a doctor in Los Angeles, CA who can do a different sugery that is much safer. He is with the Skull Base Institute. His procedure makes a small incision the size of a dime behind my ear. He then uses endoscopic tools to access the pineal area. With this procedure he can follow natural paths and not have to move or cut brain matter. This diminshes the risks immensly. It also only requires 2 days in the hospital and most are ready to go back to work in 2-3 weeks.  the other procedures take 6-8 weeks to recover under the best circumstances and with the worst have side effects for the rest of your life. You can read about the procedure here: http://www.skullbaseinstitute.com/pineal-tumor/. We were do overjoyed to find something that will be able truly get rid of these symptoms and allow me to live a normal life. The surgery will be extremely expensive, however we can at least set up payment plans for this. The immediate issue is trying to get to California. Me and my husband will need plane tickets to get out there, a hotel to stay at while not in the hospital, transportation, and food for the stay. If everything goes as planned we should only be there for a week and a day or two. We were obviously not prepared for this and are not sure how long it will take to save up for the trip for the procedure. If anyone would like to donate to help us get there sooner, you can donate through my paypal account.  If you can't donate I understand and would still appreciate your thoughts and words of encouragement.