Hi everyone! On this post I will explain everything that has been going on with our family over the past couple of weeks. I am sure you may have heard bits and pieces and maybe even seen unusual posts on facebook. So here it is.
Saturday morning 6/12/10 I woke up around 3:30 a.m. because something weird seemed to be going on with Johnny. He was making an odd noise and I really thought at first he was just snoring so I tried to wake him up a little so that he would stop. Well I quickly realized that this was not snoring...the noise did not stop. When I tried to wake him, I couldn't. After a couple of seconds his body started jerking and at that point I realized that he was probably having a seizure. This was a first for him. I called 911 and they instructed me to try and roll him on his side. This was not an easy task. He was stiff as a board and still jerking. Let me just say I was scared to death. After I hung up the phone with the 911 operator I then called his dad for him to come quickly.
I have never been around anyone who had a seizure. After about 3.5 minutes Johnny started to come around. When he did finally start to come around I was almost just as scared as when he was out of it. He was very confused and had no idea anything had even just happened. This didn't last very long but while it was happening he didn't know who I was or anything else and he had a really hard time talking. During the seizure he just about chewed his tongue off which I didn't know - I just thought he couldn't speak anymore. Anyway, we went to the hospital via ambulance. Immediately after arriving to the hospital they sent him for a CAT scan. The CAT scan came back showing something.
At that point Johnny was admitted to the hospital for a MRI. We all know that nothing happens fast in a hospital unless it is truly urgent. Starting around 4:30 a.m. Johnny had a CAT scan, the report, a MRI, the report for that, and a visit from the neurosurgeon all by mid-morning. At this point I started to worry just because it was so fast.
Dr. Maher, the surgeon, came into the room and said that Johnny has a hemangioma cavernoma on the right front temporal lobe of his brain. A cavernoma is a mal-formed vessel that resembles a raspberry. Dr. Maher described it to us as a varicose vein on the brain. The seizure was caused from this spot bleeding. The surgeon recommended that this spot be taken out.
Johnny stayed in the hospital until late Monday afternoon. During this time we had lots of visitors and phone calls and all were very much appreciated. Both of our families were very helpful with the girls. They were completely taken care of so that did not have to be another stress for us.
Next, on Friday 6/25 I lost my job. I had been there 8 years as a workers compensation adjuster. There had been major issues with an account and somebody had to go. So...it was me. I have to say I have really been torn as to whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. I was very worried about how much I would want/need to be off with Johnny during his surgery. But, at the same time I knew I needed to be working to bring home some type of income.
Over the past 2.5 weeks I have felt God's presence in our lives more than ever. He has truly been with us every step of the way and will continue to be there. One thing that I have been told that has really stuck with me is that God is not surprised. He was not surprised by the cavernoma, he was not surprised by the need for brain surgery, and he was not surprised about me loosing my job. He has a plan. At this point we are still not sure what this plan might be but, we are learning and in the end it will be clear.
So, there it is. As of today we still do not have a surgery date but, should know soon. Currently, Johnny is not working but will be able to return to light duty once the surgery is over. I am working diligently trying to complete my resume so that I can send it out to every place of business that I can think of. Please keep us in your prayers. I will try to update my blog more often to keep everyone up to date.
