Justin Beiber, New Orleans, and the Brain Tumor

The year started out fairly boring...but then on January 5th I went to a Justin Bieber concert in SLC with Starr, Sarah and Scotlyn! It was a surprise for Scotlyn--she thought we were all going out for "big girls' dinner"--the concert was Matt's idea, I hear. It was very fun--she was so excited she threw up before the concert! So many 10-14 yr old girls and their mothers...the music they played between sets was old-school Michael Jackson; they certainly knew what they were doing with us old fogies  haha

On Jan 11-14 I went to a meeting in New Orleans with Dr. Richens, Kelly, and Dr. Gibb. It was a Medflow meeting, which is our EMR at work (Richens Eye Center). I ate raw oysters with horseradish whip, fois gras (fatty duck liver), and crab fingers!  ...so outside of my mac & cheese box--I was so adventurous!

During the flight to New Orleans that Friday, I got a text from mom that said to call her ASAP. Because we were taxiing the runway and had to turn off phones, I made her text me what was happening. Matt had been confused the night before, so Starr took him to the ER that next day and found that he had a pituitary tumor that was pressing against the optic chiasm and elsewhere, so it needed to be excised. Surgery was imminent, but wouldn't be until the following Monday or Tuesday. I decided not to tell my fellow travelers, since they would just be preoccupied with me and I couldn't leave to do anything anyway. And I figured once I landed back in Vegas, I could just reboard and fly to SLC to be there for the surgery. Turns out the surgery was to be on Thursday so I had time.

Wednesday the 16th mom and dad and I drove to SLC to be there with Matt and Starr; Jamie and his wife drove up to see Matt and have dinner before he has surgery. It was a pretty fun mood--Matt kept telling Jamie that he needed to hug him because "I have cancer--give me a hug" (it's not cancer...but he sure is using it  haha). I told Matt I was going to make him a vinyl sticker for his car that says that if he wasn't careful :) 

The night before the surgery, in the hotel. Kickin' it, Mikkelson-style.

 His last food before midnight...chocolate cake.

Matt told mom that the tumor was because of cells that were leftover when he was born, so it was her fault; she was shocked and said "It's my fault??" to which I said "of course you gave them to him--he's the favorite! You gave him a tumor and didn't give me anything!"  haha that's where the favorite thing comes in...it's a family joke, but it's true :) These are cells that everyone is born with; it was just fun to mess with her.

Thursday, January 17:
Today is surgery day...checked in at the University of Utah Neurosciences dept at the hospital at 9:15am. It is now 11:30 and should be taken back anytime now. Jinnefer (Starr's cousin from CA) and I and Starr were with him a while ago, and now Mom and Dad are there in preop.

When we drove into the parking structure today, the concrete beams were SO LOW that we kept scraping the top of the truck cap with them  haha it was "schshc..schsch...shcshhcs" over and over. Good thing dad and I thought it was pretty funny.

12 noon: just talked to the anesthesiologist ...this tumor is pretty rare, and is attached to "parts" (that came from dad before I got in there, so I don't know which parts and how much), so they might leave some of the tumor behind as to not cause further damage by trying to remove it all.
This is normal, and is the safest bet. I see patients before and after this surgery quite often, and we do studies on pituitary tumors regularly because of the location and impact in ophthalmology.

They will make an incision on the RT temple up to the crown, remove that portion of skull, and manipulate brain tissue to get to the tumor. Because of the rarity, there will be only senior residents in there (vs 1st year), and they will likely be videotaping in 3D. Whether we ever get to see it or not is TBD, because of liability and such. It will take longer than the 4 hours, because of the complexity and rarity of the tumor. He shouldn't have much pain after, just the incision sites usually. He will have a drain for potential blood as well as fluids, so that they don't cause pressure within the brain. He will be having eye exams soon after postop (in my world, it's to rule out papilledema). He will have some jaw pain as well because they are cutting through the jaw bone at the temple. Matt was more concerned about if any of the IVs or the catheter will hurt, and if he needs to take off his underwear :)

Right now, we have Jinnefer, Starr, me and mom all lined up doing our "blogs". Three of us are on laptops, one is writing in a notepad....guess which one?