Brain Problems --and other Tender Mercies!

Hello family and friends!

It has been another eventful week! (I'm ready for uneventful!) I guess it gives me plenty to write about??? 

This week I have been feeling so good. I got on some new gut healing medication and it has been very helpful in keeping my bowels moving. Still having lower back problems. I am meeting with the pain doc tomorrow and I am hopeful to find a solution. 

I have been working hard on getting ready for Christmas. I am ready early this year.. and it feels so good! It has been nice to have energy and feel good enough to get some things done. 

Friday, I got to got to the temple in the morning with some YW and awesome return missionaries. It was amazing!!!  

We also made plans to go the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square Christmas concert. We got picked in the lottery and got four tickets. We decided to take Abby with us and then pick up Camille from her apartment in Salt Lake and take her along as well. We were pretty excited to get to go!

Along the way, I started to have some strange symptoms. My right cheek went numb, followed by my ear, neck, shoulder, and torso. All on my right side. I told Dennis I felt like I had gone to the Dentist. It was a slow spread. 

We called my oncologist (Dr. Dixon) and were lucky to get to talk to him. He told me to get to the ER. We picked up Camille and decided to drop them off at the concert, and then they could take the trax back to her apartment's. They told me about it later. I'm so glad that they still got to go! They said it was really beautiful.

We went to the University of Utah hospital. The waiting room was crazy! Probably 100 people sitting in a very long hallway with some attached waiting rooms. One person told me he had been there for four hours, and that some had been there longer than him. 

It was not looking like it would be a fun wait. I gave them my ID and a brief description of what was happening to me, and took a seat. 

After about 20 min, they came and got me and did a quick assessment. Because my symptoms were "stroke like" they issued a "Brain Attack" protocol and got me right back. I felt bad for crowding in front of everyone, but grateful to be seen. 

The rushed me to the brain attack gurney in the hallway, and then to a CT scan. After reviewing the results from the CT, they did not see a brain bleed. They called off the brain attack and got us settled in a room to wait for a MRI. They gave us some anti- seizure medication. It took a while to get the MRI, and we got results back about 1:30 am. They said they believed it was "Radiation Necrosis." It was a delayed reaction from my radiation treatment that I did in January. The brain around the radiation spot was dying, and caused some fluid and swelling. They believed this was the cause of my numbness. They gave me some steroids to treat the swelling and got us moved up to the Neuro-Acute care floor about 2:30 am. They brought us some sandwich's, since we had not eaten anything. 

We ended up staying a few more days, and we were released Sunday night about 6:15 pm. The hospital stay was pretty boring, but I was so impressed by how thorough they were! So many specialists! PT, OT, Neurosurgeons, Social Workers, and a whole team of Neuro doctors listening to my story and analyzing it. In the end, we waited one more day to meet with Dr. Soares, my oncologist that I have been meeting remotely with from Huntsman. It was so good to meet with her face to face. She was missing some critical information, and it felt good to give her the update so she could be better informed. She has been searching for other treatment options for me for quite a while. She is going to request my October scans and the MRI we did on the pancreas. Then we will schedule another virtual visit to see what she recommends. That felt like a tender mercy to me. She will meet with her team of doctors and discuss my case. It feels so good to have so many invested in helping me recover!

So-- long story short, not how I hoped to spend my weekend, but I know the Lord is in the details. 

                                      Glad I joined BeReal this weekend- I got a pic in the hospital!

                                           Free at Last! Sunday night by the tree in the foyer.

Thank you all for the prayers and love you sent my way. 

My YW leaders that I serve with helped me deliver the Christmas presents we had put together for our Young Women. They sent me little videos saying thanks and just sent their love. Just seeing their sweet faces and thoughtful videos touched me so much. Thank you! 

I am also grateful to my children and family for helping at home. Brandon and Kenzie came up and cooked a meal for everyone on Sunday. I was so grateful for them. Joe had planned a party for Saturday night. He made sure everyone was included and fed that night. My parents came and went with Hannah to her special event planned by the primary, the "Temple and Priesthood Preview." It was so nice to know that everyone was taken care of at home. Thanks to my Bishop and all of you for sending encouraging messages. I felt so very loved! Thanks to Dennis who stuck with me and endured the endless waiting and the constant interruptions in the night. We were so glad to get to sleep in our bed last night! Abby got held hostage in Utah and she was such a good sport, even though she is behind on homework. Camille took good care of her, even though she has been sick and is drowning in her PHD program. She has some presentations coming up that are pretty important. I am praying that she will be blessed! Alexa and Abrahm both called to chat a cheer me up. Abrahm passed his CNA test has been offered a new job at the Pain and Spine institute and now does not have to work Sundays!  He also gets the holidays off. That was a huge drop!  (That's what we call it when we drop to our knees immediately in response to the Lord's goodness!) My favorite part of the weekend was coming home to everyone's sweet hugs! I missed them. 

One more funny story! My bed got stuck in the elevator! The wheel turned sideways and got wedged in the elevator door gap. The door open button was broken so the doors kept slamming against the bed!  The poor guy transporting me was so horrified. He has only worked there for a little over a month. He nearly gave me whiplash trying to get it out! I finally insisted that I get out of the bed. (Which is against protocol- so he was trying everything to leave me in the bed.) I jumped out and he was able to pull it right out.) He was traumatized-- so we left the bed in the hall and got a wheel chair. I felt so bad for him--but it makes a funny story! I don't think he will want to transport patients in a bed for a while! My nurse had insisted he take the bed and hurry me down to the scan. She came into the room in such a panic! It was quite the wake up call at 5 am! Poor Dennis nearly had a heart attack. 

I had chemo today so I have been sleeping most of the day. My doctor that I saw today, Peter Hale, did his residency with Dr. Soares at Huntsman. They were going to chat today and make    sure they are on the same page. Blessings! 

Special thanks to my friend Jenn in New York who sent packages filled with back pain relief items and items of love. Several Ward members and friends have also sent items to try to alleviate my pain. I m so grateful for each one of you. It can be overwhelming, this much love. 

I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I called on his enabling power this weekend so many times to help me through this scary situation. He held me, comforted me, and sent so many angels to minister. He even helped me through some very painful scans, as I had to lie flat on my back. I rejoice in his Love today and always. 

May you all be completely surrounded  by His love, as I have this Christmas. 

All my love, Emilie