Jtisdale
07-06-2007, 06:10 AM
OS-delete or move this if you like.
I just wanted to leave everyone a follow-up message to Pete's voicemail to the Columbia reps. As some of you know, Amy and I had planned to spend the 4th of July holiday at Lake Norman with our families and enjoy some time off. Monday was like any other normal day, I took my son out on the jet ski, we went fishing, I mountain biked with two close friends for a few hours. Things changed on Monday evening. Shortly after dinner I went in the back bedroom to return a phone call and check email, the last thing I remember was closing my laptop after doing so. The next thing I know I'm on a stretcher being loaded onto an ambulance headed for the hospital. According to my mother, who was in the house, on the way back to the porch I started to stumble before getting to the door and collapsed onto the floor and began having a seizure.
Once at the hospital, I received a CT scan of my head and it was evident that I had an edema on the left parietal lobe of my brain and that an MRI would be needed to determine what was causing the edema. Later that evening I was transferred down to Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte and the following morning I received an MRI which discovered what my doctor suspected was the likely culprit, a tumor. I have been at Presbyterian since Monday night and am having a brain biopsy (ha ha very funny, they aren't taking the whole thing) Friday around 1PM. My doctor is Tony Asher of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine and from everything I can gather he is one of the best tumor specialists in the region. After the biopsy, they will be able to confirm 100% that is a tumor and if it is cancerous or not. He has also told me that, although he is an aggressive doctor, in his mind this is not an operable situation. The tumor has developed what he termed as "roots" and that it would be difficult and potentially dangerous to try and remove; he noted that it appeared from the MRI to be a slow growing tumor and that it could have even been there for a while. The course of action will probably either be radiation or chemotherapy, or a combination of both depending on what the pathology reveals. Those results will probably be available Tuesday or Wednesday.
I will most likely be in Charlotte awaiting the pathology results and follow up with Dr Asher sometime mid week next week.
Obviously this is a shocking situation that I would have never seen coming, however, I can tell you that I am at total peace with my situation and that I am confident in my healing. There is still quite a bit of unknown and uncertainty surrounding the immediate future but I am not worried about that; the outpouring of love and support has been incredible. I've had a dozen or so close friends drive from Augusta and other cities to check in and hang out for a few hours and then drive back home, and generally there has been no less that four people visiting me at one time. The number of phone calls, emails, and visits has been incredible and I thank everyone for the support and love, it means more than you guys know.
Most importantly for me to share at this time is my faith in God. Some of you may know the spiritual side of me and many probably don't and that has been on my heart lately, even before all of this. Here are a few examples of why I know that God has lead me to this point as an opportunity for me share my faith and reach out to others. First, He brought us to Charlotte this weekend when all of this happened and I was near people who could immediately help me, including one of the best neurosurgeons available. Other examples that are harder for me to think about include the jet ski adventure I took earlier that morning with my 3 year old son Whitt, I can't bear to think about what would have happened if I had started a seizure out on the water with him on the back of the jet ski. As I mentioned I went mountain biking in the woods for a couple of hours, I could have easily suffered a major injury from blacking out while traveling at high speeds down through tight trees. Additionally, to get to the trails and back home I drove a half hour on the highway where I could have seriously injured or killed not only myself but innocent people around me. Rather I was at my parents condo and although I banged up my face some, injuries were minor in light of what I had done and usually do throughout a normal day. This faith is what is sustaining me through what is going to be a difficult and possibly lengthy healing process.
On top of that, the support from my home church and friends has been incredible and to hear about prayer chains going out to other cities and churches from relatives, friends, nurses, co-workers, ect. has been incredible and very uplifting. I definitely get the feeling that there is something much larger at work here and all I can do is share my story.
My dad has set up a carepages link to my progress, if anyone wants to get an update they will be posted here.
http://www.carepages.com/Register?seed=171330&ClusterNodeID=jb06&tlcx1=default
Thanks again to everyone who has called, emailed, visited, prayed, or otherwise cared for me during this situation.
Sincerely,
Johnathan
I just wanted to leave everyone a follow-up message to Pete's voicemail to the Columbia reps. As some of you know, Amy and I had planned to spend the 4th of July holiday at Lake Norman with our families and enjoy some time off. Monday was like any other normal day, I took my son out on the jet ski, we went fishing, I mountain biked with two close friends for a few hours. Things changed on Monday evening. Shortly after dinner I went in the back bedroom to return a phone call and check email, the last thing I remember was closing my laptop after doing so. The next thing I know I'm on a stretcher being loaded onto an ambulance headed for the hospital. According to my mother, who was in the house, on the way back to the porch I started to stumble before getting to the door and collapsed onto the floor and began having a seizure.
Once at the hospital, I received a CT scan of my head and it was evident that I had an edema on the left parietal lobe of my brain and that an MRI would be needed to determine what was causing the edema. Later that evening I was transferred down to Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte and the following morning I received an MRI which discovered what my doctor suspected was the likely culprit, a tumor. I have been at Presbyterian since Monday night and am having a brain biopsy (ha ha very funny, they aren't taking the whole thing) Friday around 1PM. My doctor is Tony Asher of Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine and from everything I can gather he is one of the best tumor specialists in the region. After the biopsy, they will be able to confirm 100% that is a tumor and if it is cancerous or not. He has also told me that, although he is an aggressive doctor, in his mind this is not an operable situation. The tumor has developed what he termed as "roots" and that it would be difficult and potentially dangerous to try and remove; he noted that it appeared from the MRI to be a slow growing tumor and that it could have even been there for a while. The course of action will probably either be radiation or chemotherapy, or a combination of both depending on what the pathology reveals. Those results will probably be available Tuesday or Wednesday.
I will most likely be in Charlotte awaiting the pathology results and follow up with Dr Asher sometime mid week next week.
Obviously this is a shocking situation that I would have never seen coming, however, I can tell you that I am at total peace with my situation and that I am confident in my healing. There is still quite a bit of unknown and uncertainty surrounding the immediate future but I am not worried about that; the outpouring of love and support has been incredible. I've had a dozen or so close friends drive from Augusta and other cities to check in and hang out for a few hours and then drive back home, and generally there has been no less that four people visiting me at one time. The number of phone calls, emails, and visits has been incredible and I thank everyone for the support and love, it means more than you guys know.
Most importantly for me to share at this time is my faith in God. Some of you may know the spiritual side of me and many probably don't and that has been on my heart lately, even before all of this. Here are a few examples of why I know that God has lead me to this point as an opportunity for me share my faith and reach out to others. First, He brought us to Charlotte this weekend when all of this happened and I was near people who could immediately help me, including one of the best neurosurgeons available. Other examples that are harder for me to think about include the jet ski adventure I took earlier that morning with my 3 year old son Whitt, I can't bear to think about what would have happened if I had started a seizure out on the water with him on the back of the jet ski. As I mentioned I went mountain biking in the woods for a couple of hours, I could have easily suffered a major injury from blacking out while traveling at high speeds down through tight trees. Additionally, to get to the trails and back home I drove a half hour on the highway where I could have seriously injured or killed not only myself but innocent people around me. Rather I was at my parents condo and although I banged up my face some, injuries were minor in light of what I had done and usually do throughout a normal day. This faith is what is sustaining me through what is going to be a difficult and possibly lengthy healing process.
On top of that, the support from my home church and friends has been incredible and to hear about prayer chains going out to other cities and churches from relatives, friends, nurses, co-workers, ect. has been incredible and very uplifting. I definitely get the feeling that there is something much larger at work here and all I can do is share my story.
My dad has set up a carepages link to my progress, if anyone wants to get an update they will be posted here.
http://www.carepages.com/Register?seed=171330&ClusterNodeID=jb06&tlcx1=default
Thanks again to everyone who has called, emailed, visited, prayed, or otherwise cared for me during this situation.
Sincerely,
Johnathan