August 29, 2008 Email

Hey Everyone,
Thank you for all of your continued interest and out-pouring of love and support.
I am going to be fine.

We saw the oncologist(sp?) on Tuesday to investigate the possibility of radiation, Cyberknife, treatment. Clay felt pretty optomistic about it and to me it sounded too good to be true. Clay kept reminding me to not decide anything until after we met with the Surgeon.
So Thursday afternoon we went to the University of Utah to meet with the surgeon.We had some really good news, the tumor is actually smaller than we orginially were told, so that is good. But after that consultation we both feel that surgery is the best option for me.
If I was 20+ years older then maybe the radiation would be a good option. But there is still so much unknown about the long-term side effects of it. Because I am planning on a long life still ahead of me, with the surgery it can be totally removed. Yes, there are possible serious side effects but it is all tried and true, so to speak. This Dr. is THE guy to do this surgery. They go in above the ear and remove a piece of the skull, remove the tumor and take fat from my abdomin to put as a replacement/cushion and then put the bone back. I asked if that meant I also get a tummy tuck ...he said no, but he did smile just a little bit. One of the big hopes is that the surgery can hopefully not affect the rest of the hearing in my right ear...that is somewhat the unknown with either course of treatment. But if hearing loss is the worst thing to have to deal with when this is all over, I can handle that. However, between Clay's 'natural' work-induced hearing loss and now mine...it's pretty pitifull when we are talking to eachother NOT face to face...we are pretty funny, like a toothache funny!

So, for today at least, that is our plan and it feels good to have a plan.
Of course we also had a curveball thrown at us this last week...but not too big of a surprise I guess, we were told our health insurance would not cover me having treatment at the University of Utah...but we think we have that figured out. We just keep taking each step, one at a time.
Clay has been such an amazing partner in all this. He has gone to the doctor appointments, asked the right questions and literally supported me as I walk, which is often times very off balance!

I will have the surgery either the beginning of Dec. or Jan. The recovery time is 8+ weeks, and because the tumor is not a fast growing kind, the doctor said I have 3-6 months to get the surgery done.

So, in the meantime, we are counting the weeks until Barb & Lane make us first-time Grandparents to a baby girl in November!! We are so excited!

So, that is the latest information...if anything new or important comes up I will let you all know.
Thank you again for all of your love and support. I have great faith that this will all work out just fine.

Take care!
Love,

Joni