Diagnosed...

One month after my last blog post nearly everything in our lives changed. Our family was living a normal life filled with normal busyness. We had normal family disagreements over kids not eating supper, or which parent was driving which kid to which activity. A couple of weeks before we stopped being normal Matt and I sat together talking about what a great life we have with our four amazing daughters who challenge us but are smart, successful, driven - all of those seemingly important key words...they met them all. And they still do but now with a heavy layer of heartache and uncertainty and disbelief. 







In the late afternoon of June 27, 2021 our 14-year old, Kate, had a raging headache and experienced some blurred vision during a basketball scrimmage. She had been napping more often and complaining of occasional headaches and back muscle tightness. We had a doctor appointment scheduled for June 28th but plans changed.

We debated sending Kate to bed really early to sleep off whatever headache she had but when she stood up, Kate fell over and couldn't walk. We carried her to the van and drove her to the emergency room. Not having yet eaten supper, I grabbed some pita chips and the two of us snacked while I drove and she played games on her phone. She lost vision on the drive. I parked in front of the emergency entrance and ran in. By the time I returned with a nurse, Kate was unresponsive. She was rushed inside where a scan revealed her brain was swelling. She was life flighted to Iowa City and underwent a procedure to remove a large portion of her skull to relieve the swelling. It was later revealed to us that she had a tumor in her brain. Two days and a nine hour surgery later, doctors broke the news to us that Kate has brain cancer. 

While I'm not going to full detail recap the last 10 months, Kate has undergone multiple surgeries, rehabilitations, 6 weeks of radiation, and chemotherapy which will continue likely through the remainder of 2022. 

Kate was set to start her freshman year of high school and had honestly been counting down the days to her debut freshman basketball season. You can plan your life but sometimes life makes your plans. None of us would have imagined these past 10 months. I am happy to report Kate is continuing to get stronger and has a great fighter's spirit. This doesn't mean she is happy about any of this or that she doesn't have bad days - we all do. But she has repeatedly shown us how strong she is. If you are a religious person, please say a prayer for continued healing for Kate. And if you're not religious then we will gladly accept all of the good vibes and juju you can muster.

 

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