Sunday, October 05, 2014

The world as of late: visits from my brother Mario; cousin Carol and her sweet family; Ulla and Manfred and a brain biopsy at Johns Hopkins University hospital :-)

So, as you can tell from our little collection of pictures, life has been anything but boring around our house lately! I know this sounds crazy, but sometimes "boring" is a good thing. It is only now, as I sit with my head bandaged and a drainage port draining blood out of my brain (I feel great thanks to the pain meds, don't worry!) that I am able to sit down and capture our lives these past few weeks!

We love visitors and we have certainly enjoyed our fair share of them since our trip to Luray! First, my awesome and only sibling, my big brother Mario arrived to come and stay for a few weeks sans the kids. Gabby was amazing in taking care of the kiddos while Mario was able to come here and hang out. We enjoyed some fun times hanging out, heading to coffees and just chilling. He will kill me for saying this, but I am so incredibly proud of Mario for not only duxing (becoming Valedictorian) of his Chief's course, but also being promoted!! Woo hoo! Way to go, big brother :-)

Then, while Mario was still visiting, we picked up my sweet German teacher, Ulla and her lovely husband, Manfred. They definitely outdid themselves with cooking up lots of yummy German foods and hanging out. Zachary loved to go on walks with them and entertain them with his funny stories or show off his trucks and cars. He's such a sweet little boy. We miss him sooooo much, now that Zev and I are up in Baltimore for the week.

Towards the end of the week with Ulla and Manfred, my cousin Carol and her husband, Miguel came with their adorable two kids for a quick visit. We wish it could have been for longer! We actually had to turn away some more potential guests since we had to head up to Baltimore for my brain biopsy this past Thursday. We actually headed up here on Tuesday, September 30th and had pre-op MRI and pre-op anesthesia testing all Wednesday. Thursday, October 2nd marked the day of my brain biopsy and the estimated wait time for Zev was about 4-5 hours. My neurosurgeon, Dr. Quinones explained that he had to dig out as much of the radiation necrosis and the grade 2 level tissue that he saw, and in the process, had to dig out some ventricles as well. Well, that part certainly hurt and when I finally came to in the Neurosurgery Critical Care Unit, I had to be doubled up on my pain meds and a shunt was installed to help drain the brain fluid. I still have the shunt in. Hopefully it can be released tomorrow :-) Zev and I will know the results of the brain biopsy in 5-10 business days. We've asked our whole church and anyone who feels inclined to pray, that this area of concern is mostly radiation necrosis and not new tumor growth. God put a peace on my heart prior to the surgery: I still have a peace that surpasses all understanding :-)

Well, I hope you enjoy the latest pics on our otherwise not dull life! We do love you and pray that you are all doing well.

God bless,

Fiona :-)























6 comments:

Cassy Quick said...

Praying for you and your recovery!

DianeTaylor said...

Fi - I was just thinking about you the other day, wondering if you were in Baltimore. I continue to pray for your healing and for your family. You are so strong! Hopeing for good results from your biospy.

xxxooo from the Taylors in Baltimore MD

Carrie and Andrew Rogers said...

Sending up many prayers for you and your Boys.

The Rogers' Family
Raleigh,NC <3

Sue said...

Still praying for you in Boston!

Anonymous said...

Praying that Angels are wrapped around you and yours. I know the waiting is horrible.

Anonymous said...

Still praying for you. You came to mind today. Miss you. -Ime