Holiday Update

I'm so surprised by the outpouring of support we have had.  I feel like George Bailey's wife from "It's a wonderful life", at the end of the movie when all the community shows up to contribute to helping George!  I knew Stefan was popular from the many 15 minute trips to the store that turn into 2 hours due to Stefan running into people he knows!   But I had no idea that Stefan's fan club was so wide spread!

After the intial email detailing our shocking discovery - we were amazed at the people who found out (trying to trace it back to the original email recipients).  Even Stefan's hair dresser turned up on Stefan's last night in the hospital!

Stefan was home for Christmas - which was such a relief for all of us.  For Stefan's last night in the hospital - he had been moved to the luxury spot of the Neuro ward - the 'bed in the hall'.  The nurses tried to sell it to him as a great chance to watch the ongoings and gossip of the nursing staff.  Anyone else would have grudgingly accepted this choice spot - but Stefan took it smiling and saying "that just means I'm going home soon"!

We had a wonderful Christmas at home with family - enjoying a few big meals - and our very happy daughter - who was also evidently very happy to have both mommy and daddy home all day!

We are still waiting on the pathology report - but have made the request to be placed out of the Vancouver Cancer Centre as opposed to the Fraser Valley Centre as it's closer to my work as well as more friends/family and transit.  We hope to have a meeting with them within the next week or two.  I will try my best to provide regular updates on our Brain Tumour Man!  I can tell you right now that he is still super positive and determined to beat this!

Our shocking discovery...(December 18, 2010)

As many of you know, Stefan has had some health issues the last year.  He has been consistently tired, and would on occasion have trouble finding words.  We saw the doctor on numerous occasions with the possibilities of stress/depression/anxiety.  He had a swollen lymph node in the summer – which was followed up by a run of blood tests – with no inclination that anything was wrong.

The last month he started to have some vision problems (fuzzy spots), as well as a couple dizzy spells.  This prompted another doctor’s appointment on November 28^th which resulted in a MRI referral and some sleeping pills.  They called Monday (the 13^th) as they had a MRI opening Friday (17^th) at 2:30pm.  If he didn’t take this one, it could be a year before getting in.

At 2:30 pm Stefan had an MRI at Burnaby General Hospital.  They discovered an 8x5 cm tumour in his brain.  By 8:45 pm, he was transferred to Royal Columbian and in the operating room.  The Tumour is in his dominant hemisphere, and has put pressure on the brain, causing the brain to shift 1 cm – turning this into a life-threatening situation. (later discussion with nurses – they were amazed he didn’t have stronger symptoms – in particular with his speech).   The surgery  (2.5 hours) was to alleviate pressure, see what the Tumour was, and remove what they could.  They couldn’t remove it all without affecting the part of his brain that controls his speech and the movement of the right side of his body.  We were told the Tumour is Astrocytoma, probably a grade 2. 

We are currently awaiting results on the exact prognoses of the tumour.  We will have a meeting at the Vancouver cancer clinic to discuss the next steps (radiation and chemo). 

Stefan is recovering very well from his surgery (impressing everyone).  His appetite and sense of humour are back in full form!  We are staying positive and will take this one step at a time.  We have a great support system of family and friends – and know we will need it in our path ahead.