How this saga began

12/27/2007-

For the last couple weeks I had been having lightheadedness/dizziness when I would stand from a sitting position. It was occasional, so I wasn't too alarmed by it. I have occasional back problems and thought it was related to my back, so I set up an appointment at a local Chiropractor in Marengo. It was my first appt with this Dr, so he went through a thorough assessment of my back. It took about an hour. When I left, I went home. I was not feeling that great, so I layed down to see if it would get better. As soon as I layed down, nausea took over and vaulted me to the bathroom. Dizziness and Nausea was a big clue that I needed to go to the doctor immediately. I went to the Dr. Office and told them my symptoms. They immediately thought I had a common inner-ear infection. To confirm this, he wanted me to go to the ER and get a CT Scan. Obviously, I couldn't drive so the Doc had to call my wife at work in Rockford (about 25 miles away).

Kim came and picked me up and took me to the ER at ST. Anthony's Hospital in Rockford. After about 3 hours of waiting, we finally got into an ER room. Per the Doc's order, I had a CT Scan around 6pm that night. This is where it gets interesting and surreal...

The ER Doc comes into the ER Room about 30 min after I had the CT and the Radiologist had read the CT Scan. With the bedside manner of a Toad, he starts the conversation with " I Have Some Really Bad News....You Have TUMOR! and we are admitting you". Let me tell you, hearing that was like getting slapped in the face with a frying pan.

The doc paged a Neurosurgeon Dr. Crute to consult on my case. It took an additional several hours for her to come in, but she has been amazing. I spent the rest of Thursday night getting admitted to a room in Neuro and having a barage of tests including MRIs taken on me.

Friday Morning, Dr. Crute came through on rounds to explain what they found. They found a 7 centimeter (3 inch) mass in my right temporal lobe. The mass was called and AVM or A Vascular Malformation. Without treatment, the mass would have killed me. We decided the only option was for Dr. Crute to do a craniotomy and transect the mass. They also found a secondary smaller mass on the top of my head, but decided against transecting it due to the risks of key motor issues in the brain. The Surgery was scheduled for Saturday Morning and I began the process of "Getting my Affairs in Order".

I went into surgery around 8:30 Saturday Morning and 11 Hours, 38 minutes later, I woke up to the beautiful site of my wife and family! I was conscious and lucid. In my mind a complete success. My biggest fear was not being lucid.