Jeremiah, Part 2: Why You Should ALWAYS Listen to Your Girlfriend

I am going to preface this story by saying that I know that sometimes I may take things lightly and joke, but believe me, I have not taken this lightly at all. Humor and writing are my coping mechanisms. As a friend pointed out in the midst of my breakdown in the neuro waiting room (while I was blasting all the people who were laughing, playing games, and eating because they weren't having breakdowns), we all handle our stress/grief/nerves in different ways.

Jeremiah's whole story starts back in 2007. That's when I first noticed that his eye was protruding a bit.

Oops, actually it starts back when Jeremiah was four or so and blinded by a wiffle ball that his brother threw. Not as in, he lost some sight, but as in, only shadows in the left eye.

So back to 2007 - I noticed that the right eye was bulging. As we had only been dating for about a year, I approached this as gently as possible. He didn't seem concerned. While in Michigan, an acquaintance noticed it and mentioned it to Jeremiah's mom. Still he was not concerned. After much nagging and about a year, in 2008ish he went to a regular physician and an eye doctor. Both told him he was fine. No tests, nothing. And apparently two shitty-ass doctors trump the girlfriend with no medical degree.

In the past year or so, I noticed that it seemed to be getting worse. I convinced him to see my eye doctors (who are fantastic, by the way) and they immediately were concerned (as any GOOD doctor should be). They sent him to another doctor. This doctor ordered MRIs and CAT scans, but when all was said and done, was not comfortable diagnosing or working on it. So on to another doctor - an ENT who worked in the orbital lobe. This guy said it was bone, but also that because it was heading towards Jeremiah's frontal lobe, HE was not comfortable working on it.

The tumor. You can see that it has almost completely blocked the optic nerves.

So we got sent to a fancy brain surgeon. He is supposedly so good that people come from all over the country to have him work on them and also doctors from all over come to observe. This guy seemed confident that he could do it. Surgery was scheduled.

Meanwhile, there were a few concerns. One - if they did not operate, the tumor (which was in his good eye socket) could completely cut off the optic nerve, making Jeremiah blind in both eyes.
Two - if they DID operate, they could accidentally do something to the optic nerves, and he could be completely blind.

So you can imagine, there was a lot of stress and concerns. Jeremiah made me practice walking him around with his eyes closed.

Day of surgery arrives.

I found Maddie in my overnight bag. She was not allowed to come with us.

Jeremiah's vitals and everything were perfect. They wheeled him away to surgery. About four hours later, he was done. The doctors came to speak with me and told me that he was resting, in a lot of pain, and that the surgery had gone very well. In the future, they might have to go back in if it grows back, but that hopefully they would be able to go in through the nose this time, as it is smaller and more manageable.

In ICU, Jeremiah had to spend only one night. He was allergic to the first pain killer that they gave him, but once they switched it, he rested comfortably. They wanted to send him home the next day (I flipped out. Who goes home one day after a craniotomy?) but agreed to keep him another night, but this time in a regular room on the neuro floor, with a regular door (not a glass wall with people staring in) and a lot less restrictions. His vitals this entire time were perfect - better than mine, for sure, and a lot of that is due to the biking. I never in my life have been so happy to have washed all his stretchy bike pants - if that's what it takes to keep his vitals excellent, I will wash those stretchy pants the rest of my life.

He did excellent the second night, and by noon the following day, we were on our way home.

Since we have been home he has been slowly getting his strength back. He is moving around, listening to music, we have been taking short walks, etc.

That's it for Part 2. But let this be a lesson to you all - The girlfriend is ALWAYS right.