I'm starting this blog to keep our friends and family informed and up to date on Sarah's condition over the next few weeks and months.
I'm a first time blogger and a bit rusty in my storytelling but I hope this will be helpful to those of you who are concerned...and don't expect and fancy decorations as my scrapbooking skills are in the slim to none category.

About 2 1/2 months ago my lovely wife Sarah and I found out that she was pregnant with our 5th child.  This came as quite a surprise to us both.  Yes, we know how it happens but apparently knowing is only half the battle...oops.  I take full responsibility for this one.  Anyway, after getting over the initial shock we have embraced the challenge and have been excited.  We thought we were done and were ready to move on with the next phase of life.  We had gotten rid of all the baby stuff.  I was counting down the days to that last poopy diaper.  Whenever anyone asked if we were going to try for that girl my answer was always the same.  "Hell No."
 I admit, I had been a bit baby hungry in the previous months though, as much as I convinced myself I wasn't.  Anyway, we are excited and can't wait for the new addition to the family.

We have 4 young boys and our life is hectic but very happy...never a dull moment.  Sarah is an amazing mom.  I would put her in the ring against any mom out there and bet money on her.  It takes some serious skills to be the mom of 4 boys.  You have to have thick skin, a good sense of humor and the awareness of a prison guard.  She is perfect for them and loves them like nobody else can.

In the early weeks of being pregnant she started to get nauseous, which is pretty typical.  It seemed a little worse than normal but not extreme.  She also started having some really bad vertigo.  Over the last few months the nausea and vertigo got worse.  I also started noticing that her speech was changing and it was getting harder to understand her when she spoke.  She has had trouble writing her name, drinking water and other simple things that we take for granted. She has been really uncomfortable and felt like things just weren't right.  It would be an injustice to her for me to try to explain everything she has been going through but overall her condition had become unbearable.

Anyway...on June 5th, her 38th birthday, she was feeling extremely sick.  She called me and said she was going to have her friend take her to the ER.  I met them there.

After all the back and forth and trying to decipher what was going on Sarah decided that she wanted to get a CT scan.  We wanted to do an MRI but they said it was risky, being pregnant and all.

I was watching out the door as the doctor was reviewing the results of the test on his screen.  He called another doctor over, then a nurse and pretty soon a few others.  I could tell something was up.
He came back in the room and told us that things just did not look right, that they were seeing something that caused a good bit of concern.  They decided then that an MRI was necessary despite the possible risks.
The results of the MRI came back and the doctor informed us that Sarah has a tumor in the center of her brain about the size of a walnut, maybe a golf ball even.  My initial gut reaction was to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger from the 90's movie Kindergarten Cop "It's not a Toomah"...but I didn't.

We were shocked honestly.  No other way to put it.  You just don't expect that kind of stuff to happen to you.  Yet I think in a way Sarah was somewhat relieved to know that there actually was something to attribute the symptoms to and that they had possibly found it.

Their opinion is that the tumor had finally grown enough to start putting pressure on other things in there, which was affecting her balance, motor skills and overall state of being.
I'm not even going to pretend to know all the scientific names and terminology for all the stuff they talked to us about but they said that it is in a tricky spot and that would most likely need to come out fairly soon.

Yesterday we met with Dr. Randy Jensen at the University of Utah Hospital.  He's a neurosurgeon.  He reviewed the MRI results and did a bunch of tests on Sarah and determined that it would be in Sarah's best interest to get the tumor out of there pretty soon.
He also said that it is in a very delicate spot in the brain and pretty far in from the skull, making the operation that much more challenging.  On top of that, the fact that she is pregnant adds a whole list of challenges to the procedure.  He was confident that it could be done though and suggested we move forward. There are risks of course, to Sarah and to the baby, but we feel that this is necessary to get her back to feeling good and functioning again and for her long term health and well being.
 
He will do a craniotomy, basically cut a hole in the back of her skull and open up the brain to get in there where this thing is.  If you are the queezy type and not really into gore, do yourself a favor and don't spend 2 hours looking at craniotomy pictures online....just sayin'.

Sarah and I both felt very confident with him and still do feel a peace about everything.  Sarah especially is ready to get it done and her attitude is very optimistic.  We feel like no matter what the outcome is that things will be okay.  Not much more you can do really.

We have had an overwhelming amount of kindness and voluntary help from family, friends and neighbors who have given of their time to help with the kids, the house, meals etc.  I have had to continue at work so it has been extremely helpful to have so many people step in and help out.  In the next few weeks and months I know we will be needing a lot more.  This is something we are not used to.  We don't like to ask anyone for anything but I am very grateful for everyone.

Anyway, her surgery is scheduled for June 25th.  We ask for your prayers or your thoughts or whatever it is you do.   She will need them.

I will try to keep this up to date in the coming weeks.  Thanks for reading.

We love you Sarah.