So where was I? Oh, right. DOP has a brain tumor. Awesome {insert sarcasm}.

Friday morning we met with one of the two neurosurgeons. She was great and answered all of our questions. In no particular order, here is what we learned.

They won’t know for sure what kind of tumor it is until surgery (which is right now as I type this). They don’t know how long it’s been there, although her gut feeling was that it has been there for quite some time….possibly several years. There was very little pressure being put on the brain which is why she only had very minimal symptoms. Also, because of the low pressure on the surrounding brain tissue, this might indicate that the tumor has grown along with the brain as she has grown. In essence, the brain has adapted to the tumor as it has grown in size, thus minimizing the pressure until only recently. But again, this is only educated speculation.

We will not know about future chemo or radiation until after the surgery. The surgeons will need to see how difficult it is to get out, whether there are any fragments left after surgery, and so on.

We won’t know till after surgery if it is malignant or benign, what type of cancer it is, etc. Again, just more waiting for these answers.

As far as brain surgery goes, this is “a routine procedure.” Really? Routine? Whatever.

We need to plan on two to four weeks post-operation for her to be here…possible much more time if there are other complications.

There are obvious complications that we can expect to see. Loss of motor skills in the face, arms, hands, etc. Slurred speech and droopy eyes. Death. Other things that I stopped paying attention to.

Sigh.

It is here that I must remember that DOP loves Jesus. She loves our God and believes in Him with all her heart, mind and soul.

Friday and Saturday we didn’t do much. DOP got to walk around the PICU and say hello to all the doctors and nurses. They started her on an IV drug that is supposed to help reduce some of the swelling and remove water from the areas around the brain. This should help during the operation. In the meantime, DOP wore an eye patch just to help with the double vision.

The meds worked. By Sunday, she wasn’t seeing double when she looked straight ahead. Yeah!

Over the course of the last few days, the surgeons and doctors kept checking in to see if we had any questions and to see how DOP was doing. I kept saying, “She’s fine, let’s go home!”

They never believed me.

Last night, DOP wanted to go on a walk again before she went to bed. So she filled up the squirt gun that one of the doctors gave her earlier and she walked through the halls squirting all the nurses and doctors. She loved it! She had such a great big smile and laughed the whole time. I loved it too.

I have a brain tumor. Can’t you tell?

“Hi, my name is Nathan. Nice to meet you. I’m the father of the cute little girl with the brain tumor that’s walking around shooting everyone with a squirt gun at eleven o’clock at night. Yeah, she has a brain tumor. Can’t you tell?”

One of the nurses decided to fight back, grabbed her own super soaker and ran after DOP! It was a great time for her before the big day.

Squirt gun revenge!

So here we are….

My daughter has a brain tumor, is in surgery right now.

And all I can think about is that great big smile.