I grew up with allergies. Many allergies, more than most people can fathom. Food. Environmental. Chemical. Even the dreaded gluten allergy would befall my fate. But not headaches. Never headaches. Or wine, thank goodness. But then, the headaches began to worsen as the years went by.
The symptoms were always the same, without proper diagnosis or improvement. Headaches reached all across the right side of the head and neck, falling behind the right ear as if it were an earache. But there was never a sign of an earache found.
During the summer of 2017, it became difficult to ignore. One fateful night just hours after the graduation ceremony, I became quite ill with an allergic reaction that turned into a massive migraine. In the days to follow, at the urging of my son, I began to take the situation more seriously.
I received an MRI late in that summer. But then there was Harvey. And the appointment to get the results of the MRI did not seem so important anymore.
The doctor's appointment for the results of the MRI was finally rescheduled for the day before Thanksgiving.
Yes, it was a brain tumor. And yes, it was in a bad location, next to blood vessels. It had to be removed, the only question was when. And that depended on the growth pattern.
I woke up Thanksgiving day thankful for every single breath. I hugged my children, and got through the weekend with family before thinking about the next step.
As I tried to figure out what the next step should be, I want to give many thanks to three special people who quickly came to my assistance - Peggy Collins, Kimberly Roe and Patty Chesnick. Each one helped me take a step forward and assisted with the process of finding a second opinion and the right path of health for me, sought from one of the leading neurosurgeon's at Methodist Hospital, Dr. David Baskin. After another round of testing, it was agreed that the tumor was in a bad location next to the blood supply, needed to be removed but was slow growing and the surgery could wait until summer.
The plan became to manage the migraines until summer, and the situation remained relatively unchanged with a few minor but manageable affects surfacing until then. The surgery went as planned for the first week of June after school was out and all seniors for the 2018-2019 year had walked up the stairs and across the stage at NRG, graduating after a very difficult start to their year. All of our goals were accomplished.
I cannot thank all of those enough who have supported me through all of this. There are so many in my life including but not limited to my kids, Holly and Thomas, my family, my cousins, the awesome Three Penny Press journalism students, fellow Bellaire High School teachers and administrators, the SMBC Graceland Sunday School class, the Inner Loop SMBC group, the ministers at SMBC, the SMBC choir and summer choral program (that Thomas and I participated in summer 2017), all of the HLSR Wine Garden volunteers, to all of the HLSR Rodeo Uncorked Wine Garden #recordbreaking Team #3sheetstothewind volunteers, to all who supported all of the preparations and coordinations. There are currently so many who are taking care of my students this summer, the Team 3 Wine Garden volunteers, my home and all of the other details of my life, it is too many to say and quite overwhelming!
Thank you for allowing me to embark upon this journey to make my body whole again.
I love, appreciate and cannot wait to give a {big hug} to each and every one of you.
Now, back to the 2018 World Cup!
Prayerfully and peacefully yours,
Linda
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