I think all of us are equipped with instincts as children that give us hints of who we will one day be. For some, it could be a draw to medicine, animals, science, sports, etc.
When I was a child, I always knew that I would be a career woman, and a mommy.
I was lucky enough to have 2 beautiful pregnancies that resulted in 2 perfect boys:
(They may look similar, but those are actually 2 different babies that both look exactly like their daddy!)
When I was pregnant with our last baby, we knew he would be our last. My husband and I had always envisioned a life with 2 children, and we are beyond blessed to have fulfilled that dream.
Shortly after I finished nursing our youngest baby, I began having seizures that lead to the discovery of 23 tumors in my neurological system and a diagnosis of Neurofibromatosis II (NF2).
After having 2 craniotomies to remove meningiomas, we learned why the symptoms showed themselves so suddenly; the same hormones that created those babies had actually caused my tumors to grow as well.
In hindsight, I’m so glad that we didn’t know of my diagnosis until after I had given birth to those boys. Otherwise, I know that we wouldn’t have them.
Every time we hear the dangers of pregnancy for NF2 patients, it reinforces how lucky we are to have completed our family… and even luckier that neither of our boys inherited my genetic disorder.
After surgery, we began to consider our options for long term care. My oncologist was the first to teach me that chemotherapy comes in many forms. I’d assumed it would be like what I’ve seen on Grey’s Anatomy; a sickly person with no hair in a cold chair, hooked up to an IV for hours.
Instead, my first round of chemo is a light drug called Lupron. It is easily given by a quick injection, and works by killing my ovaries, and therefore eliminating all of the hormones from my body. The idea is that we may be able to starve my meningiomas by cutting off the hormones that feed them.
So, in February of 2018, I finished nursing our last baby. And, in February of 2019, I started going through menopause. That’s right; the injections have put me through medically induced menopause at just 32 years old.
Hot flashes. Irritability. Weight gain. Hot flashes. Sleeplessness. Forgetfulness. Hot flashes. Headaches. Did I say hot flashes?
Thank goodness this Spring in Colorado has been cold enough to help me maintain my body temperature!
I debated sharing this picture, because if you look closely, you can see a chunk of new hair flying straight up. It is something I am so insecure about; a small, yet ever present reminder of the brain surgery I had just 6 months ago.
But, I’m sharing anyway. Because there are pieces of this journey that are not pretty. There are pieces that do not lie down exactly how we want them to, and that’s okay.
Those are the pieces that remind me how far I’ve come since my diagnosis just 10 months ago, and they continue to motivate me to keep pushing through the inevitable hard days.
This is my story, and it is not over yet!
**To those of you struggling with fertility, those who are unable to have children due to medical complications, and those who have children with genetic disorders, our hearts and prayers go out to you!**
Craniotomy Me 