by Lexi
In early September of 2010, I noticed that Mike was having trouble focusing in class, and often times he would come home early. He would get these massive headaches to the point where he would vomit. I decided on October 9, 2010 it was time for a trip to the emergency room. After an MRI confirmed a brain tumor, he was admitted to the hospital for a biopsy. On October 28, 2010 he was diagnosed with an anaplastic astrocytoma grade 2/borderline 3 inoperable tumor. Hydrocephalus began to build in his brain and he was sent for surgery to have a shunt placed in his head.
Things went great until his shunt malfunctioned in December, two days after Christmas. When the shunt malfunctioned, he had a grand mal seizure while we were in bed. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. He underwent brain surgery and the shunt was fixed. In January, he was taken to the hospital where they found a blood clot in his left lung; in February he was taken to the hospital for cellulitus in his arm (from a previous pneumonia vaccine, he couldn't even lift his arm in the air). Then in May, he was rushed into the hospital because of a seizure. Since May, he has been excellent. Each MRI has shown no more growth, and in this last MRI the tumor actually looked less enhanced which is a good sign. After five brain surgeries, two seizures, over thirty nights together in the hospital, and at 21 years old, he still wakes up and ends the day with a smile on his face!
