THE WORST TIME OF OUR LIVES

2007 still hasn't given us a break. In fact, I can honestly say that this year has been the most painful we have ever lived through. We were still coping as a family with the loss of my nephew, who was stillborn in February. But now...the evil demon has come into our lives and taken over it...C-A-N-C-E-R.

My brother-in-law has been complaining about headaches for about 2 weeks. We all thought it was nothing but a migraine but when it got to the point where prescription medication couldn't even help, he made an appointment with the doctor to have an MRI done. I got the call from my sister Erika on Monday, April 16th. Our BIL was admitted to the ER. They had found a "large mass" in the frontal lobe section in his brain. They scheduled him for surgery the next morning to have the tumor removed so we knew it was serious. We all saw him at the hospital on Monday night and he was in great spirits....just as he always is and has been since the day I met him when I was 13 years old. I'm 29 now. He knew he was going in to get this tumor removed but knew it his heart he would come out of it okay...we did too.

On Tuesday, April 17th, my sister Erika and I took the day off from work to be at the hospital to lend our eldest sister some support. We prayed that his surgery would be successful and that it was a benign tumor. The surgery lasted about 3 1/2 hours. As soon as my sister saw his doctor come out to the waiting room, she jumped up and went to go talk to him. A few minutes later, he came over to all of us and explained the outcome. The surgery was what he called "successful." He was able to remove 95% of the tumor. He explained that from what he could tell, the tumor was malignant but we would need to wait to hear back from the patholigist before he could confirm. We couldn't believe it. But with the assurance of the neurologist that what he could have was "treatable," I still knew in my heart that our BIL, my Henry, my sister's husband of 15 years, the father of 2 beautiful children, would be perfectly fine.

We got to see him later that day once he was admitted to the CCU but he was heavily sedated so we simply saw him sleep for 2 days straight. The next day, Wednesday, April 18th, our world went dark. The pathologist report had come back and he was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Grade 4. This is a highly malignant tumor that is "incurable." Even though 95% of the evil tumor was removed, it is likely that it can come back. My sister was told that her husband had at most 2 years to live. When my husband and I went to the hospital that day, I found my sister in a private conference room crying, consoling my 13 year old niece and 7 year old nephew. I cried with them. We were later gathered as a family in that same conference room where the neurologist confirmed what we were terrified to hear. They will start treatment on Henry in about 2 weeks with both chemo and radiation. However, 5% of those that have had this horrible disease have lived up to 2 years and 50% have lived 6-8 months. We were instructed not to tell him anything once he awoke...that he first needed to get better and the doctor would later share the news with him. Do you know how painful it's been knowing this and keeping it from him? It's excruciatingly painful.

Henry awoke on Thursday. He was very "out of it" and was having a hard time remembering everyone's names...but then again, it could have been him just being his silly self...we couldn't tell. He was transferred over to St. Jude Rehab Center on Saturday and he's been there since. He's doing well. He's able to talk and walk, sometimes with assistance needed. He's not completely back to normal, but he's still our Henry. This has been the worst living nightmare any of us have ever lived through. We are truly praying for a miracle. We are praying that Henry has the strength and courage to fight this battle with us by his side. He doesn't deserve this. He's a good person, a great husband and a loving father. Why us God? Why?

I have to keep my faith and hope alive and truly believe that he WILL beat this. My sister has been so completely distraught over this but she's being so incredibly strong in front of him and the kids. The kids are doing okay...they miss their daddy at home but we know he'll be back with them soon. I just can't imagine him not there at his kids' graduations or on his daughter's wedding day. He still has so, so much to live for...I'm praying that God hears our prayers and sends him back to good health. We know it will be a long road but we will be with him, my sister and the kids every single step of the way.

For anyone reading this, PLEASE send your prayers up above. We have to get through this. We just have to.