No news. Just pics.

Still no word from Dr. Weingart on recommended next steps. I emailed him on Monday and Tuesday and called his office on Thursday and Friday. Finally spoke with someone on Friday who said they'd track down an ETA on the final path report. I'm taking it as a sign from God to be patient. He's working on it.

So until we hear, here are some pics to enjoy. Thanks again for all your love and prayers. We are fed by them.

Love,
Kim

On our way to school. I promise, she does smile, but never when we have the camera out.
I think we have a Victoria Beckham on our hands

SGB's new swimsuit. Gotta get to the pool fast before she outgrows it!

Lazy Saturday morning in my favorite jammies and frog socks. 
Thanks Slutzkys and Kristin!

Jesus statue at the Basilica in Baltimore.
This is the wallpaper on my phone, which I always have with me, to remind me that He is always with me.

I can do this.

My welcome home party was last night and it was beautiful! Thank you so much to those of you who came out. A big special thanks to Tad for hosting it, to Becky & Thinh for the cake and flowers, and to Mom for babysitting Sydney. If I wasn't cheery at times, it was because I'd received my pathology results 45 minutes before.

I had a grade 3 tumor, Dr. Weingart said. This was not good news. All of the neurosurgeons and radio oncologists that had looked at my scans -- at Emory, Duke, UCSF, Peachtree Neurosurgery, and Johns Hopkins -- independently said it appeared low-grade. Grade 3 is high-grade.

Typically, folks with grade 3s are automatically given radiation and chemotherapy. But my case is a little unique. Dr. Weingart is taking my case to his tumor board on Monday to discuss it further. He was surprised my path came back as grade 3 when all indications were grade 2 (slow-growing, defined borders, etc.). He said there is some overlap in how grade 2s and grade 3s behave and mine was likely to behave as a grade 2.

We're still waiting on some information to determine next steps, but this I know for sure: I'm going to be OK. I keep hearing God say, "Kim, trust Me." I do. I can do this.

Regardless of what we hear from Pathology at Johns Hopkins in the coming week, we're getting a second opinion at UCSF thanks to my "cousin" Gretchen Werner. And a third opinion if the two are night and day.

Thanks to you all for your continued love, support and prayers! Our family is riding on the wings of hope.

Here's a pic of SGB from today. We are obsessed with her.

Goodbye Baltimore!

If it were any other situation, I'd hate to be leaving Baltimore in the morning. But I am SO ready to get back to Tad, G Dog, and Sydney who is three months old today! Happy 3 months, SGB!

I bought her this little stuffed dog in a baby boutique today. Couldn't help myself.

Had my staples removed today. It really wasn't so bad. Mom videotaped it and all you can see is me smiling at Dr. Weingart. He's my hero.

The path report wasn't back yet, but he said it was likely an astrocytoma, or blah blah blah (something with seventeen syllables). I asked which I should hope for and he said the blah blah one, but not to look it up. Just live my life and be happy. Because the survival stats are old and they are generalized to the population at large. There's no accounting for my age, health, or successful tumor removal. And IF it comes back, we'll just do the surgery again.

So there it is. Until I hear otherwise, I'm living life and being happy.

Goodbye Baltimore. See you tomorrow Tad, SGB, and G Dog!

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

I feel great today, but yesterday was ugly. Couldn't get out of bed until around 1pm and then had to curl up on the sofa for the rest of the day. Not sure if it was that I'd taken the last of my steroids, or that I'd pushed myself too hard previous days, or all the anesthesia leaving my body, but I felt terrible.

What a difference a day makes! Today we took thank you's to my Neuro ICU nurses, Jade and Lindsey. I wished they'd have been there for me to thank in person. Being at the hospital, walking the halls, feeling strong -- I was so grateful. 


Tomorrow at 8:30am I'll get my pathology report and my staples removed. Please pray for a good path report. I don't even know what I mean by "good". Just not "bad". One that makes follow-up treatments unnecessary. One that puts this tumor in its place. One that makes Dr. Weingart smile.

I'm also anxious about getting the forty five staples removed. I must've asked Dr. Weingart's office multiple times how to prepare myself for the staple removal. "Now, do you do anesthesia? No? Okay... So people tell you it feels like a pinch, huh?" Forty five pinches? God give me the strength.

Mom and I have been recounting the days, recounting our blessings. There is no greater blessing than the love Mom has given me. She is such a spectacular mom. She will do anything for her children and it feels *so good* to be that cared for. Here's a pic taken in NYC the night before her surgery.

I'm so glad you're OK, Mom.

Life is beautiful!

This I know for sure.

To all of you who have prayed for me, I humbly, on my hands and knees, thank you. Prayers have been answered! Glory be to God.

Had to say goodbye to Tad today as he returned to Atlanta. It was hard and I miss him already but I'm glad that he'll spend his first Father's Day with his SGB and G Dog. I know he is SO excited to see our babies again. Thinking about it warms me up inside. (Here's a photo of us at the restaurant where B&O Railways used to have its headquarters.)

Mom and I are making the best of things here in Baltimore. After our seventh day here, I still stand behind my Facebook posting, "Baltimore is beautiful." We went to the Baltimore Museum of Art and I was particularly taken in by the sculpture gardens.

  

I'm feeling great. Sometimes I forget when I reach up to scratch my head that there are staples there.
I still have some ways to go before feeling "normal". Like I have a hard time articulating my thoughts succinctly. And really have to concentrate to read lengthy paragraphs versus skimming text to get the gist. But even if those things don't come back, which I'm convinced they will, I will be fine. Perfect, in fact.

Got these books for SGB at the museum. Cannot wait to read them to her!

Love and thanks to you all!

Kim

Nobody Wants To See That

Hello again, Kim fans -- Tad here. Kim really wanted to write a blog update herself today, but any moment she wasn't out conquering the world was spend recovering horizontally on the hotel sofa. We started the day bidding farewell to Kim's brother and father (traveling back to New York and Alabama, respectively). After a lengthy shower spent delicately and meticulously washing her hair, Kim enjoyed brunch with her mom while I ventured out on an errand.

You see, the scar from Kim's incision stretches across the top of her head like a headband -- nearly from ear to ear. I won't get graphic, but I will relay the words from her neurosurgeon, Dr. Weingart: "Be sure to get yourself a hat. An attractive one. 'Cause... (gesturing towards Kim's head) nobody wants to see that."

Now that Kim has the energy to get out, she made the most of it. I procured an 'attractive' hat from Banana Republic, and Kim, her mom and I attended noon mass at the Basilica -- http://www.baltimorebasilica.org -- America's first Cathedral. Truly amazing, that place. Intrigued by the Blue Angels flying in formation overhead, we walked to the harbor to check out the Star-Spangled Sailabration -- http://www.starspangled200.com. (Kim picked a great week to have brain surgery in Baltimore)

In all, Kim was out and about for six and a half hours straight. She's walking on her own power, as she has ever since Tuesday. Her mind is as sharp as ever. She has to keep her facial expressions to a minimum as it adds pressure and pain to her head wound anytime she smiles. (sorry, babe) Nonetheless, she's inching closer and closer to being 100% Kim every hour. Her speedy recovery is truly amazing.

Glory be to God. And God bless you all for your continued support. Kim is absolutly overwhelmed by all of your loving, kind and uplifting words and gestures.

That's a Wrap!

Are you sitting down? KIM IS BEING RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL TODAY!!! That's right -- two days removed from brain surgery -- doctors are so pleased with her recovery that she's been cleared to go home today. That's a testament to her good health, her drive, her strength, her faith and all of your prayers and words of encouragement. Her head wrap was removed eary today, so now we can see her wound and staples. Sorry... again, no pictures. An occupational therapist is talking with her now, going over what she's allowed to do, her limitations, and helping her wash her hair. Dr. Weingart, her neurosurgeon, spoke with us all a moment ago and expressed his pleasure with her recovery (as much as a surgeon can display pleasure in their deadpan, monotone way). There's still paperwork to be filled out, packing bags, gathering balloons and magazines, but we should be out of here in a couple of hours. Kim will chill at the hotel for the next several days... getting out and walking around when she feels like it... and the surgeon will remove her staples next Tuesday. She'll be back home in Atlanta a week from today. The next post you read will probably be from Kim herself. Take care everyone!

Day Two... Whoo!

Great news! Kim has been moved from ICU to the Neurosciences Inpatient Care unit. No IV. No tubes coming out of her head. She's been sporting a stylish head wrap since surgery yesterday, and Kim rocks the turbin look like no other. As her sister Becky put it, she looks like she's on a soap opera playing a neurosurgery patient -- perfect skin color, perfect-looking wrap. No REAL neurosurgery patient should look this good. I would post a photo, but I have not yet been through the proper approval process. Kim is eating solid foods: half a turkey wrap, broccoli... That's about it. She eschewed some sloppy-joe-looking sandwich, a sad-looking salad and other random hospital food for the frozen yogurt and fresh fruit her brother and sister brought up from the food court. Regarding the tumor, we won't have the pathology report for a week or so -- therefore, we're still under the impression that it's a grade two glioma. Stay tuned -- I'll keep you posted as things develop. She'll likely leave the hospital on Thursday -- maybe even as early as tomorrow. Amazing, huh?

Piece of Mind

Hello, Kim fans -- this is her husband Tad reporting on Kim's status. We arrived at The Johns Hopkins Hospital at 5:15 a.m. where Kim began pre-op prep. Lots of questions, answers, prayers, laughs and a few tears later, a nurse wheeled Kim away to begin anesthesia. Doctors are expecting the surgery to take five hours, and they're giving me progress updates every two hours. So far, I've heard that they've made the incision, and everything is going well as planned. The incision was small, and she'll be able to brush her hair over the scar so there will be no noticeable evidence that they shaved part of her pretty little head. The surgery process began around 7:45, and doctors anticipate that we'll be able to see her in recovery around 2:00 or so. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the continued thoughts, wishes, love and prayers. I'll give an update as soon as I can. 4:00pm UPDATE: The Adams family and I met with the neurosurgeon, Dr. Weingard, right after surgery. Everything went exactly as planned... they successfully removed the tumor, performed an MRI scan to confirm they got everything they were after, and Kim is awake and alert. Considering the anesthesia, what her body has been through today and the fact she's been up since 4:00am, Kim could really use some sleep now. We had been warned that she might experience some temporary partial paralysis, but she was scooping ice chips from a cup to her mouth under her own power. All things considered, she is a model patient. So strong. I'll add more details later, but you all can exhale now... uncross your fingers and toes... but keep the prayers coming, as she's not completely out of the woods yet. God is great!

Patience

I'm writing from the Baltimore airport, waiting for my parents' flight to arrive. They were supposed to be on my flight via connection in ATL, but after multiple delays, they are now scheduled to arrive four hours late. I'm waiting in baggage claim with about two hours to go. Normally this would have me antsy and a bit annoyed. Not at anyONE, but at the wait. Because I like to be on the move. From one activity to the next. I can be rather impatient when things start to slow down. But not now. The way I see it, my parents, husband, sister and brother will have a much more difficult wait. They will wait in a hospital sitting area for several hours (longer than my piddly wait here in baggage claim) when I go in for surgery. I know how hard the waiting-room wait was for Mom's lumpectomy. We were all confident she was going to fly through surgery, but it didn't make the wait easier. You are fairly breathless until you see the doctor and know your loved one's alright. I hate the thought of my family worrying or waiting anxiously. But hopefully what they are waiting for will be worth it: an "all clear" from our surgeon. An "all clear" doesn't necessarily mean I'm cured -- although we're praying for that miracle. We'll still have many other waits ... the pathology report, recovery, results from follow-up MRIs to see if it returns, etc. But I know we've packed our trust in God. That, and a little bit of patience, is all we need. With SO MUCH LOVE, Kim

Freedom!

Just a few days short of the six-month seizure-free mark, I started driving again this week. Oh my gosh! I’ve never felt freer! Running errands on my own schedule is a newfound delight.  

Having to coordinate rides to and from work and doctors’ appointments for half a year was really hard. My family and friends tried to make it as easy as possible for me (and I SO appreciate it), but I couldn’t help feeling like a burden.

And then there was MARTA -- Atlanta’s rail system. I don’t think I rode it for more than a month or so, but when you’re 8/9-months pregnant with a bloodhound’s sense of smell, sitting next to someone eating spicy buffalo wings at 8am is no picnic.

I couldn’t see it at the time, but I realize now how blessed my life has been. To have my own car, the ability to get where I need to go, when I want to go there. And a community of folks who will jump in when I can’t. When I get through a few more hurdles, I hope to turn this experience into something that helps others.

In other news, this has been Sydney’s first week of daycare at The Clifton School. She’s doing great. We couldn’t feel more blessed with the way things have worked out regarding her care. With her going to "school" every day now, I treasure our mornings and evenings together that much more.

We leave for Baltimore on Saturday morning. What in the world do I pack for the eleven day trip? I'm sure I'll just wait until the last minute and throw a bunch of shoes and jewelry in a bag. :-)

LOVE,

Kim