2008
~ June Katrina begins to get dizzy at sporadic intervals. We attribute it to her pregnancy.
August 8 Our Son, Chantry, is born. for the remainder of 2008 Katrina gets dizzy and sick for a day or so on a monthly basis.
2009
- Katrina tracks the sickness and we discover that although its occurring monthly it doesn't appear to follow any sort of regular cycle. As it becomes apparent that this is not just her getting sick once in a while, we seek medical care and try various treatments for various conditions. By the end of this year the episodes have begun to increase in frequency, intensity, and duration.
2010
-Katrina's weight begins to drop well below her Pre-pregnancy weight due to the loss of appetite related to the nausea.
-February-May the sick spell are coming almost weekly. I notice that her reaction times while driving seem to be slowing down.
-June, Katrina reaches 95 pounds and goes to the doctor again. He refers her to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor. The Ear Nose and throat guy orders a CT scan which shows nothing. He discovers that she has lost some hearing in the high ranges of her left her. He says that the amount of loss is too much for someone her age. He orders a MRI to be done to see if it will pick up anything that the CT didn't.
-June 18 We go in for the MRI and they tell Katrina that they aren't going to use contrast unless there is something they want to see better. At the end of the MRI the tech tells her that they are going to use some contrast. After the MRI they tell us that the ENT wants to see us right now. We know that something in wrong. The ENT tells us there is a tumor and refers us to a neurosurgeon in Bountiful.
-June 25 we meet with the Doctor in Bountiful. He tells us that we need to have the tumor removed relatively quickly. Since he is going to be out of town he refers us to Doctor Schmidt at the University Hospital in Salt Lake. We meet with doctor Schmidt the same day. He tells us that there is no rush on the surgery, any time in the next couple of weeks will be fine. He looks his schedule over rearranges some regular appointments and sets a date for surgery on July 2nd. In the meantime we have a few appointments for things that need to happen before surgery.
-June 28 Katrina has an MRI at the U of U to see if the tumor has spread to her spine since tumors of the fourth ventricle have a tendency to do that.
-June 29 We go to the U of U for Katrina's pre-op exam. Afterward we meet with Doctor Schmidt to discuss the result of the previous day's MRI. It was clean, no tumors in her spine.
-July 2 Katrina spends nearly 12 hours in surgery getting the tumor removed. Afterward, she is placed in the Nuero Critical Care Unit.
-July 5 We spend our ninth wedding anniversary in the hospital. She is moved from Nuero Critical Unit to Nuero Acute Unit
-July 7 We are supposed to hear back on the pathology of her tumor but no word comes.
-July 8 The pathology of her tumor comes back and it is not good. It's a blastoma. It will require radiation and possibly Chemotherapy. Also there is still a bit of tumor in her brain about the size of of the end of a pencil.
-July 9 Katrina is moved to Rehab
-July 23 Katrina is released to go home. We are thrilled to be out of there.
-July 26 Katrina undergoes her first of 31 radiation treatments.
-Sept 7 Katrina finishes up radiation therapy. After a couple of symptoms we had been told to watch for pop up, we spend the night in the ER and are released early the next morning.
-Nov 1 Katrina returns to work part time.The Chemo doctors don't see a need to go forward with chemo for now so we watch and wait.
2011
-Jan 3 Katrina returns to work full time.
-Jan - Apr Katrina Fights her heart out to be the best she can at work. It isn't enough.
