Hey everyone! Sorry it has been a while since our last update, but our internet has not been working until yesterday. So we will include information from last week's appointment with the neurosurgeon in this email.
We saw the neurosurgeon 7/11/11. We were blessed to have our good friend Scott Souder ask to accompany us to the appointment for support. The neurosurgeon first gave good news, saying that referring to the growth as a "mass on the brain" is an overstatement. What it actually is, is a mass in Rahheem's optical nerves where they come together in the brain forming an "H" shape. The doctor showed us all the MRI results, and said that this mass could either be inflammation of some sort, or a growth. He said that even if it is a growth, the chances of it being malignant are very slim, but still a possibility. He said that the growth is not acting like a malignant tumor, because it has been progressivly growing over at least 10 years. He did name the possibility of Lymphoma, which scared us quite a bit because Rahheem's mother died of Lymphoma when he was 2 years old (she was 26 at the time, and he's now 25). However, he said that this is not a very big possibility. He said most likely it is a benign tumor that would not spread anywhere outside of the optical nerves. Other good news he gave us was that if it is inflammation (treatable with steroids) or a benign or malignant tumor (treatable with radiation), and they are able to shrink the growth and relieve some of that pressure on the nerves, there is a good chance that Rahheem may regain some of his vision in his left eye. Since the right eye is just blackness, the doctor said that he will probably not regain any vision in that eye. Unfortunately, the doctor said that the MRI that Rahheem had done 2 years ago through JPS in fact DID show this growth in his optical nerves, but apparantly the radiologist did not read the results appropriately.
During this appointment, the neurosurgeon said that he wanted to investigate the possiblity of Rahheem undergoing a biopsy of this infected area to make an absolute diagnosis of what is causing his optical nerve atrophy. This is a major surgery, in essence brain surgery, because the surgeons would have to make an incision in his scalp behind his hairline, cut out a piece of skull bone, and direct an instrument under Rahheem's brain to where the optical nerves come together and take a biopsy section of this growth to give to the pathologist. Then after they replace his skull and scalp, Rahheem would be in the ICU for a day, the regular hospital recovery for another 2 days, and be out of work for 6 weeks. Since this is such a major and invasive surgery, the neurosurgeon wanted to consult with the neuroopthamologist as well as a panel of other neurosurgeons in his unit to verify that this was the best and most important course of action to diagnose the problem. He said that the conference would be Friday (7/15/11) and that he would let us know either Friday afternoon or early this week. We didn't hear anything until today, when his nurse called Rahheem and told him that the doctors all agreed that a biopsy was necessary.
This surgery is scheduled for 8/10/11. We don't yet know what time of day the surgery will be, but we have a pre-appointment with the surgeon on 8/8/11 to discuss things further. Of course we are very anxious about this, and Rahheem is really nervous about having this major surgery, but we are continuing to trust that God is controlling this situation and leading us down the most productive course. We are hopeful that the results will come quickly after the surgery, and we can quickly move to treatment to hopefully restore some vision to his left eye. We are also worried about finances, because Rahheem's "insurance" is not necessarily insurance per se, and is NOT covering the vast majority of these expenses we've incurred thus far, and now we are facing an extremely expensive surgery. This is made even more worrisome due to the fact that I am not currently working. I chose to leave the job I was at due to some ethical and legal dilemmas that I could not agree with and did not want my professional license on the line for. Now of course being 22 weeks pregnant, it is impossible for me to find another position anywhere. So I am pregnant and unemployed, Rahheem is underinsured, and we are having more and more piled on. We are concerned about how to pay utilities and rent, much less medical bills. Now we are facing a situation of at least 6 weeks where neither of us are working. So please continue to pray for those issues as well! We have a follow-up appointment with our neuro-opthamologist this Thursday (7/21) just to check Rahheem's vision in his left eye to see how quickly it's deteriorating (Rahheem says that he believes it's continuing to worsen). We appreciate all of you and your prayers and love and support. We have been incredibly showered with prayers across the country from the west coast to the east, and we are on many church and personal prayer lists. We know and trust that God is working!! We love you all and again appreciate all the support and love you have shown us over the past several weeks!
This surgery is scheduled for 8/10/11. We don't yet know what time of day the surgery will be, but we have a pre-appointment with the surgeon on 8/8/11 to discuss things further. Of course we are very anxious about this, and Rahheem is really nervous about having this major surgery, but we are continuing to trust that God is controlling this situation and leading us down the most productive course. We are hopeful that the results will come quickly after the surgery, and we can quickly move to treatment to hopefully restore some vision to his left eye. We are also worried about finances, because Rahheem's "insurance" is not necessarily insurance per se, and is NOT covering the vast majority of these expenses we've incurred thus far, and now we are facing an extremely expensive surgery. This is made even more worrisome due to the fact that I am not currently working. I chose to leave the job I was at due to some ethical and legal dilemmas that I could not agree with and did not want my professional license on the line for. Now of course being 22 weeks pregnant, it is impossible for me to find another position anywhere. So I am pregnant and unemployed, Rahheem is underinsured, and we are having more and more piled on. We are concerned about how to pay utilities and rent, much less medical bills. Now we are facing a situation of at least 6 weeks where neither of us are working. So please continue to pray for those issues as well! We have a follow-up appointment with our neuro-opthamologist this Thursday (7/21) just to check Rahheem's vision in his left eye to see how quickly it's deteriorating (Rahheem says that he believes it's continuing to worsen). We appreciate all of you and your prayers and love and support. We have been incredibly showered with prayers across the country from the west coast to the east, and we are on many church and personal prayer lists. We know and trust that God is working!! We love you all and again appreciate all the support and love you have shown us over the past several weeks!
In Him,
Alison and Rahheem Wofford
thanks for your time in reading and all your prayers
Jennifer
