It All Started

It all started late on the night of March 8th (for me anyway, my mom and dad had already been 2 1/2 weeks into this nightmare). The boys were already in bed and I was whoopin Seth in Doctor Mario. My mom called - first warning flag, it was way to late for her to be calling. Seth and I frequently get playing Dr. and we can't stop until our eyes begin to shut down on us. Second warning flag, she starts out by saying, "Now please don't cry, everything is going to be okay." She had been to the ER in Las Vegas and they had found a brain tumor. "Funny story," she says,"One night I was zoning your dad (February 19) and I got a really bad cramp all throughout my left leg. It went away after about 15 minutes, but I started to loose the ability to move it. Within two weeks it literally dragged as I tried to walk." So she went to her chiropractor and says, "Hey Doctor Jessie, Chad and I are going to Vegas this weekend for a Nascar race. Will you adjust me and fix this leg so that I can walk?" He takes a look at her ice cold leg and asks, "Have you been icing this?" She told him no. He said, "Arvilla, you need to go straight to the ER."

So my mom hobbled her way into the ER at Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho where the doctor poked her feet and said that he didn't feel the difference in temperature. She tells him that she can't walk and is also loosing bladder control. He recommends a UA for a bladder infection and after waiting 20 more minutes gives her a name of someone that she should call and try to get into see in 2 weeks. She gets furious, tells him where to go, and leaves letting the nurse know that she will not be paying for this ER visit. I love how feisty she is! What an angel (another funny story that you"ll maybe hear about later).

My mom, dad, aunt Nila and uncle Bob headed for Vegas to watch Nascar on Tuesday March 6th. After an exhausting day of trying to keep up, my dad took her to the ER on Thursday, March 8th. They spent the day doing CT scans and didn't come up with anything until my dad says, "I wonder if she stroked." They do one more scan of her head and find a brain tumor right on the motor strip. The neurologist tells them that it looks benign and they just need to get a MRI and a good surgeon to look at it when they get back to Idaho. Her only concern was where it was located. So they all go back to the hotel, make phone calls and joke about how at least they found a brain in my mom's head. Unfortunately, I couldn't laugh. All I could do was cry.

Without getting to go the Nascar race, they start their 9 hour drive home on Sunday March 12th listening to Alice Cooper, Schools Out For Summer.