Hi, Corinne here. I'm giving a little backstory to update everyone on the current circumstances. On September 27 Ronda went in for surgery to remove a large tumor from her thymus gland. Previous testing gave us a strong indication that the mass was a benign thymoma. There were no tumor markers in her blood work and no visible metastasis except for the large tumor in her chest. We received this news with mixed feelings. On the one hand, we were glad the cancer was not spreading; on the other hand, we knew the only way to remove the tumor was invasive surgery with many potential risks. Thymomas are not generally responsive to chemotherapy and radiation is not recommended due to the sensitive location.
Surgery was scheduled in Ogden with a highly recommended cardiothoracic surgeon. Overall the surgery went well. The mass was totally removed and the pathology reports were consistent with benign thymoma. Good news. The surgeon told us they had completely avoided nerves and the many important structures around the area of her surgery. By all accounts it seemed the surgery went as well as could be expected, or better. After surgery, Ronda remained quite groggy and forgetful but was talking and able to communicate where her pain was and all her vitals were stable.
While the family was transitioning, Mike and Christi were driving home for the night and Corinne was headed to Ogden to sit with her Mom, Ronda began having trouble managing her pain. After receiving an appropriate dose of narcotic pain medicine from her nurse Ronda's heart rate crashed. Her care team was able to stabilize her heart rate but she stopped breathing and a full code was called. Ronda was sedated, intubated, and sent to the ICU. By the time Corinne arrived, about 30 minutes later, the ICU team was trying to wake Ronda without success. The intensivist seemed genuinely confused about her condition. Her stats and vitals were all stable and he could not pinpoint a reason for her crash. He decided to send her for an MRI to rule out a stroke.
Mike got a call just after midnight on September 28 with imaging results showing a large intracranial bleed in her right occipital lobe with a 1.5cm midline shift of her brain. That's very bad and totally weird since there was no trauma. Mike started driving back down to Ogden as she was being taken to the OR for emergency decompression and evacuation of the bleed. She had a partial craniectomy to allow room for swelling which is expected over the next several days. She will remain intubated until she is awake enough for her team to believe she will protect her airway.
No one knows why she had the brain bleed or why it happened when it did, or if it has anything to do with the thymoma. I told my kids it was just plain bad luck. Charlotte corrected me and said,
“No mom, it was good luck that she had this happen while she was in the hospital so they could save her life.”
Touché child, Touché.
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