Ammon has a mass in his brain

We learned this morning that our charming, irresistible, happy, determined and much loved Ammon has a mass in his brain. We aren't sure yet exactly what it is but were told it is likely an arachnoid cyst. This would be the good news. The bad news would be that it is a malignant tumor. We will know more after the doctors are able to review his tests and likely request more.

We had originally gone in to finally have his MRI done to see if it would show why his EEG came back showing that he has two different electrical currents on either side of his brain. To hear that they found a mass was something I was not prepared for today. It could prove to be good news in the end as if it is a mass causing pressure to his brain, removing it may stop his seizures. I never considered being told that my child having a mass in his brain could be any kind of good news. We will hold to the hope that this is the case and that finding it in the long run end up to be a positive. No matter what the mass turns out to be, they told us to prepare for him to need neurosurgery.

As the doctors tell you these things your mind kind of goes into shock. It felt like my own brain wouldn't allow the words to sink in. As a family we had watched this past Sunday night the TLC program "The Tallest Woman in the World" about Yao DeFen who lives in a very rural part of Anhui province, just where Ammon is from. They discussed the tumor on her pituitary gland and followed her travel to the neurosurgical department of the Hefei Hospital. We were so sad when there was nothing they could do for her because she could not pay the $4,000 Chinese dollar surgical fee (about $400 US) so they sent her home only equipped with vitamins. As we toured the hospital via the televison, I distinctly counted my blessings Sunday night that Ammon didn't have to be treated there for his seizures, as that would have been the hospital to treat him.

As the doctors relayed to us today about him needing neurosurgery I was so grateful that this wasn't diagnosed in China. That nobody knew about this mass. That Ammon didn't have to have surgery there. That his file didn't have been pulled because his need deemed too scary, too serious, too unknown.
So we have shed tears for our son today and know this is the beginning of many more. We'll keep our eye on the positive that perhaps this will turn out to be a huge blessing as they'll discover this will be the source of his seizures. I have often told my husband that Ammon is "lost in space" as his perceptions about his body in space seem to be off kilter. There isn't a thing he touches that he doesn't tip over. Now it is possible that his balance problems are real and not just chalked up to lack of experience and stimulation from his life in the orphanage and that they are linked to this mass in his brain as well.

We are so blessed by this son of ours and now we hope we can return the favor and help bless his health too. Please think good thoughts for our lovely boy.