BE AWARE!!!

September 23, 2008-A day I will never forget...a day my family will never forget. One year ago today I found out that Daddy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It started out like any other day. Russell was at work, I spent the morning at the hair salon, went to Walmart, you know, that sort of thing. I got in my car at Walmart, I got a call on my cell phone and it was Mama. I said, "Hello." Mama said, "It's not good news. I knew it was bad but had no clue what it was. "What?? What is it?" I asked her. "Your Daddy has a brain tumor." At that moment, a feeling of pure sadness covered me like I can never explain. All I could say was, "I DIDN'T WANT IT TO BE THAT!" I tried not to cry but I couldn't help it. Earlier that day, I knew Daddy and Mama were at Daddy's Dr appointment and he needed to have a lot of tests run. Last time I spoke with Mama that morning, they only had 1 more test to go and that test would determine what was wrong. Daddy had an MRI and the tumor is what the doctor found. That day, we did not know much. We only knew that simple diagnosis. Later in the week, we learned more details of the tumor. I'll get to that later. I immediately called Russell and I was still in the walmart parking lot. I was sobbing. I could barely drive home, but I knew I could. All I wanted to do was see my wonderful, sweet Daddy. All I wanted to do was see Mama, Kelly, Eric, Logan and Lauren. I was very thankful that Russell was with me, though. Russell came home early that day and spent time with me. He was so sweet through all this. I wanted to run back to South Arkansas immediately but I couldn't. We thought we were going to close on our house that week, so we didn't think we could leave NWA just yet. Long story short, that didn't happen. But back to the main part of this post....I did talk with Daddy that afternoon. Surprisingly, I didn't cry and he didn't cry. He said, "Meredith, whatever happens, it will be okay." I told him, "Daddy, I want you to believe me when I tell you that you are going to make it! You will get through this!" He said, "Meredith, you and I have always been real close and I believe you and I love you so much." We were trying hard to be strong. It was a bittersweet moment. However, I was comforted to talk with him. I talked with Jennifer, my cousin, and Kelly later too. I was numb for most of that week.


So, all of that to say, ya'll, brain cancer awareness has become something VERY CLOSE to my heart. I hope that someone who reads this today can be more aware when I post these quick facts about brain cancer. My dream is to start a foundation, much like "Race for the Cure" but it be for brain cancer awareness, of course.

Did You Know?
~~May is Brain Cancer Awareness Month!
~~There are over 120 different types of brain tumors, making effective treatment very complicated.
~~Each year, approximately 190,000 people in the United States alone, will be diagnosed with a primary or metastatic brain tumor.
~~Complete and accurate data on all primary brain tumors are needed to provide the foundation for research leading to improved diagnosis and treatment and to investigations of its causes.
~~The major challenge for the future is to develop more effective techniques to treat brain tumors without damaging the brain.
~~Because brain tumors are located at the control center for thought, emotion and movement, their effects on an individual's physical and cognitive abilities can be devastating.

As most of you know, my Daddy passed away 5 months after he was diagnosed with a stage 4 brain tumor. Every single tumor in the brain is different. Our family did not know many things about his diagnosis but wanted to know more. Even doctors cannot tell us everything because they do not know every fact about these types of tumors either! That, my friends, is why I am PASSIONATE about helping there be more awareness of this horrible diagnosis.

I know this blog post was my longest one ever, but ya'll, thank you for reading. Please pass this post on to someone today. Thank you again.

....Be strong and courageous, Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Love ya'll,
Meredith