Family Life and Friendship Network

This is what I originally sent to notify people about Julie's brain tumor. I may revise a few things for readability (eg: links to pages may change).

Family and friends,

I write at this time to ask for your prayers for a very serious matter. Those of you who can, I would like to have a fast for Julie this Sunday. Now that it's past midnight, "this Sunday" means "today", but for those of you who get this news late, please consider a fast Monday, Tuesday, or perhaps next Sunday.

The Details

My wife Julie has a condition with her brain that looks very serious. The initial doctors at Timpanogas Hospital called it White Matter Disease. White matter includes myelin, which is involved in communication between brain cells. They said that if they diagnosed correctly, then she will gradually lose vision for two years, and pass away after that. Julie may have misunderstood the doctors, I was not there when they told her this. They sent her to University of Utah Hospital for further diagnosis. I have seen the brain scans, and there is a marked difference in the left side of her brain. Some Google searches I've done with similar images include Multiple Sclerosis and White Matter Lesions.

The doctors at the University Hospital said that she needs more testing. As I have researched white matter disease (and white matter lesions), I believe I can see why they don't want to diagnose without further testing. While her brain scan images resemble some white matter lesion images, she lacks many of the common symptoms. Namely:

• She's never been diabetic
• She does not have migraine headaches
• She has not had a stroke
• White Matter diseas(es) usually have a sudden onset, Julie's was slow, progressing over a few months

She does have these symptoms:

• Slow speech
• Forgetfulness
• Loss of vision on the right side (left side of brain controls the right side of the body)
• Loss of strength on the right side of the body
• Constant fatigue
• Attention span problems

A Little History:

All these things we thought initially were tied to hormonal changes with pregnancy, except vision loss. As things got worse, I steadily got more worried, and we asked the doctor about it. He also thought it was pregnancy related. Apparently, the vision loss was so gradual that Julie didn't notice it until a few days ago. After an automobile accident (very minor), she said she thought it happened because she couldn't see the car to her right. I should have brought her to ER then, but I thought it was related to her attention issues. However, as she brought up her lack of vision more, I became more and more alarmed. Add to this all the comments from friends and family that have noticed a marked difference in Julie lately, and I was about ready to take her to ER, but still put it off to see her doctor Thursday. Finally she saw her family Friday, and they insisted she go to ER. I'm very gratefull to them for this, otherwise we would still be in the dark about this serious matter.

Check my blog for the latest info.

Thank you,

Brandon Stout
http://mscis.org