Hi Everyone,
Dr. Yalamanchelli referred us to Dr. West. She was wonderful with Corey. Our visit was almost two hours long. She confirmed that Corey has a tumor on her pituitary gland; it is not cancer however it most likely will have to come out. She is very glad to hear that we preemptively scheduled a follow up appointment with the Neuro-Opthamologist at Wills Eye in February. Dr. West ordered comprehensive blood work and would like a follow up MRI (scheduling will be based on the blood work results as well as the results of Eye exam).
In addition to the Pituitary gland, Dr. West wants to look at her thyroid gland as well. She is intrigued with Corey’s weight gain given her low/average calorie intake. Dr. West will closely monitor her over the next 3 months.
Dr. West’s office is at Christiana Hospital. After our appointment and blood work we ran up to see Kim, Corey’s primary care nurse at the Trauma ICU (check out the photo gallery). On the way to the ICU Corey asked me where we were going. I reminded her about her accident and her 3 week stay. Corey was born at Christiana. She paused and said, “They started my life…again”.
Kim hasn’t seen Corey since the craniotomy in December of 2010 (2 months in). Corey greeted her with a big smile and big hello. The reunion was wonderful! Although Kim has been touching base with us throughout the last two years, reading about Corey and seeing her are two very different experiences.
We told Corey all the “happy” memories we had while she was in the ICU. Decorating her triage room for her 18th birthday, playing music, dancing in her room, Kim’s memory of painting Corey’s nails and shaving her legs to surprise me one morning, how all the nurses liked to hang out in Corey’s room and would try to fight Kim for her shift so they could take a turn being Corey’s nurse. I hadn’t thought about many of these memories in a very long time. Ironically they are actually joyful memories.
Corey we are very blessed to have so many wonderful caregivers. More importantly, they are becoming close friends. You are a very special young woman, we are very lucky to be apart of your life! xoxo