20. Done Cutting

2/28/19. Surgery Is Over

They told us he was in recovery and we could go see him soon. As soon as they gave us the green light, oh how we ran. I found Nitai and just started going. Rupa Prabhu, Mati, Kunji & Gaura were elsewhere. I don’t even remember where.

Nitai saw him first. Really far away from the room he was being wheeled into. He actually heard his voice, and he said, Mommy, I hear him! I didn’t believe it. They had cut into the Wernicke area of the brain (governs communication) and warned us that he would not be able to talk. If he was able to talk, they said, it would be jumbled. “I want water” in his mind would come out as “Where am I?” and we would respond “you’re in the hospital” and he would hear “The sun is shining”. That’s what they said. I had looked up pictures of post-brain surgery patients and faces were swollen beyond recognition.

Needless to say I was prepared for the worst.

But nope. He was indeed talking. He could understand us. I asked him immediately, Do you know who I am? He nodded. Do you know where you are? He nodded again. Are you doing okay, my betu. He smiled. He tried to whisper stuff to reassure me. Bless his heart, he was reassuring us even in this situation. But it hurt so I told him don’t worry. Oh, it was over. Good lord, it felt like the worst was over. Thank you so much...

On Facebook:

“I firmly believe your prayers carried him through that surgery!! Each and every one of you are amazing. Thank you thank you thank you.

They got the small tumor out and a bit of the big one. That's all we know for now. Vraju’s in recovery now.. He's in the ICU. It will take some time to know how he has fared from the surgery when his brain swelling goes down.. But for now, he smiled, he whispered, he understood, he knew who we were.

We're going to turn off and shut down for a bit.. It's been a very long few days with no sleep.. Please continue praying.. We still have to wait for pathology on those tumors and MRIs, CTs, Rehabilitation, and figuring out how to get the rest of those tumors out. One step at a time. Our sincere love to you all. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”