December 10, 2023 • 24 mins
Brenda Nearpass is a wife, a mother of four, and grandmother of seven grandchildren. She is also a writer, the survivor of a brain tumor, and an advocate for The National Brain Tumor Society. She tells her story in the book Memoir of a True Airhead: A Powerful True Story of Love, Hope, and Miracles.
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Episode Transcript
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Emily Olsen (00:08):
Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick out the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding
Daylight with your host RodneyOlsen.
Rodney Olsen (00:19):
Welcome and thanks for listening. As you enjoy this episode of Bleeding Daylight, please remember there are many more
episodes at bleedingdaylight.net orwherever you listen to podcasts. Please connect with Bleeding Daylight on social media. By her own
admission, today's guest is a trueairhead. She has an incredible story of survival against enormous odds. I'll introduce you in a moment.
(00:45):
Today's guest is a wife, a mother offour and grandmother of seven. Brenda Nearpass is also a writer, a survivor of a brain tumor, and an
advocate for the National BrainTumor Society. She tells her story in the book, Memoir of a True Airhead, a powerful true story of
(01:11):
love, hope, and miracles. It's sucha pleasure to welcome her to Bleeding Daylight. Brenda, thank you so much for your time today.
Brenda Nearpass (01:19):
Thank you,
Rodney Olsen (01:20):
I'm sure that the diagnosis of a brain tumor would have been a major shock. But I know that you had quite a lead up to that
diagnosis. Tell me about the firstsigns that something wasn't quite right.
Brenda Nearpass (01:34):
I had headaches most of my life. So headaches were not assigned to me. About a week prior to my surgery, I started doing
weird things. When I was I went to aclient's house, I'm a real estate agent. I took the wrong signs. I had the key on my hand and lost the key
(02:01):
as I was putting the lockbox ontheir house could not find the key anywhere. And I never had done that before. So I laughed it off thinking
it was menopause because I was atthe age where that was about to start and apologize to clients. While the next day I went to pick up
(02:25):
my daughter from school, which I diddaily. And it's sitting in the parking lot. I looked around and I just knew that something was not
right. I couldn't figure it out atfirst, but it took several minutes of looking around. And then it was like the curtains being drawn back
(02:46):
at a theater. I realized I wassitting in at the wrong school. This was a private school, very small parking lot smaller building and
completely different architectureand on a different street than the street where my daughter school is. So little strange things like that
was happening. I lost my keys and myown pocket of my shorts. That was because the brain tumor, the location of where it was, was
(03:18):
causing the left side of my body tonot function properly anymore, and the feeling had kind of gone. I spent about half an hour looking for
my keys when they were in my pocketthe whole time. So I laughed that off again, as this must be menopause because what else could have been
(03:42):
done on a Friday morning, I woke upat 4am and with such massive pain and my head it felt like somebody had taken an axe and split my head
open. So my husband got me some painreliever. I was able to go back to sleep, but I don't remember the rest of that day. And then Saturday
(04:05):
morning I woke up with massivepressure and my face and lots of pain. And I was like I must have a sinus infection. My husband took me
to a walk in clinic the doctor thereagreed with me that it was a sinus infection, gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way home. The next
(04:30):
day, there was no relief. The painand pressure was even more intense. So my husband took me back to that walk in clinic again. That doctor
told me I just hadn't given theantibiotics enough time to work. And so he gave me a shot of pain medicine. Then he sent me home with
(04:54):
more pain medicine that I could takeduring the nighttime if I needed it. When we arrived to our house, I knew I was gonna get sick and headed for
the bathroom and just startedviolently vomiting. I just figured it was a reaction to the shot that the doctor had given me. On Monday,
(05:16):
my husband went to work and my momwas with me, and she would get me ice packs and heat packs, and nothing was helping with the pain.
And the pressure that was on myface. I got to the point where I just knew something was terribly wrong. And I called my dad and had
(05:37):
him come over and pray for me, whichwas something I had never asked him to do. When he arrived. When I his best friends was with him. My mom
and the two of them, they placedtheir hands on me and prayed. After they were done praying, I felt some relief and was able to be
(05:57):
comfortable. For the first time anddays. When my husband got home that evening, he figured he needed to take me back to the clinic because I
hadn't been drinking anything oreating anything for several days at that point. He had me go with him to the clinic, the doctor there said
(06:18):
there's nothing more that they coulddo for us and sent us to the hospital. When my husband said, Come on, Brenda, let's go. I could no
longer move. So he picked me up andcarried me to the car. The next thing I remember was hearing a gentleman's voice saying we found
blood on her brain and she needs tobe admitted immediately. That was one I am on Tuesday morning. Few hours later, they did an MRI. And
(06:52):
those machines are very loud withbeeps, and buzzes and all different sorts of sounds. I didn't remember that at all. But I do remember two
neurosurgeons coming in and tellingme that they had found this brain tumor. I didn't believe them and told them no, it's not a brain
(07:19):
tumor, the problems I'm having asbecause of my knee. I tore my ACL a while ago. I'm just having problems because of my knee. And they assured
me No, you, you really do have abrain tumor. And then they showed us the scan of this massive tumor that was in my head. They told me I had
(07:40):
two options. My first option was tonot have surgery, and I would die within a couple of days. The second option was to have surgery,
hopefully make it through thesurgery. If I did make it through the surgery, more than likely I would never talk normal or walk
normal. And I would never driveagain. But am I walking talking God miracle.
Rodney Olsen (08:06):
It's rather amazing when you hear someone finds a diagnosis to something that has been troubling them for a time,
oftentimes, that's a relief, becausefinally we can do something about it. But in this case, the options Either way, you got your diagnosis.
But the options either way, didn'tsound promising at all. So how do you make your decision when you're faced with that, that, hey, this
(08:32):
could go badly this way? Or it couldgo badly this way? How did you come to that decision?
Brenda Nearpass (08:38):
I asked my son what his thoughts on it were. He's a very intelligent, young man, and knows way more than I ever will. He
started talking and giving hisopinion. I sat there thinking to myself, This can't be real. Why is this happening now? My husband and
(09:02):
I, we had been married for less thantwo years, things were finally starting to be good in my life. I wasn't ready to give up on that. And
my youngest child was 13 at thetime. She needed me to be there for her and I wanted to you know, be around so that I could see her
(09:26):
graduate from high school, see herget married. And so I just decided at that point. I was like, Well, the first choice wasn't good. And so the
second choice was a little bitbetter. So we'll just do that. And I told the doctor I said just take it out.
Rodney Olsen (09:43):
It must have been a very difficult decision but once it's made they take you off for the surgery. What are your first
memories after the surgery?
Brenda Nearpass (09:53):
When I woke up, I was so happy to be alive. When they asked how I was feeling I actually started singing. I sang I lost that
tumor feeling, whoa, that tumorfeeling. I lost that tumor feeling now it's gone long gone, and I was cracking jokes about being a
(10:15):
airhead. Now I truly was a trueairhead, because where this massive tumor was, all of that was now air and my brain had been exposed to the
world.
Rodney Olsen (10:29):
It's rather remarkable to find that this tumor that has been growing over time is finally gone. Because there were signs of it
for quite some time. Did you get anyunderstanding from the doctors actually how far back this went, how long you're suffering from this
tumor without knowing it.
Brenda Nearpass (10:48):
The type of brain tumor, I have is a meningioma grade two Meningiomas are very slow growing tumor. They figured it
probably started back when I was ateenager.
Rodney Olsen (11:01):
Wow, that's a long time to have something like that growing. And finally, you've come to have this removed. And I suppose
there's the rehabilitation afterthat, how quickly did you start to respond to that rehabilitation and get to so called normal?
Brenda Nearpass (11:19):
Well, I'm still not normal and the surgery was five years ago, they're in the hospital, they told me that I would have to be
in the hospital for two weeks. Andthen I would have to go to a rehabilitation center for probably two weeks because I was going to
have to learn how to walk again, Iwas determined not to have to do any of that. When I tore my ACL a year prior, I had to relearn how to walk
(11:50):
three times with that. Now, I lookback on it. And I feel God was preparing me for the moment in the hospital, when they gave me the
chance to get up. The first thingthey asked me to do was to brush my teeth. So I started getting out of bed on my own. And the physical
(12:11):
therapists stopped me and they hadto put this belt around me so that they could be holding on to that belt in case I fell, they would be
able to lift me because they ofcourse didn't want my head to like hit anything. I had a walker, but I was walking on my own. It was just
(12:31):
all of that training that I had gonethrough with the ACL that prepared me for that moment in the hospital that I could prove to them that I
could walk. God laid everything outperfectly for me.
Rodney Olsen (12:47):
When we start to add God into the equation, when we start to talk about faith. There would be some people who would say, Well,
it's great that God was there alongwith you, and helping you during this process and even pre preparing you with with the work that you had
done earlier. But they might say,Well, if God is God, why did you get the brain tumor in the first place? So these are some of the questions
(13:12):
that you've asked.
Brenda Nearpass (13:13):
Over the years, I've asked questions like that. I look at it as a parent, I want to protect my children the best that I
possibly can. But because they havefreedom of choice, which God gives us, sometimes I cannot protect them and things just happen. Sometimes
(13:40):
they get hurt. But I'm there to helpthem after they're hurt and to be able to heal. That's how God is with us.
Rodney Olsen (13:51):
What was the feeling within your family once you had come through that surgery? I guess there was great relief, but also knowing
that there was a long road ahead.How did family rally around you at that stage?
Brenda Nearpass (14:06):
They came to the hospital and were there of course my dad prayed for the neurosurgeons hands and ability to remove the
tumor. Then after the surgery once Igot home, my family was here. My oldest daughter lived with us during the summer so that she could take
(14:29):
care of me when my husband wasn'table to be here. At first, they pretty much had to do everything for me. I wasn't supposed to walk very
much because I had to keep my heartrate down so that the swelling and my head would stay low. So they would walk me to the bathroom. They
(14:52):
would take me up to the shower. Myoldest daughter had to bathe me That's something that I never thought any of my children would
have to do for me. That's somethingthat's very hard for an adult. But I was so grateful that she was willing to step up and do that, when I
(15:16):
didn't have the ability to.
Rodney Olsen (15:18):
There's a real dependency upon others when you go through something like this. And I imagine being a realtor or a real
estate agent, very successful mumand all the rest, you probably had grown very used to being dependent on yourself, because you're a very
capable woman. So how was it toactually come into that place where you had to be dependent on others?
Brenda Nearpass (15:43):
it was very difficult. If I was left in a room by myself, I would get up and move around a little bit, I guess, kind
of being a cheeky little child orsomething. Just wanting to prove that I still had the ability to be on my own. But I was so grateful
(16:07):
that my family was willing to showup every day to help me not only my eldest daughter, but my middle daughter, and my youngest one, I
have four children, and they allhelped when my husband wasn't here. That was good for him too, because he was able to leave the situation,
(16:29):
take him self out of all the stressthat was going on, then he could come back, also with my children, they would be able to leave them
too. So I was grateful that all ofmy family was here to help with that
Rodney Olsen (16:46):
Tell me about some of the lessons that God taught you along that way.
Brenda Nearpass (16:50):
Some of the lessons I've learned to be patient, to think about others, I just kept putting myself in other people's shoes, who
I know who have gone through hardersituations. And so I was grateful for the situation I was in, and that it wasn't worse than it could have
(17:16):
been. It could have been way worse.I have learned to trust in God more. I've learned that God does listen to our prayers. I didn't think God was
listening to my prayers, becausethere were many times I would pray for something. And my prayers weren't answered. And I had done
(17:38):
many bad things through my lifetime.And I just thought, well, maybe God has just kind of set me to side because I did do all those wrong,
bad things. But God showed me thathe does hear all the prayers, and that he listens to them. But just like us as parents, we don't give
(17:59):
our kids absolutely everything thatthey asked for. God doesn't give us everything that we asked for to.
Rodney Olsen (18:07):
When was it that you decided, with all the lessons that you'd learned about going through that surgery, but also what God was
doing in your life? When did youdecide that you needed to write that down and turn that into a book?
Brenda Nearpass (18:21):
I started writing down what happened fairly shortly after the surgery, because there were so many blank spots, I didn't
know what happened. I needed to fillin all those blank spots as best as I could. I asked my husband and my daughters multiple times. And I kept
(18:44):
asking the same questions over. AndI could tell that they were starting to get a little impatient with me. And so I decided to start writing it
down for myself to help me be ableto remember and try to figure out just how everything came into play. So then after I wrote everything
(19:07):
down, I started reading it to myhusband. And then I thought, well, maybe somebody else might benefit from the experience I had gone
through.
Rodney Olsen (19:20):
And you've been able to put this book together which has given other people hope, I'm sure what has been the response of those
who have read the book.
Brenda Nearpass (19:29):
The response has been good. I have talked with a couple of people, one who has a brain tumor, and she will be going
Rodney Olsen (19:32):
it must be incredibly powerful for you to know that it's having that effect, you're also having an effect. Being an advocate
into surgery in a couple of weeks.And it gave her hope and it's made it not so scary for her to go through the surgery. Another person
(19:52):
lost her daughter a year ago. Shesaid that my book reminded her that God wants us to be happy. God wants us to live happy lives. It helped
her through the mourning process ofher daughter,
(20:17):
for the National Brain TumorSociety. Tell me what that involves.
Brenda Nearpass (20:21):
With the National Brain Tumor Society, it was started by a person who lost a relative to a brain tumor. They have been working
on raising awareness, raising funds.There are many charity events throughout the year, where the money goes to funding for the National
(20:48):
Brain tumor Society. What I havedone is meetings with our state senator and legislators, sharing my story and asking them to sponsor a
different legislature. It's good toshare our stories with them, we need more funding for brain tumor research and to find a cure, we've
(21:17):
found that there's a high percentageof US veterans that served in Afghanistan, they have brain cancer and brain tumors, and their children
are at a higher risk of having braincancer. So they're doing research to find why that is, and then to, you know, help them with their
(21:41):
treatments. To this day, there hasnot been a actual treatment for children that have brain tumors and brain cancer, they go through the
same type of treatment that an adultdoes. We all know that children's brains are not the same as adult brains, yet, they're still being
(22:05):
treated the same. So we're reallytrying to find a treatment for children. And
Rodney Olsen (22:14):
I'm sure that the advocacy is going to make a difference there, as you meet with various people who have the say is,
especially within your country. I'mjust wondering about the book, I'm sure that not everyone is going to be going through the same sorts of
things that you went through throughthat brain tumor and and the surgery. But do you think that your book is going to be helpful for
(22:36):
people that are going through theirown difficult time?
Brenda Nearpass (22:40):
I believe so. I talk a little bit more than just the brain tumor. And my book, it's a lot about hope, just hope in general,
and God answers our prayers, andthat there are miracles that happen around us every day. And sometimes a miracle is like when my oldest
(23:04):
daughter flew up here, the day of mysurgery, the pilot asked everybody on the plane to stay seated so that she could get off the plane first.
And actually everybody did. And tome, that is a miracle for something like that to happen. So if we just open our eyes, we can see that there
(23:30):
are miracles that happen every day.
Rodney Olsen (23:32):
Absolutely, it's a great encouragement. Brenda, if people are wanting to hear a bit more of your story or to find your
book, where is the easiest place forpeople to find you.
Brenda Nearpass (23:43):
My website is BrendaNearpass.com. and they can also find my book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Rodney Olsen (23:54):
And I will put links in the show notes at bleeding daylight.net so that people can find that easily. It's an amazing story
and an amazing recovery and lotsmore detail in that book memoir of a true airhead. Brenda, I want to say thank you so much for sharing your
story today Bleeding Daylight.
Brenda Nearpass (24:14):
Thank you very much.
Emily Olsen (24:17):
Thank you for listening to Bleeding Daylight. Please help us to shine more light into the darkness by sharing this episode
with others. For further details andmore episodes, please visit bleedingdaylight.net
Wherever there are shadows, there are people ready to kick out the darkness until it bleeds daylight. This is Bleeding
Daylight with your host RodneyOlsen.
Rodney Olsen (00:19):
Welcome and thanks for listening. As you enjoy this episode of Bleeding Daylight, please remember there are many more
episodes at bleedingdaylight.net orwherever you listen to podcasts. Please connect with Bleeding Daylight on social media. By her own
admission, today's guest is a trueairhead. She has an incredible story of survival against enormous odds. I'll introduce you in a moment.
(00:45):
Today's guest is a wife, a mother offour and grandmother of seven. Brenda Nearpass is also a writer, a survivor of a brain tumor, and an
advocate for the National BrainTumor Society. She tells her story in the book, Memoir of a True Airhead, a powerful true story of
(01:11):
love, hope, and miracles. It's sucha pleasure to welcome her to Bleeding Daylight. Brenda, thank you so much for your time today.
Brenda Nearpass (01:19):
Thank you,
Rodney Olsen (01:20):
I'm sure that the diagnosis of a brain tumor would have been a major shock. But I know that you had quite a lead up to that
diagnosis. Tell me about the firstsigns that something wasn't quite right.
Brenda Nearpass (01:34):
I had headaches most of my life. So headaches were not assigned to me. About a week prior to my surgery, I started doing
weird things. When I was I went to aclient's house, I'm a real estate agent. I took the wrong signs. I had the key on my hand and lost the key
(02:01):
as I was putting the lockbox ontheir house could not find the key anywhere. And I never had done that before. So I laughed it off thinking
it was menopause because I was atthe age where that was about to start and apologize to clients. While the next day I went to pick up
(02:25):
my daughter from school, which I diddaily. And it's sitting in the parking lot. I looked around and I just knew that something was not
right. I couldn't figure it out atfirst, but it took several minutes of looking around. And then it was like the curtains being drawn back
(02:46):
at a theater. I realized I wassitting in at the wrong school. This was a private school, very small parking lot smaller building and
completely different architectureand on a different street than the street where my daughter school is. So little strange things like that
was happening. I lost my keys and myown pocket of my shorts. That was because the brain tumor, the location of where it was, was
(03:18):
causing the left side of my body tonot function properly anymore, and the feeling had kind of gone. I spent about half an hour looking for
my keys when they were in my pocketthe whole time. So I laughed that off again, as this must be menopause because what else could have been
(03:42):
done on a Friday morning, I woke upat 4am and with such massive pain and my head it felt like somebody had taken an axe and split my head
open. So my husband got me some painreliever. I was able to go back to sleep, but I don't remember the rest of that day. And then Saturday
(04:05):
morning I woke up with massivepressure and my face and lots of pain. And I was like I must have a sinus infection. My husband took me
to a walk in clinic the doctor thereagreed with me that it was a sinus infection, gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way home. The next
(04:30):
day, there was no relief. The painand pressure was even more intense. So my husband took me back to that walk in clinic again. That doctor
told me I just hadn't given theantibiotics enough time to work. And so he gave me a shot of pain medicine. Then he sent me home with
(04:54):
more pain medicine that I could takeduring the nighttime if I needed it. When we arrived to our house, I knew I was gonna get sick and headed for
the bathroom and just startedviolently vomiting. I just figured it was a reaction to the shot that the doctor had given me. On Monday,
(05:16):
my husband went to work and my momwas with me, and she would get me ice packs and heat packs, and nothing was helping with the pain.
And the pressure that was on myface. I got to the point where I just knew something was terribly wrong. And I called my dad and had
(05:37):
him come over and pray for me, whichwas something I had never asked him to do. When he arrived. When I his best friends was with him. My mom
and the two of them, they placedtheir hands on me and prayed. After they were done praying, I felt some relief and was able to be
(05:57):
comfortable. For the first time anddays. When my husband got home that evening, he figured he needed to take me back to the clinic because I
hadn't been drinking anything oreating anything for several days at that point. He had me go with him to the clinic, the doctor there said
(06:18):
there's nothing more that they coulddo for us and sent us to the hospital. When my husband said, Come on, Brenda, let's go. I could no
longer move. So he picked me up andcarried me to the car. The next thing I remember was hearing a gentleman's voice saying we found
blood on her brain and she needs tobe admitted immediately. That was one I am on Tuesday morning. Few hours later, they did an MRI. And
(06:52):
those machines are very loud withbeeps, and buzzes and all different sorts of sounds. I didn't remember that at all. But I do remember two
neurosurgeons coming in and tellingme that they had found this brain tumor. I didn't believe them and told them no, it's not a brain
(07:19):
tumor, the problems I'm having asbecause of my knee. I tore my ACL a while ago. I'm just having problems because of my knee. And they assured
me No, you, you really do have abrain tumor. And then they showed us the scan of this massive tumor that was in my head. They told me I had
(07:40):
two options. My first option was tonot have surgery, and I would die within a couple of days. The second option was to have surgery,
hopefully make it through thesurgery. If I did make it through the surgery, more than likely I would never talk normal or walk
normal. And I would never driveagain. But am I walking talking God miracle.
Rodney Olsen (08:06):
It's rather amazing when you hear someone finds a diagnosis to something that has been troubling them for a time,
oftentimes, that's a relief, becausefinally we can do something about it. But in this case, the options Either way, you got your diagnosis.
But the options either way, didn'tsound promising at all. So how do you make your decision when you're faced with that, that, hey, this
(08:32):
could go badly this way? Or it couldgo badly this way? How did you come to that decision?
Brenda Nearpass (08:38):
I asked my son what his thoughts on it were. He's a very intelligent, young man, and knows way more than I ever will. He
started talking and giving hisopinion. I sat there thinking to myself, This can't be real. Why is this happening now? My husband and
(09:02):
I, we had been married for less thantwo years, things were finally starting to be good in my life. I wasn't ready to give up on that. And
my youngest child was 13 at thetime. She needed me to be there for her and I wanted to you know, be around so that I could see her
(09:26):
graduate from high school, see herget married. And so I just decided at that point. I was like, Well, the first choice wasn't good. And so the
second choice was a little bitbetter. So we'll just do that. And I told the doctor I said just take it out.
Rodney Olsen (09:43):
It must have been a very difficult decision but once it's made they take you off for the surgery. What are your first
memories after the surgery?
Brenda Nearpass (09:53):
When I woke up, I was so happy to be alive. When they asked how I was feeling I actually started singing. I sang I lost that
tumor feeling, whoa, that tumorfeeling. I lost that tumor feeling now it's gone long gone, and I was cracking jokes about being a
(10:15):
airhead. Now I truly was a trueairhead, because where this massive tumor was, all of that was now air and my brain had been exposed to the
world.
Rodney Olsen (10:29):
It's rather remarkable to find that this tumor that has been growing over time is finally gone. Because there were signs of it
for quite some time. Did you get anyunderstanding from the doctors actually how far back this went, how long you're suffering from this
tumor without knowing it.
Brenda Nearpass (10:48):
The type of brain tumor, I have is a meningioma grade two Meningiomas are very slow growing tumor. They figured it
probably started back when I was ateenager.
Rodney Olsen (11:01):
Wow, that's a long time to have something like that growing. And finally, you've come to have this removed. And I suppose
there's the rehabilitation afterthat, how quickly did you start to respond to that rehabilitation and get to so called normal?
Brenda Nearpass (11:19):
Well, I'm still not normal and the surgery was five years ago, they're in the hospital, they told me that I would have to be
in the hospital for two weeks. Andthen I would have to go to a rehabilitation center for probably two weeks because I was going to
have to learn how to walk again, Iwas determined not to have to do any of that. When I tore my ACL a year prior, I had to relearn how to walk
(11:50):
three times with that. Now, I lookback on it. And I feel God was preparing me for the moment in the hospital, when they gave me the
chance to get up. The first thingthey asked me to do was to brush my teeth. So I started getting out of bed on my own. And the physical
(12:11):
therapists stopped me and they hadto put this belt around me so that they could be holding on to that belt in case I fell, they would be
able to lift me because they ofcourse didn't want my head to like hit anything. I had a walker, but I was walking on my own. It was just
(12:31):
all of that training that I had gonethrough with the ACL that prepared me for that moment in the hospital that I could prove to them that I
could walk. God laid everything outperfectly for me.
Rodney Olsen (12:47):
When we start to add God into the equation, when we start to talk about faith. There would be some people who would say, Well,
it's great that God was there alongwith you, and helping you during this process and even pre preparing you with with the work that you had
done earlier. But they might say,Well, if God is God, why did you get the brain tumor in the first place? So these are some of the questions
(13:12):
that you've asked.
Brenda Nearpass (13:13):
Over the years, I've asked questions like that. I look at it as a parent, I want to protect my children the best that I
possibly can. But because they havefreedom of choice, which God gives us, sometimes I cannot protect them and things just happen. Sometimes
(13:40):
they get hurt. But I'm there to helpthem after they're hurt and to be able to heal. That's how God is with us.
Rodney Olsen (13:51):
What was the feeling within your family once you had come through that surgery? I guess there was great relief, but also knowing
that there was a long road ahead.How did family rally around you at that stage?
Brenda Nearpass (14:06):
They came to the hospital and were there of course my dad prayed for the neurosurgeons hands and ability to remove the
tumor. Then after the surgery once Igot home, my family was here. My oldest daughter lived with us during the summer so that she could take
(14:29):
care of me when my husband wasn'table to be here. At first, they pretty much had to do everything for me. I wasn't supposed to walk very
much because I had to keep my heartrate down so that the swelling and my head would stay low. So they would walk me to the bathroom. They
(14:52):
would take me up to the shower. Myoldest daughter had to bathe me That's something that I never thought any of my children would
have to do for me. That's somethingthat's very hard for an adult. But I was so grateful that she was willing to step up and do that, when I
(15:16):
didn't have the ability to.
Rodney Olsen (15:18):
There's a real dependency upon others when you go through something like this. And I imagine being a realtor or a real
estate agent, very successful mumand all the rest, you probably had grown very used to being dependent on yourself, because you're a very
capable woman. So how was it toactually come into that place where you had to be dependent on others?
Brenda Nearpass (15:43):
it was very difficult. If I was left in a room by myself, I would get up and move around a little bit, I guess, kind
of being a cheeky little child orsomething. Just wanting to prove that I still had the ability to be on my own. But I was so grateful
(16:07):
that my family was willing to showup every day to help me not only my eldest daughter, but my middle daughter, and my youngest one, I
have four children, and they allhelped when my husband wasn't here. That was good for him too, because he was able to leave the situation,
(16:29):
take him self out of all the stressthat was going on, then he could come back, also with my children, they would be able to leave them
too. So I was grateful that all ofmy family was here to help with that
Rodney Olsen (16:46):
Tell me about some of the lessons that God taught you along that way.
Brenda Nearpass (16:50):
Some of the lessons I've learned to be patient, to think about others, I just kept putting myself in other people's shoes, who
I know who have gone through hardersituations. And so I was grateful for the situation I was in, and that it wasn't worse than it could have
(17:16):
been. It could have been way worse.I have learned to trust in God more. I've learned that God does listen to our prayers. I didn't think God was
listening to my prayers, becausethere were many times I would pray for something. And my prayers weren't answered. And I had done
(17:38):
many bad things through my lifetime.And I just thought, well, maybe God has just kind of set me to side because I did do all those wrong,
bad things. But God showed me thathe does hear all the prayers, and that he listens to them. But just like us as parents, we don't give
(17:59):
our kids absolutely everything thatthey asked for. God doesn't give us everything that we asked for to.
Rodney Olsen (18:07):
When was it that you decided, with all the lessons that you'd learned about going through that surgery, but also what God was
doing in your life? When did youdecide that you needed to write that down and turn that into a book?
Brenda Nearpass (18:21):
I started writing down what happened fairly shortly after the surgery, because there were so many blank spots, I didn't
know what happened. I needed to fillin all those blank spots as best as I could. I asked my husband and my daughters multiple times. And I kept
(18:44):
asking the same questions over. AndI could tell that they were starting to get a little impatient with me. And so I decided to start writing it
down for myself to help me be ableto remember and try to figure out just how everything came into play. So then after I wrote everything
(19:07):
down, I started reading it to myhusband. And then I thought, well, maybe somebody else might benefit from the experience I had gone
through.
Rodney Olsen (19:20):
And you've been able to put this book together which has given other people hope, I'm sure what has been the response of those
who have read the book.
Brenda Nearpass (19:29):
The response has been good. I have talked with a couple of people, one who has a brain tumor, and she will be going
Rodney Olsen (19:32):
it must be incredibly powerful for you to know that it's having that effect, you're also having an effect. Being an advocate
into surgery in a couple of weeks.And it gave her hope and it's made it not so scary for her to go through the surgery. Another person
(19:52):
lost her daughter a year ago. Shesaid that my book reminded her that God wants us to be happy. God wants us to live happy lives. It helped
her through the mourning process ofher daughter,
(20:17):
for the National Brain TumorSociety. Tell me what that involves.
Brenda Nearpass (20:21):
With the National Brain Tumor Society, it was started by a person who lost a relative to a brain tumor. They have been working
on raising awareness, raising funds.There are many charity events throughout the year, where the money goes to funding for the National
(20:48):
Brain tumor Society. What I havedone is meetings with our state senator and legislators, sharing my story and asking them to sponsor a
different legislature. It's good toshare our stories with them, we need more funding for brain tumor research and to find a cure, we've
(21:17):
found that there's a high percentageof US veterans that served in Afghanistan, they have brain cancer and brain tumors, and their children
are at a higher risk of having braincancer. So they're doing research to find why that is, and then to, you know, help them with their
(21:41):
treatments. To this day, there hasnot been a actual treatment for children that have brain tumors and brain cancer, they go through the
same type of treatment that an adultdoes. We all know that children's brains are not the same as adult brains, yet, they're still being
(22:05):
treated the same. So we're reallytrying to find a treatment for children. And
Rodney Olsen (22:14):
I'm sure that the advocacy is going to make a difference there, as you meet with various people who have the say is,
especially within your country. I'mjust wondering about the book, I'm sure that not everyone is going to be going through the same sorts of
things that you went through throughthat brain tumor and and the surgery. But do you think that your book is going to be helpful for
(22:36):
people that are going through theirown difficult time?
Brenda Nearpass (22:40):
I believe so. I talk a little bit more than just the brain tumor. And my book, it's a lot about hope, just hope in general,
and God answers our prayers, andthat there are miracles that happen around us every day. And sometimes a miracle is like when my oldest
(23:04):
daughter flew up here, the day of mysurgery, the pilot asked everybody on the plane to stay seated so that she could get off the plane first.
And actually everybody did. And tome, that is a miracle for something like that to happen. So if we just open our eyes, we can see that there
(23:30):
are miracles that happen every day.
Rodney Olsen (23:32):
Absolutely, it's a great encouragement. Brenda, if people are wanting to hear a bit more of your story or to find your
book, where is the easiest place forpeople to find you.
Brenda Nearpass (23:43):
My website is BrendaNearpass.com. and they can also find my book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Rodney Olsen (23:54):
And I will put links in the show notes at bleeding daylight.net so that people can find that easily. It's an amazing story
and an amazing recovery and lotsmore detail in that book memoir of a true airhead. Brenda, I want to say thank you so much for sharing your
story today Bleeding Daylight.
Brenda Nearpass (24:14):
Thank you very much.
Emily Olsen (24:17):
Thank you for listening to Bleeding Daylight. Please help us to shine more light into the darkness by sharing this episode
with others. For further details andmore episodes, please visit bleedingdaylight.net
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