Nikki and Brie Bella have shared an update on the health of their mother, Kathy Colace, who is recovering from surgery to remove a mass on her brain stem. The pregnant twins assured fans that Kathy is back to being “our mom again” following the operation on June 30.
“It’s been so nice just to see our mom be our mom again,” Brie said on the 36-year-old twins’ latest episode of The Bellas Podcast.
“We’re just so happy that she has light at the end of the tunnel,” the former wrestler also said.
The girls revealed that Kathy was originally thought to have Bell’s palsy, after experiencing paralysis on one side of her face earlier this year. Her condition worsened in June, with her whole face becoming numb as she lost her ability to taste and became “extremely dizzy.”
Taken to the hospital by her husband, John Laurinaitis, Kathy was found to have a tumor “as big as a blueberry” on her brain stem.
“It was sticking out of her brain stem and it was starting to hit nerves,” Nikki said. “It was growing rapidly.”
After more than seven hours in surgery, during which Nikki posted she was praying for Kathy, the mass was removed, and the girls were able to visit and have a “great conversation” with her. She now faces six months to a year of recovery.
Nikki also shared that the health journey has been chronicled by cameras. “My mom really wanted the cameras to roll because, obviously, we were all like, ‘No!’” she explained. “But my mom’s like, ‘Think of how many people out there think they have Bell’s palsy, or they have certain symptoms and the doctors don’t give them MRIs on their brain? And then they find out they have these growths or tumors or cancer, and it’s so late in the game.'”
As she heals, Kathy has great motivation to get back on her feet: Both of her girls are expecting babies — Brie with her husband, Daniel Bryan, and Nikki with Dancing With the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev.
They talked to 360aproko in April about being pregnant during the coronavirus pandemic. “This isn’t what I imagined my first pregnancy to be,” Nikki admitted. “I had a really important ultrasound appointment and Artem couldn’t come. I had to go by myself. I was literally in the car, crying. I was like, ‘Just walk in, you’re fine.'”
