Being a "supermom," the affectionate term Jeannie Gaffigan's comedian husband Jim has long had for her, is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it's allowed Jeannie to produce a sitcom starring Jim and co-produce his comedy specials—and to help craft killer punchlines—while raising five children, ages 5 to 13.

It became a curse, though, when Jeannie dismissed months of nagging symptoms—exhaustion, near-total hearing loss in her left ear, dizziness, speech difficulties, and a persistent cough—as by-products of being a busy mom or "maybe the flu."

When she finally had it checked out (at the urging of her children's pediatrician), an MRI revealed a pear-size mass on her brainstem, affecting her ability to speak, swallow, hear, walk, balance, and breathe.

Within days, Jeannie had the mass—known as a choroid plexus papilloma, a rare but noncancerous tumor—surgically removed. She naively thought life would return to normal, but as she soon learned, recovering from a brain tumor is no joke.

Unexpected Tracheotomy

The location and size of Jeannie's tumor meant recovery would be a long, slow process, says her surgeon Joshua Bederson, MD, professor and chair in the department of neurology at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. "The tumor had wrapped around all the fine nerves and blood vessels, creating massive brainstem compression," he says. "She was already coughing and having trouble swallowing and speaking before surgery."

Jeannie's tumor had been very slowly compressing cranial nerves over many years, explains Dr. Bederson. "I removed it in one day. Those nerves don't just bounce back. It can take many months to recover."

That proved to be the case. Jeannie's swallowing after surgery was so compromised she aspirated her food while in intensive care and developed life-threatening double-lung strep pneumonia days later. She had to undergo a tracheotomy, a surgery that creates an opening through the neck into the trachea (or windpipe) so a tube can be inserted to act as an airway and remove secretions from the lungs. She also underwent a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), a procedure to insert a feeding tube in her stomach, which became her only source of nourishment for the next four months.

Focus on Swallowing

Jeannie rallied from pneumonia and returned home after two weeks with the tracheal tube—which Jim dubbed her "blowhole"—and PEG tube still in place. Eventually both would come out, but to this day Jeannie's food must be blended or softened to go down safely. She still aspirates and chokes but now has power in her lungs to clear them. "Mostly, I'm choking on my own saliva," she says.

To strengthen her swallowing, Jeannie works with Leanne Goldberg, MS, director of speech and language pathology in the department of otolaryngology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. "People don't realize what a complicated function swallowing is until they lose it," says Goldberg. "Jeannie's natural function was weakened or delayed. All movement and sensation involving the right side of her throat, including the vocal cord, was affected."

Goldberg started Jeannie on swallow therapy, based on principles of exercise physiology. "She practices the 'effortful swallow,' when she engages all the muscles together, as if trying to down a meatball in one big swallow," Goldberg explains. Jeannie also practices the "Masako maneuver," swallowing with her tongue fully protruded, which works the throat's pharyngeal constrictor muscles.

Jeannie does these exercises daily, with multiple reps and sets, and regularly visits Goldberg's office to gauge her progress. "Her recovery has been at warp speed," says Goldberg.

Breath and Balance Work

Jeannie also does physical therapy to improve walking and balance. "Sometimes I just spend 30 minutes moving my toes, that sort of thing."

In addition, Jeannie visits her pulmonologist monthly to monitor her respiratory system. She has to see Dr. Bederson and the neurologic team annually, now that her quarterly MRI scans have been clear for a year postsurgery. Dr. Bederson anticipates scheduling annual MRI scans for Jeannie for the next five to 10 years. "The risk for recurrence is very low," he says. "But because the tumor had grown so large, we scanned frequently in the early stages."

Lingering Effects

Jeannie still deals with numbness and lack of temperature regulation on the right side of her body, and hearing in her left ear is only 50 percent, which she hopes will continue to improve. Despite these deficits, Jeannie feels grateful. "I can't complain, because I know what could have happened." Her doctor listed the possible postsurgery complications as stroke, balance and walking limitations, facial numbness, permanent hearing loss, and even death.

Morale Booster

Jeannie was determined to return to being a full-time parent to her kids, who were between the ages of 2 and 11 at the time of her surgery and handled the ordeal with "incredible courage," she says. But with a tracheal tube and a PEG, that wasn't going to happen.

"I was down in the dumps because I was used to running things," she admits. "It was very challenging to watch Jim do so many things I was used to doing. But he would not have it. Instead he would cheer me up in the way only the funniest man in the world could do."

Case in point: Jim suggested they name one of their dogs Peg after Jeannie's PEG, which they did. He tried to normalize the tube in other ways, too. "As anyone who's used a feeding tube knows, there's nothing glamorous about it," he says. "We were trying to make it palatable and not scary for our children. So, we turned it into a show."

The comedian—who rose to fame joking about Hot Pockets—means this literally. "Feeding Frenzy with Jim Gaffigan" is a series of YouTube videos created with friends and neighbors to lift Jeannie's spirits.

"When a guest would come over and visit Jeannie, we'd have them give her food through the feeding tube," Jim explains. Then he'd film the entire event in their kitchen, wisecracking about the delicious aroma of, say, powdered steak and peas. "I like to add a thing I call water!" he jokes in a video. "Yum, yum!"

"I think it gave Jeannie some power in that vulnerable situation," he says. "Humor is something we've always found useful for coping."

These funny videos became serious public service tools for others with tracheotomies or feeding tubes. "Jeannie's attitude was 'I want to share this experience with people so they know this isn't rare,'" says Leslie Schlachter, PA, clinical director and chief physician assistant in the department of neurosurgery at Mount Sinai, who has been managing Jeannie's post-op recovery team.

Instant Caregiver

With five kids to raise and reassure, as well as a spouse who needed physical and emotional support, Jim became a caregiver overnight. "Did I ever feel overwhelmed? Absolutely," he admits. "It was incredibly stressful. Nothing compared to what she's gone through, but the managing of the bureaucracy behind it, and also managing the emotions of the people involved, was very taxing."

Jim wrestled with other concerns, beyond the idea of losing his wife.

"It takes a forced and immediate maturity" to be a caregiver, he says. "You see a vision of what the priorities are at the time. I was resigned to the fact that, you know, this could be my new life, that my career was over." Because Jeannie and the kids needed him, it could have become impossible to continue touring comedy clubs or flying off to movie sets. "Now I am even more grateful for the opportunities I have."

One such opportunity includes a new video campaign for Tylenol, whose advertising agency tapped the Gaffigans to share their story.

"It acknowledges how important caregivers are," Jim says. "People wanted to help, but the coordination was complex. The campaign is powerful because it focuses on specific needs, whether that's arranging Uber rides, or completing a household task."

In Jeannie's case, Jim says he has "so much gratitude" for the army of loved ones who flocked to their home to ease his burden and help with the children. With "aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents there, it was almost like a holiday atmosphere," says Jeannie, who is the oldest of nine siblings.

Support from All Sorts

Despite the physical toll Jeannie endured, she believes "the crisis has brought us even closer together" as husband and wife. "It's been a test of our faith, love, and friendship," she says. "I feel like our marriage is pretty invincible at this point."

Jim agrees: "I can't imagine going through what Jeannie went through and it not bringing a couple closer."

They also have felt buoyed by strangers, says Jim. "There was an outpouring of support from people we know only through the internet who shared in our relief and joy. Their well-wishes gave us encouragement and brought brightness to dark days."

Comedy Material

To combat those dark days, the Gaffigans looked for levity and started writing her health crisis into his act. "When Jeannie was out of the woods, I started touring with brain tumor material," says the comedian, whose 2018 Netflix special Noble Ape includes hilarious riffs on neurosurgeons.

"It immediately resonated with audiences because everyone's had a medical emergency and spent weeks in the hospital navigating this terrifying period," he says. "Those jokes are very cathartic. I have a relationship with the people who come to my shows, and they trust I'm not going to joke about something that's still precarious. It was a sense of relief for everyone."

Back to Normal?

Jeannie's supermom abilities were tested last August when the Gaffigans traveled to Alaska for a fun family trip after Jim booked a gig at the state fair.

Things didn't go entirely as planned. "Jim hasn't gotten sick in the 15 years of our marriage," Jeannie says. "Suddenly, he was doubled over in pain." They were in remote Alaska—so remote, Jeannie had worried beforehand that she would be too far from a hospital. "In Alaska, you're on the flight and you look down, and there's nothing."

"There's nothing," Jim interjects for emphasis.

The fair was held in the town of Palmer, but the Gaffigans were staying off the grid at a lodge without phone service to experience some authentic wilderness. "There's something very amazing about being unplugged—until your husband doubles over in pain," Jeannie says. Eventually, Jim was airlifted to the nearest hospital, where he underwent an emergency three-hour laparoscopic surgery for a ruptured appendix.

"I couldn't go with him because I was with the kids," she says. "I didn't have a choice. And I felt more empowered than I had during my entire recovery. Because my primary caregiver—who was also going to carry all the bags!—was gone," she says.

"I didn't know when Jim was coming back," she recalls. "Had we not been through all we've gone through, there's no way I'd be able to keep it together as well as I did. But I knew our family was going to be able to handle it."

Strength Reclaimed

Jim mended quickly and is fully recovered. What's more, Jeannie took something back from their adventurous journey to the wilds of Alaska: a renewed sense of self and all she's capable of doing.

Of course, the jokes never stopped flying. "After we got back, one of my doctors said to us, 'Could you guys quit being so exciting?'"

At that, right on cue, both Gaffigans laugh.

Web Extra

To learn about choroid plexus papilloma, visit BrainLifeMag.org/Choroid. For more brain tumor resources, visit BrainLifeMag.org/BrainTumorResources.