“Her face became more paralyzed, she lost all taste, she’s really dizzy…her eye can’t shut at all,” Brie told Nikki, who, at the time, was actually en route to L.A. with Artem. “They found a lesion the size of a blueberry on her brain stem. And they said she’s gonna need surgery.”
Upon hearing this, the couple quickly turned the car around. “Even though my maternity insurance won’t cover us in Arizona, hearing about my mom that she’s gonna have brain surgery, family is first,” Nikki expressed in a confessional. “There’s no question that I will stay in Phoenix for my family. That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Once she and Artem were back with Brie and Bryan, all they could do was wait for an update from Kathy’s husband Johnny since he was the only one allowed to accompany her to the surgery because of coronavirus restrictions.
“I don’t think I’ve ever thought about losing my mom because that’s just something that does not seem possible in my life,” an emotional Nikki shared. “I could never imagine losing her. Just the thought of that makes my stomach turn.”