Tag: Veronica

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The start of 1st anniversaries

Anniversaries can be filled with joy and sadness. I’ve hit two in the last two weeks that are a mix of both. Joy that I’m a year out from the start of one of the hardest medical experiences I’ve ever faced, and a some sadness for what has changed as a result.  Back on 8/21, it was one year since the MRI that picked up Norman growing inside my head.  One year ago today, I saw Norman for the first time when I met with the doctors at the U of M.  I posted the following comment on the AN Facebook group that became a great resource of information for me, including helping me find surgeons to contact for 3rd and 4th opinions.

Diagnosed with a 2.4cm AN 1 year ago today.

Surgery 7 1/2 months ago.

I don’t post here much, but want to take a minute to thank those who do.  After my diagnosis you helped me feel like I wasn’t alone.  As I discerned my treatment decision you helped me understand the possible outcomes of surgery – real life, no sugar coating. In the days leading up to my surgery and still now as I recover, you helped me see that life does go on and that it can be (and is) good. Stay strong, warriors!

There’s something about being able to dialogue with people who “get” what you’re going through.  Their situation may not be exactly what yours is, but it’s close enough.  They understand the emotions and the unknowns and some can offer hope when sharing where they are at today.  I was able to “meet” two people through the AN page and corresponded with them after my surgery.  They left notes letting me know they were thankful for my support during the time leading up to their surgeries.  Looking back on those conversations now, I think they helped me just as much.  It was a lot to process.  Talking to them helped me face the reality of what I went through and keep pushing through my early recovery.

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Paddle boarding & Nissedalen @ 50 years

✅ Paddle boarding!!

We spent the day celebrating 50 years at Nissedalen today.  The weather was absolutely perfect and the lake water was warm enough for me to enjoy being in it.  If you know me at all, that’s a pretty big deal!  With summer (sort of) winding down, today was a great day to attempt the next major item on my recovery checklist – paddle boarding.  Jake rented a couple of boards from a local shop and his cousins let us use their trucks to transport them to the lake.  When the little kids weren’t using them, a few of the adults gave them a try.  I was thrilled to not only get up without falling off the board, but keep my balance while paddling down the shoreline and back! Hooray for another recovery item checked off!

Group shot – 4 generations!

Grandma Lois & Papa Dale with many of their grandkids (and spouses) and great-grandkids!

One note about the coloring of the pictures.  The smoke in the air from the fires out west was intense.  These have been tweaked a bit just to tone down the yellow tones a bit – and they still look hazy!

Shecklet #2 also got up on skis today! Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of him, but he wants to go again, so I’ll try to capture one next time.

The rest of the day’s photos can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kT3NcQ9JhhWmu5878

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6 months post-op

Time flies.

Usually I say that when referring to my kids and how fast they’re growing and changing.  This time though, I’m saying it about me.  Six months ago today, I was in the middle of a life-changing (life-saving) surgery.  A lot has happened in a short amount of time and every day when I wake up, I’m thankful for the gift of continued recovery.

✅ walking

✅ normal vision

✅ driving

✅ biking

Next goal: paddle boarding

We celebrated with 6-month post-op ice cream cones tonight!

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Bride-to-be

Jake’s youngest sister is getting married and today was her “family” shower. Jake was at the bachelor weekend for his future BIL, so Grandpa Dave helped me out by watching the boys while the girls came to the shower with me. It was breakfast themed, which was delicious! Only three more weeks til the big day!

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Just like riding a bike

It’s been a while since I’ve written about my recovery.  I continue to make gradual improvements in areas that most people would never notice.  Things like balance and fatigue continue to be areas I hope will keep getting better – albeit slowly.  One major victory to celebrate today though, is that I rode my bike!  No balance problems, no major sensory issues (while riding,) and I was able to keep up with my 5-year-old who has become quite confident on her bike as well!  We rode two miles tonight – down to the “big park” and back.  Hooray for both of us!

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Unexpected visit

One of my cousins called me this morning as he was driving to pick up a piece of equipment for his business. The equipment was in MN and he lives in SD. He said his route was going to take him by our house, so he was going to try to stop to say hi and give me a hug before heading back home. It was a long day on the road for him – I’m so grateful he stopped to say hello.

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The new big brothers

My friend, Michelle, just had a new baby and I got to spend some time with the two big brothers while their dad was at the hospital.

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Intersession 2018

The big Shecklets are off of school this week (because we opted to not sign them up for intersession classes this year.) Today we had a hand appointment for Shecklet #3, went to the park (until three bus loads of kids showed up,) and then went to MOA to ride some rides and go to the American Girl store.

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Weekend away

My friend, Michelle, and I don’t get much of an opportunity to catch up (uninterrupted) when we see each other.  A few weeks ago, she threw out the idea of a pre-baby girls weekend.  (She’s expecting another sweet baby and we both know that life gets more complex when adding a new member to the family.) Anyway, we accomplished the feat of finding a weekend that worked for both of us and decided to keep our plans to a minimum.  In fact, the only thing we decided on by the time we pulled our of her driveway late Friday morning was that we would head south in I-35.  We figured we could stop once we didn’t see snow anymore.  That put us smack dab in Des Moines, IA.  Not exactly a common place to road trip to, but for us, it wasn’t about the destination.  Rather, we were hoping to get a chance to talk, laugh, and sleep.  All of which we accomplished.  Well, maybe not so much on the sleep end, but it was still nice to sleep through the night and not be woken up by a child.

On Saturday, we did get out to see the botanical gardens in downtown Des Moines, had dinner at a taco restaurant (food was tasty, but the service was terrible,) and saw the 9:30pm showing of  I Can Only Imagine, before continuing to talk until almost 2am.  We got up Sunday morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and found a church nearby that had mass at 11am.  After mass and a stop for a cup of coffee, we headed for home.

Both of us are grateful for our husbands who managed things on the home front so we could get away and recharge.  (Here are the Shecklets with the homemade pizzas they had for dinner on Friday night.)

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Math lesson

Growing up my dad would ask if we wanted a “math lesson,” which meant did we want to play cribbage. Today, Shecklet #2 was home sick from school, so I thought it was an appropriate time for him to have a math lesson. We’ve been playing lots of card games this week – if was fun to teach him a new one.