This morning Veronica was determined to get some “real walking” in. We walked the 7 blocks to the beach and back. While at the beach she walked a good distance in the sand. It is very soft sand, which was a good challenge for her. We are now going to try to cross the busy street and have lunch at Subway.
Today I went to CVS to get another round of meds for Veronica. The insurance company is limiting the number pills that we are allowed to have so I will go back tomorrow. Frustrating for me, but I understand that many people need this protection. I decided to walk back to the house. After walking through the high-end shop area of La Jolla I found this little gem called “Coast Walk Trail”. I showed the pictures to Veronica and we discussed possibly going over there and giving it a try.
After the events of yesterday, this morning is better. The pain seems to be less sharp this morning. She has asked for Starbucks. We are talking more about this coming Sunday, and less about how to get through right now. Meanwhile, my hero made this for Veronica at the house.
Last night Veronica’s pain was increasing. We called the on-call doctor. He talked through the symptoms with us and advised us to increase the dosage of pain medicine Veronica was taking. He then asked us to call back in the afternoon. Around 11 this morning the on-call doctor called us back. He had talked with Veronica’s doctor and they agreed that Veronica’s symptoms suggested the possibility of a serious infection. He encouraged us to go to the ER, and that he would be there when we arrived. We went right away assuming that it would take a long time. We were seen pretty quickly. There were a CT scan, blood tests, and examinations. Everything came back fine, and the Doctors felt better about her condition. After determining that there wasn’t a complication, they worked with Veronica to determine how to manage the pain more effectively. When in the ER she was given some IV meds that gave her nearly immediate relief. We are back at the house now, and Veronica is resting.
After talking with the on-call doctor last night, we made a change to Veronica’s pain med. She was able to sleep a little in the early morning. She was up an hour before me and was sitting in her chair. She had a little breakfast and her pain meds. She did some walking in the house. The walking in the house gave her a confidence boost. I asked if she wanted to go for a walk outside. She said yes, and we walked up the block. There was sunshine and Sunday morning traffic. It was a lot to take in. She did really well. She is sitting in the recliner resting now.
Out the door.
Up the block.
Down the block is the way to the diner, we might try to go that way when the sun goes behind the hills.
After the initial diagnosis, Veronica was presented with a number of possible ways to treat her tumor. Based on her age and the size of the tumor “wait and see” was taken off of the table by the doctors. Eventually, the tumor would cause unrecoverable damage inside of her cranium. We didn’t like the outcomes of radiation. The likelihood of success wasn’t a strong enough for us. This left Veronica with the choice between two surgical approaches. One option allowed for the possibility of keeping her hearing, with the risk of causing chronic migraine headaches. The other option almost guaranteed the loss of hearing, but gave the doctors the best access to the tumor and probably would have a better chance of getting the whole tumor out. There was a discussion among the doctors as to which was the best procedure for her tumor because it hadn’t compromised her hearing yet. They informed us of the likelihood of success and side effects of each option.
I feel that Veronica had chosen early on which procedure that she wanted to undergo. Her history of migraines kept her for entertaining the idea of trying to save her hearing.
The day before the surgery we had a meeting with the two lead surgeons and after reviewing her MRI again, they both struggled with the idea of taking away her hearing. It was hard for Veronica to have live through deciding again to sacrifice her hearing.
Veronica put it like this “You have this crappy option, you have this crappy option, you have this crappy option. Pick one.”
Dr. Schwartz told Veronica after the surgery that while he was removing the tumor he discovered that he would not have been able to save her hearing with the other approach.
Veronica didn’t think that she would be able to wear contacts after the surgery. When we talked about it, I agreed that it wasn’t worth the hassle of bringing them. Neither of us realized the folly of this at the time. Her vestibular exercises have been limited by her lack of clear vision. My first solution was to take the right temple off of her “cheap” glasses. The lenses in those glasses are terrible and it was a no go. They actually caused double vision, which is a side effect that the doctors want to know about. Next, I took the right temple off of her usual frames. She has been wearing them like this for two days. It is really annoying and the spring on the left side keeps the glasses in a bad place.
Veronica asked me to call around to the local optical stores. I called a couple of stores that are close to the house. I didn’t have much luck. Most of them couldn’t do anything until Tuesday. I called a Target Optical store south of La Jolla, they said they didn’t have anything in stock that would help us, but they thought the other two SD Target Optical locations might be able to help. I called the location in Santee, CA. Dr. Kelly Keane was very kind and helped us out. Veronica is all set with contacts now. Hopefully, we can make progress on the dizziness.
Veronica has been regularly walking around the house, doing her exercises and drinking lots of fluids. The pain is up, but she is determined. We continue to be grateful for the love, prayers, and support.
Veronica had a small lunch and is now working on her exercises. Halfway through one exercise veronica said to me “This is getting easier. I mean it is still hard, but it isn’t as bad as the first day” She continues to fight the pain.
It is now my turn to try to balance things. Veronica has been asleep for 4 hours, and she is due for meds. I hate to wake her up, but I don’t want to get behind on the meds. I want to help keep her pain down so she can keep up her vestibular therapy. Every time she has gotten up to take her meds she has done some of the exercises without me suggesting it. She keeps giving it her all.