Sleep
Please pray that the pain will subside, and Veronica can sleep.
Tag: Veronica
Choices
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.
Clear Vision
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.
“This is getting easier”
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.
More Balancing Acts
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.
Embrace
Around the house, I have been holding Veronica’s hands because we have kept the lights off, and the floor is full of challenging rugs and thresholds. Twice during the night she stopped and hugged me. I thought she was working on dizzy spells, but I was wrong again, she just wanted a hug. They reminded me of the hugs that Nolan gives us. I usually take for granted Veronica and I’s physical closeness. We can go 5 days without touching each other or 5 minutes. The last couple of days I have felt close to her but had forgotten how much I like when she hugs me.
Livin’ at the La Jolla Beach House
We are at the rental house. Veronica was anxious about the ride home. She said that it wasn’t as bad as she worried it could be. She is now slowly rocking in a recliner.
Leaving
Fr. Coffey stopped by to visit. It was nice to see him again. The nurse brought in discharge papers. We are going to be leaving the hospital soon. Please pray that the dizziness isn’t unbearable on the ride home and that I can give Veronica all that she needs at the house.
Walking and Resting
After a good lunch this afternoon Veronica has spent more time walking and resting. She also got a chance to take a shower. She said she feels clean and better. She is fighting the dizziness and pain with all of her strength which a lot.