Just like his dad ❄️
It wouldn’t be the start of the snowfall season without a photo of my son wearing flip flops and shorts to shovel the driveway so I could run an errand. Love this crazy kid!
Tag: winter
Cousin visit
No school for these kids because of cold temps means they get to see their cousin and aunt today!
Fun with static electricity
We’re in the middle of a weather rollercoaster. Warmish (for January) yesterday, single digits today, and potentially close to 40 tomorrow. Shecklet #4 had fun with fleece blankets and the dry air tonight, filling her hair with static electricity.
1-year post-op MRI
It’s snowing today and everything is covered in a fluffy blanket of powder. Typically, I wouldn’t venture out (other than to go to and from the bus stop) but my MRI was scheduled for 9 AM. Glad I didn’t have to drive far – though 4-wheel drive worked splendidly.
The scan took about an hour and I walked out with the disk of my images in hand.
I took a look at the scans when I got home. Obviously I’m not a radiologist, but I didn’t see the same tumor blob as on my last scan. The sinus infection I had during my first scan cleared up nicely as well – ha! (The right side of my head is on the left side of each of the images below.) I was able to see some of the titanium mesh that was screwed into my skull as well as what I believe is the fat plug they took from my belly to fill the space left by the tumor. I will, of course, wait for “official” word from my surgeon that things look ok, but for now, I can wait patiently and not feel anxious.
For reference, here is the post with images from my first scan where Norman is clearly visible.
Spiritual bouquet
I’m four and a half weeks post-surgery and people from our parish continue to pray for us, ask how we are doing, and offer to help/support us however they can. Recently, I’ve been able to personally tell a few of them how grateful I am that they take the time to check in with me. As Jake mentioned in a past post, if you look at me, you can’t even tell I’ve had surgery. Pre-surgery me had thought I’d be back doing most of what I did before by now, but post-surgery me now understands just how long retraining my brain is actually taking.
Jake and I are part of a ministry at the church that serves the 4th-6th graders by organizing social activities once a month. In addition, I was invited to join the Family Formation Core Team, which meets monthly to pray for the parishes using the Family Formation program, discuss the various ministries at the church that reach the elementary school age kids, (including the one we’re involved in,) and pray for each others’ intentions. I’ve been MIA for the last several meetings, but the Core team has been lifting me up in prayer. Today, this beautiful spiritual bouquet was delivered to our house. On the back of the flowers are the prayers and words of support from members of the Core team. Once again, I’m so humbled by the beautiful show of support for me and my family while I’m on the road to recovery. 💗
Physical Therapy – baseline
I had my first PT appointment on Friday and have my second one, tomorrow. The assessments I went through were comical. When you only have one balance nerve to keep you upright and you close your eyes while standing with one foot in front of the other, you fall over. When you close your eyes and turn your head from side to side, you fall over. When you try walking with your eyes closed, you can’t walk in a strait line and your physical therapist has to stop you before you run in to anything. Looking at my current abilities, I suppose there are two reactions I could have had – laugh or cry. I chose (and continue to choose) to laugh.
Based on my performance, you can probably guess what kind of exercises I was given to work on. Twice a day, I need to stand with my feet staggered, eyes closed, and move my head. I also have to turn 45 degrees and then back to my original position with my eyes closed. During testing, the therapist saw that my eyes make a slight jerky movement when they move from right to left. She gave me an eye exercise to work on that issue as well.
As part of the review of the appointment, my therapist asked how realistic I thought it would be for me to work on the exercises she assigned on a daily basis. My response was, “I’m extremely motivated.”
Three weeks ago – the patient’s perspective
It’s hard to believe that these were taken three weeks ago.
Before I was wheeled into the OR, Jake whispered, “I love you” one last time into my right ear. Hearing those words in that moment gave me a last boost of courage to face what I knew was going to be a very rough 24-48 hours. When I woke up from surgery and looked at the clock on the wall, the entire wall fell to the side. This happened every time I opened my eyes. It was nauseating. Yesterday I walked three large laps at the mall with my mother-in-law and today I walked around our block on my own. It is amazing how quickly our brains can adapt to major change.
I’ve been reflecting back on the last three weeks a lot lately. So much has transpired in such a short amount of time. I had brain surgery and was discharged from the hospital three days later! That blows my mind. When I left the hospital, I was still dizzy, and not completely balanced, but mostly capable of walking on my own. That blows my mind. The prayers and emails, texts, and blog post comments continue. That blows my mind. (And also makes me smile.)
There have been a few people throughout this ordeal who have told Jake that they started praying for me after not having been to church or praying in years. Others have shared that reading about what my recovery has entailed has caused them to “reset” so to say and not take for granted the simple things in life that they are able to do without thinking twice – walking, picking something up off the floor, driving kids to and from. I’ve even heard that kids have told their parents they are praying for me (without any prompting.) <Insert my tears here.>
After I was told I had a brain tumor last fall, I began to pray for healing. It seemed like a logical prayer request. Little did I know I should have been more specific. God saw it fit to start healing areas in my life that I didn’t realize needed healing. It took facing Norman to bring me to a place where I could see that my perspective on certain relationships needed a major adjustment and helped me realize areas in my life that were broken. It has been hard – probably the hardest six months of my life, and I know He’s not done with me yet. But I’m grateful for the chance to see how God is using it all – my diagnosis, surgery, and recovery, in ways I never imagined.
Three Weeks
We have tried to have a normal week as a family. It went pretty well aside from #4 and #2’s medical care needs. A while back I had a conversation with one of Veronica’s cousins about what kinds of things people post. Somewhere he had heard or decided that opening a bottle of ketchup is something that is post worthy, otherwise posting about normal life can get boring. I feel like I am at that point. We didn’t open any bottles of ketchup this week, but a number of normal things happened.
We have asked #1 and #2 to use their alarm clock rather than relying on us to get them up which has resulted in a much more orderly morning routine. #3 felt a little left out of the 6 am alarm, so #1 and #2 now wake her up when they are awoken. #2 is a little reluctant to rely on a machine to make sure he gets up on time. It was interesting to see him think about the risks of this change. We didn’t tell him that we would get him up if the alarm clock didn’t work. I am hoping he figures that out on his own. I have been happy with how both #1 and #2 have taken ownership of this. On Saturday #2 had a basketball tournament, and the rest of us went to a birthday party. It was good to be out and see friends. #3 went to another birthday party in the evening.
Somewhere along the way, I caught a nasty bug. So I have quarantined myself in the basement bedroom, and my Mom came back to the house to help with the kids. She has continued to help Veronica by taking her places for exercise and therapy and encouraging her. It has been a good change of pace for Veronica to have someone to talk to other than me.
Veronica told me this morning that she can tell a difference in her energy this week as compared to previous weeks. I am glad she is starting to recognize these improvements. It has been disheartening to not be able to share the joy with her of all of the progress that I have seen because she has been in the thick of it.
Mexican Food Please
The doctors advised us to avoid using Tylenol for an extended period of time. Veronica wants to minimize her pain and minimize her use of Tylenol. Last night was tricky, the pain kept her from sleeping well and early this morning we decided to take some of the prescription pain medication. She was able to rest-in through some of the morning while I worked. I say rest-in because she wasn’t really sleeping.
Later in the morning she got up and had some cereal. After breakfast, she contacted the PT back home that she found a few weeks ago with vestibular therapy training. Finding providers and reviewing medical coverages is challenging enough without a horrible headache and persistent dizziness, but she got it done.
We are very thankful for many of the side effects that Veronica hasn’t experienced, but the list of things that she is affected by is still very real. One of the side effects that Veronica is dealing with has to do with taste, she doesn’t really taste much on one side of her tongue. She says that food has a metallic taste. Knowing this, when Veronica awoke from her late morning nap and asked for Mexican food, I jumped into action finding a place. We are in Southern California, so it was more a problem of narrowing down the choices. I found 4 places within short talking distance.
We walked to a place called Galaxy Taco in La Jolla Shores. The food was good, and the sun was warm, and the breeze was nice. Veronica is beginning to be able to handle more sensory input like this with less discomfort. Right across from our table was a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe. On the walk home after lunch, we stopped to look at this interesting flower. Dr. Suess must have been inspired by these.
Appointments
This morning we went to a PT appointment. Veronica did very well. She had a good conversation with the PT about the three parts of the vestibular system and the work she has to do to get back her balance and get rid of the nasty dizziness.
After the PT appointment, we went for a mile long walk in the SD heat and sun. We stopped for a simple lunch. After lunch, Veronica had a follow-up appointment with the doctors. They are happy with her recovery and encouraged her to keep working. Veronica is cleared to fly home on Sunday.
Veronica rested while I worked then we took a walk down to the beach. We walked a long way on the beach and then back up to the house. Veronica’s fit bit says that she walked 3.35 miles today. I am going to make brats on the grill now.
