The Week in Review 10-7-2008

I know, I've been a bad blogger. Sorry. Can I blame it on being tired and lack of motivation?

Summary of this week: From radiation to winter blah...

• We're 17 weeks past the partial resection of my brain tumor
• Radiation was completed one week ago

Medically - Well radiation is complete and I do not have to return to the radiation oncologist until October 30th for a follow-up. We won't really know if it did any good until somewhere mid-November as they typically wait 6 weeks to have the first post radiation MRI. Therefore, we just have to pray that it all did what it was supposed to.

Now I seem to be dealing with the first cold/sinus/bronchitis battle of the winter. I hate winter because of this. We'll see what happens as the weeks progress.

I don't believe there is anything else medically on the horizon at this time.

Emotionally - I'm doing well emotionally other than just tired of dealing with one thing after the other. It just seems like the last six months has been one battle after the next. I'm really ready for a break now. You see, it was April of this year that I was having neck problems and we were concerned about a tumor that appeared in my C3 vertebra in my neck. Luckily, it is believed to just be a birthmark. This took us right into surgery, then radiation, and now I've got this darn cold. I am still tired from radiation and now I'm completely exhausted because of this crud. I just want some full recovery time to feel normal for a while. I know, I am not normal anymore. My life has changed forever, but... well, you see where I'm going with this. I'm just ready for a bit of a break. I'm tough, I'll get through it.

Mentally - I continue to struggle with focus. I wonder if I should just quit stating that. I feel like a broken record with it. My short term memory has also taken a huge hit. Some days I find myself forgetting the same thing three or four times before I can finally am able to remember it long enough to do it. Ugh. I know, I know, it's called getting old but dang it I'm only 29!!! It scares me what it'll be like at 39 if I keep going at this rate. *sigh* Ok, enough whining. I'm not a whiner so I better stop.

Physically - I feel like crud this week. My nose has been running, my eyes are watering, my chest is tight, I'm coughing... I think that about sums it up. I'm also tired but not sure how much is feeling sick and how much is post radiation. I actually slept 12 hours last night and then slept three more earlier. I just hope the sleep will help me fight this thing a little harder.

Family/Play/Work - Everyone is doing pretty good. My son had a double-header in soccer a few Saturdays ago and got kicked in the hand. We had to take him to get x-rays to make sure he didn't break it. Luckily, he only bruised it but it made for a long day for me. He's feeling pretty good with it now though.

John has been putting in some major hours at work. His last paycheck had 35 hours of overtime for a two week pay period. Needless to say I don't see much of him this time of year.

The weekend before last, John actually got off at a decent hour so we went out to supper for our anniversary. (We have to take advantage of him getting off at a decent hour or we'd probably not get a chance to do anything. You know what they say about the best laid plans...) Anyway, the weekend of our anniversary, my parents came over to help me out around the house. My dad mowed the yard for us (and fell in love with our lawn mower) and my mom helped me give my house the thorough cleaning it hasn't had in going on five months. I'll admit that I overdid it on Saturday but I had to do what I was capable. It just didn't feel right with her doing all the work. John did manage to get off by 2:00 on saturday much to my shock. We had a late lunch with my parents (I had put a roast and carrots in that morning) and then we decided to go see a movie for our anniversary. So... we caught the late show of the "Dark Knight". It was a great movie and that's coming from someone who is NOT a Batman fan. However, I am a Heath Ledger fan and I do think that he should win best supporting actor for the Joker. I was amazed at the job he did. The Joker was truly insane.

I added work to this grouping because my schedule will be goofy for a few weeks. I am still on part-time disability but in order to start increasing my stamina I am increasing my days a bit. This week I am doing 7 hours Monday and Wednesday and 6 hours on Thursday. I will have Tuesday and Friday home. Then next week I am thinking to increase them again in that I will work Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in order to get three days in a row in and see how I do. All this is because the week of the 20th I am supposed to return full-time. It will take a lot out of me but by increasing it this way, I am hoping it won't be such a shock to my system that it drops me.

Ok, I can't think of much else to say so I'll wrap this up now.