...or at least I'm hoping that's the plan. It's been a crazy few months but let's hope we're back into normal mode soon.
- I am 2 years and 1 month past the partial resection of my grade three brain tumor. (I can't believe I missed writing a post on the 2 year surgi-versary!!!)
- It has been almost 22 months since I completed external beam radiation.
- I have been seizure free for 13.5 months.
- It has been 3 years since I was hit in the face with a baseball that led to the early discovery of my brain tumor approximately a month later.
Medically - My last MRI showed no change and this is the best thing that brain cancer patients can hear at each MRI. I will be seeing my Neurologist again in September and I'm guessing we'll schedule my MRI for shortly after. It will be a nice and comfortable four months between scans. Hopefully, we'll be able to stay at that for a good long time. I have not had issues with headaches for several months now and I am as healthy as any "normal" 31 year old. (Sorry, that's kind of an inside joke that I share with my Radiation Oncologist. Long story and I can't remember if I told it before or not. Maybe it will be an entry another time.)
I continue to work my way off of the Adderrall (med for my focus issues). We are looking to drop it one more level next time I am there for a med check. I'm thinking at the rate I've gone, there should be no issues being completely off of it by the end of the year. YAY!!! One less med to take every day. (Not that I take many that I HAVE to have each day but one less all the same. LOL)
Emotionally - The last few months have been stressful but nothing that is overbearing. May and June were very stressful with John's hernia surgery and now it's just very busy getting ready for our vacation. Why is vacation planning always such a headache? The most stressful part of it all is the anxiety that came along with John's surgery. Although it was a minor procedure, anxiety always follows for me. That's just the way I am. However, we have figured out some important things in the category of my anxiety so hopefully now that we know about it, I'll be able to handle it better.
Ok, not sure why that one sounds so off but...
Mentally - My focus and mental stamina has improved a lot just over the past few months. I'm not sure where the sudden change has come in but it's been noticeable to me. I'm a lot less "reluctant" to start a mental task now and can stay on it longer so it's not as much of a pain to work on now. I think I'm back to normal in that respect.
Physically - My physical strength and stamina also continue to improve. I haven't attempted to go back to my wii yet because I've been physically busy doing many other things to get ready for vacation and my father-n-law visiting when we return home. However, back in June at one of the Relay For Life that I attended, I walked what ended up being 8 miles from 6 AM - 3 PM. Now it wasn't all at one time but it was still done in a 9 hour time frame. It's not to say I couldn't have done it more at once, but I had no incentive to and had people to talk to all night anyway. :)
The hair on top is at an aggravating length right now. It's long enough it will no longer curl and it's too short to pull back into a pony tail (it falls right out the first time I turn my head). If I didn't need to pull my hair back in the summer, I could probably still cover it sufficiently with the side hair but that is all back in the tail when it is up. Therefore, if you see me in a hat or headband, it's not because of a problem, just because it covers. Besides, I don't want to get a sunburn on my head so a hat is good protection.
Work - Work has not been near as stressful of late as projects have slowed down quite a bit. There have been more and more tasks related to the site closure but they are not too hard other than the reminder that the company that many people have grown to love will be shutting down soon. It's weird looking into certain areas and seeing whole lines gone. I think that's when it really starts hitting that our good little company will be taken away soon. I'm guessing that I will be there until February or March as I will be one of the last ones to go. All the servers and computers will have to be taken down and "disposed of" before I'll be able to leave. Then I guess I will be looking a little harder at the next steps depending on what I choose to do with the unemployment assistance. I've tossed around several ideas of how I will handle the time between my job ending and the training for taxes starting. I think I will make the final decisions during that time.
Home/Family - Well, this morning we finished packing and are traveling down the road right now towards South Carolina... the first destination of our vacation. Here we will visit with some of John's family that I've talked to online but never have had the chance to meet. I'm pretty excited about it. Then we will be off to Disney for 6 days, Universal Studios to see the Harry Potter theme Park, Discovery Cove to swim with the dolphins, Aquatica/SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and finally to Panama City in Florida to visit with one of my cousins and her hubby. It will be a truly amazing trip and we are all looking forward to it!!!
John is doing much better since his hernia surgery. He is pretty much back to the way he was other than taking it a bit easier when lifting things because he doesn't want to find out he has one on the other side as well. Not something he hopes to repeat any time soon even if the procedure went VERY well for him. Besides, he's been having his back flare up again anyway so not lifting is a good thing for that too.
Relay For Life was a fairly good success for my team. We made a good amount for the American Cancer Society and therefore continue to help with the strive for a cure. The event was rained "in" after we had been there about 3 hours so we did lose out on some of the on-site fundraisers because they were things that could not be easily moved inside. As much fun as I have with Relay, I have decided that next year, I am just going to join a team instead of being a captain. It will take a lot of stress off of me and allow me to enjoy the event a little more instead of running my tail off the whole time! I do want to send a big THANK YOU to all of those that supported my team and I by making donations. We are nothing without your support!!!
My son will be starting school a week after we get back home. I can't believe he is going into the 8th grade. YIKES!!! Where has the time gone?!?!?! I think he is actually looking forward to it.
Other than having stayed busy with vacation planning, my grandma being in and out of the hospital/nursing home a few times, and just plain summer craziness, I don't think there's been a lot else going on.
Well, the laptop is getting hot on my lap and I'm not sure it's a wise idea to be doing this in the car anyway so I'm going to wrap this up. I'm not sure if I remember how to post pictures directly to this or not but I'll be posting pictures as often as I can. :)
Yippee for 17 days of vacation!!!!
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