The chaos of the past couple of weeks has been absolutely overwhelming. So many people stepped up and helped me out with ridding my apartment of things I no longer needed,or taking me out for much needed breaks to see the opening of the Lions Festival of Lights, followed by Zoolights the next weekend, and a Chanukka potluck celebration as the final hurrah!
The friends we made will forever live in our hearts, leaving was very difficult and I feel like there were so many plans that had been put on hold until Rori was 'old enough' to participate. Hopefully we will make it out again for a visit and to make it back out to the Enchanted Forest or white water rafting (she's old enough next summer!) and hiking in real mountains instead of walking up the big hills here will be a must!
My crazy baby brother drove straight from Ontario to Calgary to pick me up. Thankfully he had to stay two nights to both recoup and to help me out with deliveries and picking up the uhaul (nightmare = faulty wiring then leaky trailer, but we made it!). The extra help last minute from building friends was also very much appreciated!
The drive was LONG but we made good time (even after I made him stop a few times - freezing rain most of the way, thick fog, and extremely windy in northern Ontario made for a couple of adventures... like spinning out in the prairies!). Thankfully no damage and we made it in one piece - he is the best judge of where it's okay to park backwards in the grassy median! My tummy was not happy with the constant swaying sensations, but a few extra gravol made things more bearable and we made it to Hamilton in time to unload and return the trailer before surprising Rori at school :)
Monday, 21 December 2015
Saturday, 12 December 2015
DONE!!!!
It has been a VERY long 3.5 months. But I am FINALLY through and finished with the first rounds of surgeries & treatments!!! Counting down the days now until I am back with my girl... A real hug is so much better than a chat on the phone!
With the final treatments yesterday, I was also shown the MRI pics for the first time (by the surgeon who also gave me his email to keep him updated with my progress!). I thought he was joking at first when I asked him to define "successfully removing a large mass", which is all anyone had told me previously, and he held out his fist. Then he pulled up the pics. Apparently it wasn't so much a 'brain bug' as it was a brain rat! He told me that it was larger than the frontal lobe which was moved around by the growing mass. This final conversation gave me both the answers and perspective I was looking for. It explains why they were so surprised at how quickly and completely I recovered from the surgeries (no physical/mental deficits anyway!) and why they would not let me leave without a 'person' being available 24/7.
The large white spot is the tumour pre-surgery...
It certainly explains the headaches and dizziness I had been experiencing all year - though Dr Kelly also told me they have no way of finding out how long it had been there. Apparently this was his reason for giving me the worst case scenario's of not being able to speak or use my right side after surgery! Forever grateful that I did not have to go through months of therapy to return to 'normal'... Recognized a couple of the patients who were still in the hospital from when I was there back in October - very sad, I couldn't have handled that!
Now it's time to finish getting rid of my things, packing up what I'm keeping, and get back to my babe so I can figure out a brand new (to me!) city and routines! Thankful that my sister lives in the same city as Ontario's equivalent to the TBCC here in Calgary - makes organizing the switch and follow ups much easier for everyone!
Happy Holidays to everyone, thank you all again for the love & support - near and far I'm sure that the prayers and good vibes have helped me through this journey!
With the final treatments yesterday, I was also shown the MRI pics for the first time (by the surgeon who also gave me his email to keep him updated with my progress!). I thought he was joking at first when I asked him to define "successfully removing a large mass", which is all anyone had told me previously, and he held out his fist. Then he pulled up the pics. Apparently it wasn't so much a 'brain bug' as it was a brain rat! He told me that it was larger than the frontal lobe which was moved around by the growing mass. This final conversation gave me both the answers and perspective I was looking for. It explains why they were so surprised at how quickly and completely I recovered from the surgeries (no physical/mental deficits anyway!) and why they would not let me leave without a 'person' being available 24/7.
The large white spot is the tumour pre-surgery...It certainly explains the headaches and dizziness I had been experiencing all year - though Dr Kelly also told me they have no way of finding out how long it had been there. Apparently this was his reason for giving me the worst case scenario's of not being able to speak or use my right side after surgery! Forever grateful that I did not have to go through months of therapy to return to 'normal'... Recognized a couple of the patients who were still in the hospital from when I was there back in October - very sad, I couldn't have handled that!
Now it's time to finish getting rid of my things, packing up what I'm keeping, and get back to my babe so I can figure out a brand new (to me!) city and routines! Thankful that my sister lives in the same city as Ontario's equivalent to the TBCC here in Calgary - makes organizing the switch and follow ups much easier for everyone!
Happy Holidays to everyone, thank you all again for the love & support - near and far I'm sure that the prayers and good vibes have helped me through this journey!
Saturday, 5 December 2015
One week to go!
I'm still amazed at how timing has been working out so smoothly for everything that I am dealing with. Sure I'll still have to sort out finances and how to finish my degree (maybe - depends on follow-up results that I won't have for another couple of months!) once the holidays are over... But until then, life is actually going pretty smoothly. 90% ready to move - car has been picked up (YEAH!!!!) since I have no idea when/if I will be allowed to drive again :( More to find out through the follow-ups!
Another great evening out with friends last eve - thankful that I have so many who are willing to drive me about as requested and who are so amusing - makes it much easier to stay positive (even when dealing with side-effects like "pooffy-steroid-face syndrome" and "gaseous-chemo-effect")... but those are minor compared to what so many people at TBCC are going through, so I won't complain too much (I hope!).
Now, I just need to stop having panic attacks over how much there is to do this week (not much really - most has to wait until after the charity does it's p/u Thursday anyway!)... Good thing for distractions! And for actually getting sleep last night - almost 7 hours!!!! Once I wake up enough, I may even feel human-esque again!
Hugs and love to all the people in my little world who have been so supportive <3 <3
Another great evening out with friends last eve - thankful that I have so many who are willing to drive me about as requested and who are so amusing - makes it much easier to stay positive (even when dealing with side-effects like "pooffy-steroid-face syndrome" and "gaseous-chemo-effect")... but those are minor compared to what so many people at TBCC are going through, so I won't complain too much (I hope!).
Now, I just need to stop having panic attacks over how much there is to do this week (not much really - most has to wait until after the charity does it's p/u Thursday anyway!)... Good thing for distractions! And for actually getting sleep last night - almost 7 hours!!!! Once I wake up enough, I may even feel human-esque again!
Hugs and love to all the people in my little world who have been so supportive <3 <3
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