Keeping focus

Vincent just left and he really pushed me to up my exercise time each day.

The big takeaway for me will be to get a schedule each day and to stick with it.  I'll be trying to do the exercises 3 times a day and 3 sets each session.  That should tire me out I think.

Also the back of my head feels like its covered in suede with light hair growing in, I'm managing to get some good sleep thanks to a variety of medicines and  z-quill.

Hopefully the new walker will be here tomorrow so I can get used to going outdoors and to prepare myself for going to the Cindy Lauper show mid June with our friends down in Medford.

Gotta relax the shoulders W

Susan just left and we had a good therapy session.  I asked for help on the balance exercise which I was missing part of.... Oops

And my walking is needing to be more relaxed which I think she got over to me better today, and as I was walking past the needlepoint "homo sweet homo" which all the straight people who see seem to really laugh at, she started laughing, which was a fun moment.  

We started doing some of the Luminosity brain training games and that was interesting.  Some are super easy, and some just aren't.  I did a lot of walking and am sorta tired.  Which is great.  

I've really come to appreciate her visits, and am glad she's part of the team.  I'll see her Monday morning and will need to be able to report that Ki and I got out of the house together.  Hopefully my new outdoor capable walker will be here by Saturday.

Oh and Cleopatra the cat was well behaved and slept the whole time.  Sometimes she just demands attention from visitors and gets in the way.  Here she is a few months ago on my lap.

I--me Wuss Today

So I had Vincent the physical therapist over today, and once I got on my feet my heart rate jumped over 100 and that kinda scared Vince so we talked more than we did.

He really wants me to build standing stamina and I do too.  He'll be back on Friday to work me pretty hard he said, so I gotta get ready and try my best to not get worn out too fast.

I'm seeing some visual flickering but was able to get my soup heated in the microwave easily.  Vince wants me reading about the methods behind runner training so hopefully that will help.

Can't kick butt every day, but I guess I still want to.

Cause my Occupational Therapist told me to

Susan said I need to document my progress as well as what I'm supposed to be doing when she leaves...

I'm walking with the walker too stiffly and need to relax my shoulders and hips.  I'm doing better with walking around the kitchen island relaxed.

I went from 1 row on the industrial puzzle at a time to completing all 5 rows while standing up.  She still kicked my tail and wants me doing all of her exercises 3 times a day.

I'm to get out of the house and have Ki take me to see and eat regularly and read rather than watch tv all day long.

I'm testing out Luminosity to see if it does my brain good for improved cognition.

I'll report in and share my progress.  She feels like I've made good progress, but worries if I don't push myself more that i could slow down.  She's totally right.

Home rehab and Staples in the Head

So 3 days back I had my staples and stitches in my head removed.  That makes putting my head on a pillows lot nicer.  The PA was super quick getting them out and I was quite grateful.

I have 2 rehab specialists coming by a couple of times a week to help me walk better, and both say I'm really improving in just one week's time, which is cool to hear. I'm trying to stick with the exercises, and Ki is doing a good job pushing me.  It's quite tiring doing simple things, and I guess the stitches must have given some support to my neck, and now it gets a little tired.

The story now is that I'll be working towards walking unassisted and get outside some.  Ki and I are planning to drive south to the Rogue Valley, for the Britt Festival Cindy Lauper show mid June with some of our good friends down there.  I better be walking by then, or I'll be sitting on my walker at a pop concert!

So far so Good with Brain Surgery

Well from what I gather the surgery went extremely well.  The surgeon said its not uncommon for a brain tumor that's surrounded by blood to have that blood kill off the tumor and apparently that was the case with the large one.  We still operated (which is how we know it died ), but unless the other 3 show changes they don't plan to use the Gamma knife right away as we can wait and see how and if the others change.

So I'm going home today, which is about as early as possible.  I'm glad to leave the hospital as its chilly here, and I don't care to need permission to use the bathroom.  If I leave the bed an alarm goes off and last night I got up to urinate twice and of course I set off the alarm.  I was dreaming that I did it, but those were extremely lucid dreams, and it was reality happening and not my fave memories right now.  

So my brain really is sore, and I've been recovering quickly per Ki, so I'm hopeful to keep progressing at a semi record pace.  After meeting with the physical therapist we decided Ki could keep working with me at home and they'll send a therapist to visit a few times a week... Rather than having me go to acute rehab.  Here's to hoping we don't have to do any thing more.  But I will if we have to.  Gamma knife radiation is supposed to be easier on you and an outpatient procedure.  I'm just guessing it will make me tired.  But who knows.

My mom and sister likely are feeling this trip might not have been as needed, but I'm glad to be able to start my recovery so quickly.  Sleeping at home will be much better than being here at the hospital I expect.  Here's to hoping I can drive soonish and cook and play music.  One of the nurses gave me a booklet for recovering the use of your hand dexterity via guitar post cancer which was pretty dang cool.  I'll be curious to try it.

Bottom line... Things are looking hopeful for the next little while.

Surgery tomorrow !

I don't know if someone cancelled, but my craniotomy has been moved to tomorrow - a whole 2 weeks earlier than the 22nd!  That's way closer to the original plan than what we were getting.

Man is this good news for me, and Ki has been calling and leaving messages to request any earlier date that opens...and to let them know some of my symptoms were worsening (vision artifacts, etc) were reverting to pre radiation effect.

I'll be prepping,most of the day, as I check in at 8 am at providence Portland (not St Vincent's),

Then the MRI at 10 am, then surgery at 3:30pm.  No chow or drink past 10am.

My recovery could be quick or a few days.  Hope I get a comfy bed!  I'll have to badger the nurse who sets that up to get a bed extension (the joy of being 6'4'').  Having my feet sticking out and being open game for Ki to tickle isn't a great thought.

Who would think getting in early for brain surgery would be awesome?  But I sure am pleased about it.  Hope it wasn't due to someone having a negative event in their cancer journey occur.  Since we're at Portland prov, rather than st. Vincent's I have to wonder if they had an opening there.

The kitty is going to have to go for a few days with no lap, the poor girl, but she grabs enough lap time uninvited to miss a little bit.

Lets hope this brings some normalcy to how I feel on a day to day basis.

5/22 is the Scheduled Date for Surgery

So the soonest open date is 3 weeks from now 5/22 so I took the time slot, and my craniotomy will be at St. Vincent's Providence up in Portland.

I wish I could get in earlier, but I'm glad to have a date scheduled finally. My sister and mom can finally decide on their plane tickets. Which is a relief since mom is in Arizona and my sister is in Ireland.

I'm getting a bit more sleep thank goodness, which is likely thanks to the pill plan Ki worked out with my oncologist team. I'm still pretty tired during the day but at least Cleo the kitty is showing a lot of spunk, and is a lot of fun.

Well if you hang with me I'll do my best to stay focused and positive. Even if you don't I'm going to try to be upbeat and healthy. I look forward to get this procedure behind me.