Going home!

My surgery lasted 5 hours. They got it out but potentially left margins to not risk removing healthy brain tissue. Gamma knife will take care of that down the road. Not being released in 24 hours and that is okay with me. I have an intense headache and it makes me terribly miserable. Brain surgery is not any fun.

My bestie and I went to an I Mom So Hard show in St Louis recently. Sara and I have been fans of Jen and Kristin since they were just starting out. We shared their social media back and forth constantly. The show was hilarious. I actually had to force myself to stop laughing and take some deep breaths during the show! After the show, we were privileged to go backstage for a meet and greet. We shared the story of my cancer journey and upcoming brain surgery. Jen and Kristin advocate for annual mammograms in their podcast and videos so I wanted them to hear MY story – that mammograms do not find cancer in dense breast tissue. I told them about my role as ambassador for My Density Matters and asked them if I could send them more information so they can also advocate for knowing your breast density. And they agreed!

I cannot change my story, but I am working furiously to change the story of other women.

I Mom So Hard is coming to Champaign, IL this fall – my local area. Please go buy tickets today! Here’s the link:

https://thevirginia.showare.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=955

Next, visit My Density Matters and learn how to find your breast density and what screening you need.

Tomorrow (Friday, 4/26) I have brain surgery at 7:30 am at Barnes Hospital in St Louis to obliterate yet another brain tumor. Your prayers are appreciated.

This morning Wash U filed one last urgent appeal. They told me there was a “minuscule” chance of success. This afternoon United Healthcare granted me a waiver to have LiTT as scheduled on Friday. I will be in the hospital at least 24 hours. You know I’m planning on 24 hours and 1 minute.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for all your prayers and encouragement and offers to help. I really do not know what we will need next week when I get home. It is my understanding that I will pretty much sleep for at least a couple weeks – except that I DO have to go back to St Louis next Tuesday for an echocardiogram and treatment #82. No rest for the wicked.

I taught math and was a math interventionist for several years when my children were in elementary and middle school. I often told my students to get their pencils moving by circling and underlining parts of the problem as a way to combat story problem anxiety. I even had some especially anxious fifth graders draw boxes to rewrite data points, just to get the pencil moving. I find that when you are facing a problem and don’t know what to do, you just need to take one step in any direction.

This morning I turned to bread baking, a favorite pastime. I have a double batch rising in a huge bowl on the fireplace mantle and I feel much better. Nothing is solved and the problems are still there, but I’ve got my pencil moving.

My weekend away was incredible and the timing was great. I have some exciting news from the weekend about advocating for My Density Matters. More on that in an upcoming blog.

Tuesday (yesterday) I had a pre-op appointment, blood and urine tests, a stealth head CT and a brain MRI with contrast. Insurance still has not approved the surgery but hopefully they will change their minds soon. I start my pre-op routine and meds Sunday so the clock is ticking.

Dave and I are making returns to several home improvement stores this morning. Dave asked me if I wanted coffee on the way. Ha! Lots of work was done while I was gone for the weekend and the tests yesterday. I am thoroughly enjoying this project because I’m excited to see it done and because I have a wonderful contractor. His most often used reply to me is, “Yes. I can make that happen.” 😎

The quirks of an old house are still popping up. They had to access some plumbing from the ceiling of the piano room. Whatever. Also I keep adding to the project!

I added some new ink this weekend. This is the metastatic breast cancer ribbon incorporated into HOPE. Hope has gotten me through some tough times.

The remodeling crew arrived at 7:30 am. To say I am not a morning person is a huge understatement, but I am playing nice to move the project along. Part of the day was spent replacing the water shut-off valve in the basement. Old house fun! Since it was 2 days after treatment and the water was shut off for several hours (and a farm house with well water), I finished and filed all the tax returns I do for family members to distract me from not having a working toilet. Fun.

Speaking of old, old house, here is another “little” budget addition we found today.

I did ask them early enough to pretty please scoot the vanity over a few inches.

My neurologist’s office told me today they can “usually” convince my health insurance company to approve the brain surgery. They are confident enough that they want me to go ahead with my scans on the same day as the peer-to-peer meeting. I like their confidence.

The remodeling project is also exhausting for the dogs. It is also, apparently, frustrating since a stuffed bunny died while I was taking a shower tonight. RIP