Brain Tumor: Post Surgery

It has been a busy few weeks since my surgery (more about it here) filled with more visitors, numerous doctors appointments, and various other things. On the same morning that David's mom was leaving town and my Mom and step-father were heading back up to Orange County David's brother Ken was arriving! Ken flew in from DC to spend five days with us. Upon landing his heart and stomach were probably set on the obligatory stop at In-N-Out, BUT .. I hijacked those dreams with a Pho lunch with my mom instead.

 

 

 Pho!

 

 

Not to worry, we hit In-N-Out later. His visit was pretty low-key and involved going out to eat a few times, seeing a movie (Argo - not bad), and spending a good amount of time relaxing on the couch. Not the most exciting way to entertain a visitor, but I wasn't exactly at my prime. Sorry Kenny!

 

 

In-N-Out Time

 

 

Obligatory Shot by the Water

 

 

Just Like When David's Dad & Mom Visited!

 

 

First Week Post-Surgery

In the week following my surgery I worked from home the first few days, and then returned to the office for the last two days of the week. It was really weird to be back after 10 days. One co-worker came by and said he was expecting me to come back with my half shaved head. Well, I don't disappoint! I showed him all the hair they shaved off and then put my remaining hair back into place. Everyone said you couldn't tell that I had hair missing. Good! I'm super self-conscious of how thin my hair looks now and I'm worried about the shaved part showing. So far a little hair clip seems to keep things tidy and arranged.

 

On the Thursday of the week I returned to work I had my first social outing scheduled. It was time for the annual Lunafest! Lunafest is a film festival sponsored by Luna that showcases films by women, about women, and for women. Girls on the Run San Diego was fortunate enough to be the local beneficiary once again for this film festival and was helping put on the event. I came by to mingle and say hi to all of my GOTR friends but didn't end up staying for the films.

 

 

Lunafest San Diego

 

 

The weekend following Lunafest we got our next visitor! And sadly our last for a while. My friend Jenny from San Francisco came into town to spend  the weekend with us. Rinse and repeat the same routine of dinner, movies, couch. My place is the party spot! 

 

 

Walk to the Dog Park with Jenny

 

 

 

One movie we watched was Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. This movie came highly recommended by one of my coworkers. After watching it he and his wife bought a juicer and he kept talking up the benefits of juicing to me. I was a bit skeptical going into the movie but came around by the end. At this point I'm willing to try anything that isn't too crazy that can help boost my health and immune system. We bought a juicer the next day, and Jenny bought one the following day.. and flew home with it! Now that is dedication.

 

 

Our New Juicer!

 

Apple, Carrots, Celery, & Kale

 

 

 

Just as with Ken's visit,  poor Jenny had the misfortune of visiting during a time that I still had a number of doctor's appointments scheduled. She came with us one Saturday morning to the reproductive clinic for my last daily checkups, but left on Sunday a few hours before the great egg harvest of 2012. The whole process of egg harvesting is really amazing. The way drugs can make you go from naturally producing one egg to being stimulated to produce dozens is incredible.

 

 

Fridge Full of Fertility Drugs

 

 

To prepare for the harvest David had to give me nightly hormone injections in my stomach for a week. Yes, fun times had by all! We started on a Saturday and finished the next Saturday. Things were moving along so quickly with my body that the harvest was able to occur that Sunday, several days earlier than they had imagined. The harvest was a one hour procedure that involved general anesthesia. While I was a bit nervous about going under again, I felt like that (and just about everything that comes my way now) pales to being out for 6 hours for brain surgery and in the ICU for three days following.

 

 

Preparing for Surgery

 

 

The procedure went quickly and I was only left with slight discomfort. I had stomach cramps for the next week or so and felt bloated, but now I feel back to normal. AND ... I now have the next generation of Monikas tucked safely away from the harm of the chemo drugs! I'm so glad I did this and so thankful that it all worked out. Thank you Mom, Dad, Livestrong, and Walgreens for your help! (More about my decision to do Emergency IVF here.)

 

 

The Great Egg Harvest Was a  Success!

 

 

Second Week Post-Surgery

Two weeks post surgery and I was fully back to work as normal. This week is what I'm now cherishing as my last "normal" week. I only had two doctors appointments and physically was feeling pretty good! In my first appointment I was molded for my radiation mask which I would wear during each treatment to keep my head from moving.

 

 

Radiation Mask

 

 

The second appointment involved removing the staples from the two surgical sites on my head (ewww!) and luckily barely hurt. I'm now staple free! If only my hair would grow back a little more quickly.... Sigh.

 

 

Hello Kitty Nails - Why not?

 

 

During lunch one day last week I also went over to my usual nail salon and had my nails filled. While I was there I thought what-the-heck and asked them to paint Hello Kitty on one nail. I had gotten the idea from Instagram and had asked if they could do it last time. The lady told me no they couldn't then, but they'd practice and try next time. And they did! Its not exactly the professional image I want to portray but its fun for a few weeks. Hey, I need small joys in life right now!

 

 

mAss Kickers

Sometime last week I started looking online at some brain tumor resources. I subscribed to the newsletters for the National Brain Tumor Society and the American Brain Tumor Association. I had previously also had come across mAss Kickers from the referral of several friends. mAss Kickers was started by a local San Diegan and brain tumor survivor Eric Galvez. I found a link to Eric's facebook profile on his blog and after accidentally sending him 10 duplicate messages (thanks Facebook!) I finally friended him so I could try to post on his wall instead.

 

 

Eric - Chief mAss Kicker

 

 

Crazy timing, but that night he was hosting a mAss Kickers event downtown in the Gaslamp and invited me to join. I wasn't sure we'd be able to go since David is a huge baseball fan and I'd already made him miss watching so many games, but fortunately since he is the BBITW (best boyfriend in the world) he immediately said "Let's go!" and it was settled.

 

 

Tumors Suck!

 

 

The event was at a bar downtown and was named the first annual "National Tumors Suck" day. :) We met a number of people there including two others with brain tumors! I now know three young people with brain tumors! :oP Small world but it turns out that one even has the same doctors as I do. It was really cool to hear other people's experiences with surgery, radiation, chemo, etc. The event also had a few different people give toasts and words of inspiration to others as well. Being around all of those fellow "thrivers and survivors" really made me feel good. People there were in different stages of treatment and some were at difficult points with their diagnosis, but everyone seemed upbeat and positive. My kind of people!

 

 

Brain Tumors Unite!

 

 

When I got home that night I was looking at the mAss Kickers flyer and the definition of a mAss Kicker made me smile. It defined me and David!

 

1. noun. Someone who gets an intimidating diagnosis, hears the words “we found a mass in your ____(insert important body structure here)”, and refuses to let it control their life.

 

2. noun. Friend or family member of a patient dealing with an intimidating diagnosis. They are essential contributors to the mAss Kicking team. 

 

 

Third Week Post-Surgery

Its now the third week post surgery and my radiation and chemo pills have begun. The radiation isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Sure, having your face bolted into a table with a tight mask on isn't fun, but luckily each treatment session only lasts about five minutes. The mask is made of mesh and although it has airholes was kind of suffocating me. The girls were nice enough to cut a mouth hole for me on the second day. Maybe next week we can draw eyelashes on my mask as well. jk

 

 

The Magic Radiation Machine

 

 

The chemo pills so far haven't been making me sick but an antibiotic I'm taking Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights is really putting me out of commission. I took the first pill Monday night before bed and almost instantly felt sick. I felt queasy all night up until Tuesday morning which involved hours of being sick. That was fun. I saw my oncologist on Tuesday and he said that instead of taking the pill before bed I could take it with dinner instead. I did that last night and felt a bit less queasy, but this morning I woke up with a terrible headache which overshadowed the queasy feelings and made me feel terrible for most of the day. I had emailed my doctor last night when I started to feel sick and he told me to move some of the other medications to other times as well. Let's hope third time is a charm and this Friday night and Saturday morning I feel okay!!