No posts since mid-June, wow. I started a part-time teaching job around mid-June until July and it was great, but of course I was still taking naps, I struggled to stay true to my paper journal and this project was neglected. Here goes with a sunny day summary of what's what these days.
Noodle Health Update:
My July MRI showed swelling in my brain at the surgery and radiation site. This was not especially abnormal at all, but there was some double checking to make sure it wasn't tumor tissue. The collective minds of medicine agreed it was swelling. (breath of relief!) I'll go get another MRI early on August 23rd to see what's up these days. I've still been needing rest and am trying to take good care of myself, all parts.
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| July 7th MRI: The right image is my noodle without contrast, you can see the hole from surgery on the left of the image. The left image is after I was injected with a rare earth metal contrast fluid. |
I was sent in to get another Visual Field Test and well, now I've got Homonymous hemianopsia. So, I'm missing a full hemisphere on my left field. Imagine two circles filled in all black on the left sides, vertically at the midline. I have been noticing this deficit. I have walked into 2 street signs because I did not see them. I figured I wasn't paying attention, but now its scientifically proven...I truly didn't see the sign pole. That kid I ran into at the library, yeah, uh didn't see them, sorry! Other things I've noticed due to this: when I read text or music and need to go to the next line I need to deliberately move my eyes to find the next line or my "return button" only makes it to the middle of the text or about the 2nd or third measure of music. Even when I type this, I need to imagine an old fashioned typewriter and move my head to the left so I see the next line (ding!). I'm going to ask my doctor if there are some retraining exercises, I'm homeschooling myself now, but I imagine there must be some official way to train, I hope so very much.
On one hand I was thinking.."OH! This shows that more cells were taken out, so this can be taken as a good thing." Also, anatomically, the Meyer's Loop is the wiring that radiates through our brains and connects pathways for the part of the visual fields that I've lost, so it's not an unexplained deficit. The doctors say it could improve, not likely, but it could improve over the next 6 months or so. Either way, if you see me around town and I don't wave back, it's probably nothing personal.
SUPER SUMMER fun SUMMARY:
- Visiting friends at their homes here in Portland, you know who you are.
- A train trip to visit my lovelies in Seattle
- Visited Laskyland out on Cape Cod, yay!
- Teaching at a summer SUN program
- Pickathon with super friends
- Weddings and events of friends
- Playing music out with Laura Gibson and Bright Archer. Both of these amazing artists have new albums, get your google fired up and check them out!
- Flutin' it up with Paul (we even had a Kuhlau Luau)
Honorable Mentions:
My mom is volunteering for the Portland Brain Tumor Walk this Saturday, August 20th, please contact her if you'd like to help out. gagl2@comcast.net Thanks MOM!!!!
I hope to post a new MRI picture of next week's images soon after I see them at the end of next week. I hope that you are all having a wonderful summer. Thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoxoxo,
Sara L.
