I'm a mom too!

 It is no accident that I'm doing so well. I logged many hours, reprogramming my brain with speech therapy, reading (including reading aloud), lumosity, brain baseline, and playing memory with my girls. Candy crush and conversations on facebook didn't hurt either. wink emoticon  And due to my job I have to read aloud, speak, speak clearly, and force my brain to explain. You may not notice but I have to concentrate on this every.single.day Disclaimer: When you do come across my typos, please ignore. I'm still a work in progress. Find out more about neuroplasticity here.

Dear Andrea,  From one Warrior Mama to another. I do not know what kind of cancer you are fighting or what your treatment plan is but you are amazing!!  Your energy! I'm jealous of.  You made my 13 year old's birthday amazing and I will never forget.  All 13 year old Swifties should get this chance but let me tell you why an angel spoke to my Morgan, through you, in Omaha on Oct. 9.   And Taylor,  I know what is like to have your mom, your rock, diagnosed with cancer.  I was 22 when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She fought, she won, she remained cancer free for 15 years. Then in Nov. 2014 she was diagnosed with lung cancer.  It was NOT related to the breast cancer it was a new tumor.  She has been fighting ever since, just finished chemo and we are waiting for the results of her PET scan. I remember Morgan telling me about your Tumbler announcement about your mom, we thought of Grandma (mom), we cried, we comforted eac...

 I don't need another for 6 months!!!! Today I feel very thankful. I'm thankful for my family for putting up for me, my friends for feeding me and making me laugh, the prayers, the doctor who cut my tumor out and very thankful for the nurse who got my contrast IV painlessly into my little vein (using the accuevein ( ‪#‎ thestruggleisreal‬ ,  ‪#‎ nursesrock‬ ). Today was the most painless MRI ever. All restrictions are lifted and can workout and jazzercise again! Does that mean I have to start doing cooking, cleaning and laundry again? ‪#‎ goodnewsbadnews‬   ‪#‎ lifeisgood‬

19 week Update- Be your own advocate. So I referred myself to an ENT to resolve my ear infection/dizziness symptoms. As a result I have answers and a plan! The ear infection looks cleared up but I still have ear fluid which can take months to clear up. Sooo, since I can't keep infection free they are putting me on Bactrim and Flonase. In three weeks I get my hearing checked just for checks and balances. This will lead right into my 6 month MRI. The ENT wants to do everything we can to take care of this ear fluid so that they can have a clear picture of whether or not my brain is still leaking fluid. I still feel really good but I am now convinced that I have forgotten what normal felt like.   wink emoticon Sept. 8- Milestone day. I made it 10 weeks past second surgery and 20 weeks past the first surgery. Next week I'll know what 11 weeks past brain surgery feels like. 11 week growth Sept. 17- "Your ears look beautiful." These are my good news w...

17.5 week update. The day I was diagnosed with a meningioma I knew that I would still always be a wife, mom, daughter, sister, friend but I wasn't positive I would ever be a teacher again however I believed that I would. The next day when I woke up in ICU not able to speak I believed. Three days later when I took my first wobbly steps after brain surgery I believed. I continued to believe and wh en anyone asked me if I was going back in the fall my answer was YES! My eyes were always on that prize because that means I was back. Back to normal or as close I could possibly get. 10 weeks later I took giant steps backwards with my second brain surgery. I asked the doctor, "Can I teach in the fall?" He answered, "Yes." I asked, "How long is recovery this time?" He answered, "Six weeks." There were exactly 6 weeks until my next contract started. Aug. 11. Thank God for that and the slightly later start date. 14 weeks later I was packing for a vac...

June 28, 2015 So J says I have bad karma. Just as we were leaving for vacation today I spiked a temp. So 8hrs. a walk in Dr., 2 ER Dr. and 5 neurosurgeons later we discovered I have an ear infection. Dr. Surdell even said my CT scan was unimpressive. I'm kind of insulted (that is good news btw, I had to ask, he is usually impressed by my scans and that is NOT good). So tomorrow, or later this morning (It's 12:03) we try vacation take 3!!! I believe this is surgery induced infection still.  This is what they pulled out of my ear. 

April 15, 2015  This morning I came to school with a major headache and difficulty with speech. A co-worker took me to the ER where hubby met me. They did a Ct scan and then this MRI. Impressive picture huh? Quite honestly I had an episode Sunday and one a month ago. They were short-lived, I shrugged them off.  This is a 6 cm. meningiona on the brain. It is most likely benign (they will find out for sure when  they take it out) and probably been slow growing for awhile but it is pressuring the brain now. I will have surgery for tumor removal in the next two days. Most likely when I wake up here in this fine facility. I'm kind of a big deal around here and they are moving surgeries around.  wink emoticon I have every reason to believe this will be a successful surgery sending me on a 5-6 week recovery of the brain repairing itself with this tumor and absence of this tumor. I am honestly most devastated about abruptly being done with this school year  frown e...