Dec 20 2017
I had a really special birthday spent with loved ones today. It's been about four weeks of healing from a Brain surgery that was really rough. Thankfully I had my mother in-law here to help with hings. I woke up from the anesthesia and immediately looked around. Everyone was there, my mom, sister Guida and her husband Mark, sister Holly, my brother Mike and his wife Helen. I was surprised they werer all there for just a little surgery. Later I learned that I was in such bad shape that the nurses had told Corey to call all of my family to come and say good bye just in case. I woke up though, and I was fine.... except I could't talk. My brain was forming the words but they wouldn't come out correctly. This is the weirdest feeling, and I've only ever seen this happen on Grey's Anatomy. I was living out an episode in real life. I also realized my left hand and left leg were numb. I spent a total of 13 days in the hospital, finally being discharged with my own at home physical therapist, home nurse, and a speech therapist.
Jan 26 2018
Not only did I go through all of after the surgery, afterwards I was told the samples were very positive, in fact the melanoma is sprinkled all throughout my meninges in my brain. My prognosis is now very, very poor.
I'm home now and feeling better, it's been two months since my surgery. I can walk and talk almost normal.
Just recently it was scan day which always gets me so nervous, but even worse today. It will tell us if the new chemo I've started is working in the brain or not. This chemo, Tamodar, is known for not working for melanoma, but we know for brain cancer it has the ability to cross the blood brain barrier so we are giving it a try.
Corey took me to my appointment. I always have him come along when it's a scan appointment. I get so nervous on any scan result day. I was getting my blood drawn, which we do every week, and my doctor walked by and said "you're scans look great". He said he didn't even need me that day. I asked him to elaborate. He said "This may be the best results I've seen from this drug." and "We've almost kicked it, all that was there is almost completely gone". I was so surprised I just started laughing and thanked GOD. I'm not one of those that cries when they're happy. The hardest part of this right now is not being able to work as a dental hygienist because I still have numbness in my left hand, and not being able to drive and carry on regular life.
