So much has happened this month, both good and bad, but I'll start with the bad stuff, and get that out of the way. Earlier this month I started feeling really bad. Horrible headaches and nausea, and just really feeling crumby overall. I happened to have my mother in law here in town staying with us for a week. She came down so she could drive me to my lumber puncture and just all around help me out while Corey was at work. She was so much help driving me and cooking, and just being there for me. I had a good experience with my lumbar puncture. The pain was very minimal, and it was a pretty easy procedure overall. The results showed NO cancer cells in the spinal fluid, which is wonderful news, but a lot of the other measurable aspects were abnormal, so in a way it was inconclusive. Since I starting feeling worse we decided to try steroids to see if those help. My nurses gave me IV steroids, and hydration. While I was at the doctors receiving those I also had an episode that I'm still a little unsure about. I was sitting in the chair talking with my mother in law, and my speech got funny, and my lip started to droop while I talked. I also noticed the tips of my fingers on my left hand became numb. It only happened for a few minutes, but total it did this three times. The nurses called my doctor who was in the operating room to tell him, and they had me sit there for a while and be monitored. Since starting the steroids this hasn't happened again, and because of the fact that I felt better the next day after starting the steroids it makes us believe I may have some kind of auto immune issue happening in my brain, and those episodes may have been small strokes or seizures. Whatever they were, they gone now, and hopefully for good.
Today I received results from my latest CT scan of the neck down. There's one pesky small tumor near my scapula, which has been there for many months, and is actually getting smaller! (5mm), and nothing new. Somewhere along the line having just one tumor has become great news for me, when at one time it would really upset me. Family and friends were upset with the news of there still being one. Don't be sad about this, I'm actually not worried about it. One tumor that is shrinking is an okay thing in my eyes. Now we just need to get my brain to cooperate!
Some of the good news from this month is that my husband Corey received a job offer here in town. He's been driving over forty minutes to work every day for over three years. I know to people that live in a city 45 minutes isn't a long commute at all with city traffic, but where we live he was driving country back roads 45 minutes each day both ways and it was taking a toll on him. Now he'll be about ten minutes away down the freeway. I'm really excited for him and proud of him.
Another thing that is exciting for me was that I was baptized this weekend. I've had this on my list to do for many years and the time was finally right. I was baptized by my good friend Bree who has taught me so much throughout my cancer journey. She's been there through each step of the way and urged me to turn to Jesus with each hurdle. It felt good to officially accept Jesus in my life in front of my family. It was a very special event that I'll remember forever.
