Some of my doctors tell me my short-term memory loss will wear off.
I hope so, because even with my notes I'm having trouble keeping track of things and putting together a timeline for my friends and readers. Whenever I go to the hospital, or even to a doctor's appointment, I take a small spiral notebook, pen, and my laptop, a MacBook. I take notes and send e-mails off and on all day long.
Right now, I'm talking about the fact that I had surgery on my spine on Tuesday, September 20. Before that I had a spinal tap--bad enough, I assure you, but since the results were negative (which is GOOD--no cancer cells in the fluid around my spinal cord), we can just forget about that one.
I had a second spinal tap at the time of the vertebroplasty--"Why not, since we are knocking her out anyway?" seemed to be the consensus around my hospital bed--and I agreed to it. I had some bone biopsies at the same time, for the same reason, and those also showed no cancer.
I have gathered copies of some medical records, and have notes to myself about the other records I need to collect, and then I'll be able to post more information about what really happened when I was in the "chamber of horrors" (small Halloween joke) at Northwest Hospital.
My biggest priority is to work on the brain-damage and balance issues. Yes, I do have some information about this.
If you have a similar problem, please e-mail me and we can compare notes. I am already in touch with one woman in the UK whose brain tumors were treated with gamma knife and she has after effects very similiar to mine.
I've been sharing her info with my doctors here, but haven't shared much with her yet--my apologies. You have been near the top of my list, but the list hasn't been moving because of the various crises that surround me these days.
I'll be posting about this topic as I get confirmation on a couple of things and also as I talk more with my doctors. And as I keep collecting specialists. (Especially, Dr. Chamberlain and the surgeon/neurologist--Treadway??--he wants me to see after he (Dr. C) has reviewed six discs worth of MRIs and CTs of my brain and spine.
I will need some rehab, perhaps. I don't mind that as long as I can do it at home. I've started a bit, gently, on my own.
Dr. Lee wanted me to go straight from the hospital after my failed vertebroplasty--two weeks there, with no fresh air at all, and no time with my dog--to a residential rehab center. He was thinking an additional two to three weeks in residential rehab, but I refused.
Laurie and Monica--two of the three women I used to consider my closest friends in Seattle--joined Dr. Lee in trying to persuade me to go straight to rehab. Never mind that neither of them would have agreed --for themselves--to four to five weeks in an institution.
A couple more about my two weeks in the hospital--I took a lot of notes, handwritten mostly, and some on my laptop--I have drafts for my blog, but again they don't seem very funny now that I'm home.
A bottle of pain meds disappeared.
The staff could never get it straight whether or not they were to collect a sample from every BM that I had, or not. (It's bad enough having people measure your urine output, but when they are running around with little jars of your other waste product, well, what can I say? Not funny.)
The House
Citi seems to be trying to wait me out. That may work, but then again, it may not. I don't have the mental bandwidth to throw much energy at this right now, but I will get there, including posting some of the typical hate mail that comes in whenever I stand up for myself. Why do I want to post this? Maybe it's like releasing it out into the world? I don't know.
Why should you folks have to read it? Thinking about this one ...
Ribbons
On Sunday several friends gathered over here to brainstorm about October. More about that day by day as the month goes on. One good thing about being in the hospital for late September and the first few days of October--not too many pink ribbons around.
Actually, that is surprising. Some hospitals are covered in the things this time of year.
I went looking for some pink M&Ms today and didn't find any! Has anyone else spotted them, or has the company finally realized just how offensive this product is? Let me know if you see any.
More soon, Jeanne
© Jeanne Sather 2011.