Today is Rachel's 21st Birthday. My baby girl is 21. Unbelievable. I am so grateful and I thank God every day for her. She is truly such a blessing.
This morning, Illana called and said that I should tell Rachel not to leave to school yet because Illana wants to stop by and give her a birthday kiss. So Illana walks in, gives Rachel a kiss and then tells me that she has a surprise for me. In walks Mom!!! I couldn't believe it. She wasn't scheduled to return from Israel until the 5th of October. I was so happy. It's Rachel's birthday but, for sure, I got the best present. Mom's going to be staying here with us at our house because her apartment's being painted.
We went to Illana and Keith's for the first day of Rosh Hashanah and then we had 21 people here for the second day. I did a lot of cooking and was pretty tired but I was able to relax and enjoy. The weather was perfect and it was an amazingly pleasant day. I think everyone had a really nice time.
I had a pretty bad cold for a couple of days, but I'm much better now. Thank God I'm feeling well and so is Mom -- except for her knee. It's been hurting her and we're going to check it out. I'll keep you posted on that.
My next appointment at the hospital isn't until 10/5. We're getting close to my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! Unfortunately, that means lots of tests, including another Bone Marrow Biopsy (I think). They told me there'd by lots of tests, I'm just assuming that a BMB is one of them. Once again, I'm not looking forward to that and I'm going to insist on being "put out" for it. I'm not going to worry about it, either way.
Thank you again for following along. Thanks for all of your prayers and good wishes. Wishing all of my Jewish friends a happy, healthy & wondrous new year. Believe in Miracles!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Before Rosh Hashanah
Well, Mom is in Israel. She left last Monday. My cousin is getting married there next Monday. This is the first time I'm going to be missing one of my cousins weddings but I'm not allowed to fly yet. So, I'm sad because I really, REALLY miss my mother and because I'm missing my cousin Ayala's wedding. I'm grateful, though, that she was feeling well enough to go and that the doctor gave her the "green light."
I saw Dr. Schuster yesterday. Thank God my counts were good. He reduced my Prednisone to 5 mg./day and discontinued the Hydralazine. I had been taking the Hydralazine 4x a day, so it really makes a difference in my life. Now I'm only taking pills at breakfast and dinner (and bedtime if I need something to sleep). I'm still taking the Vasotec for my BP. I had called his office last week because my chest felt somewhat congested and I was starting to cough stuff up. To be on the safe side, they put me on antibiotics for 5 days. I finished the course on Monday and I've been feeling better, Thank God.
Oh, AND I fainted again when they drew my blood. I can't believe it. After all I've been through, blood tests make me faint?? It's a little embarassing, but there's nothing I can do about it, however hard I try to stop it from happening. It's very frustrating.
My next appointment is not until October 5 -- almost 3 weeks.
I've started doing yarnwork again. I finished a few projects that were already in progress. I finished a knitted baby blanket, a crocheted afghan and I'm almost done with a knitted sweater. I'd like to get these done before I start something new -- I know, out of character for me. I can only work for a short while before my eyes start to bother me, but I put drops in and then I can work for another short while.
Tomorrow I will start preparing for the holiday. I think that David and I and the kids will be having dinner here alone on Friday night. We'll probably all be at Illana and Keith's on Saturday and then everyone will come here on Sunday. I'm not looking forward to celebrating Rosh Hashanah without my Mom here. It's going to be difficult. She's not planning on coming home until after Yom Kippur but I don't think that I'm going to let her stay away that long. I just miss her so much! I'm going to call her tomorrow and ask her if she'd cut her trip a bit short. I mean, really!!
I think that you're pretty much up to day now. I want to wish you all a very happy and very healthy new year. Take notice of and appreciate the wonder all around you. Believe in Miracles!!
I saw Dr. Schuster yesterday. Thank God my counts were good. He reduced my Prednisone to 5 mg./day and discontinued the Hydralazine. I had been taking the Hydralazine 4x a day, so it really makes a difference in my life. Now I'm only taking pills at breakfast and dinner (and bedtime if I need something to sleep). I'm still taking the Vasotec for my BP. I had called his office last week because my chest felt somewhat congested and I was starting to cough stuff up. To be on the safe side, they put me on antibiotics for 5 days. I finished the course on Monday and I've been feeling better, Thank God.
Oh, AND I fainted again when they drew my blood. I can't believe it. After all I've been through, blood tests make me faint?? It's a little embarassing, but there's nothing I can do about it, however hard I try to stop it from happening. It's very frustrating.
My next appointment is not until October 5 -- almost 3 weeks.
I've started doing yarnwork again. I finished a few projects that were already in progress. I finished a knitted baby blanket, a crocheted afghan and I'm almost done with a knitted sweater. I'd like to get these done before I start something new -- I know, out of character for me. I can only work for a short while before my eyes start to bother me, but I put drops in and then I can work for another short while.
Tomorrow I will start preparing for the holiday. I think that David and I and the kids will be having dinner here alone on Friday night. We'll probably all be at Illana and Keith's on Saturday and then everyone will come here on Sunday. I'm not looking forward to celebrating Rosh Hashanah without my Mom here. It's going to be difficult. She's not planning on coming home until after Yom Kippur but I don't think that I'm going to let her stay away that long. I just miss her so much! I'm going to call her tomorrow and ask her if she'd cut her trip a bit short. I mean, really!!
I think that you're pretty much up to day now. I want to wish you all a very happy and very healthy new year. Take notice of and appreciate the wonder all around you. Believe in Miracles!!
Monday, September 07, 2009
Labor Day Update
Mom saw Dr. Levine on Wednesday. The newer, better MRI didn't really show anything new but confirmed what he already suspected. He believes she had TRANSIENT GLOBAL AMNESIA. They don't really know what causes it but if you Google it, as I did, it does sound like she had a textbook case of it. We pray it was a one-time event and that it won't recur.
She has a CAVERNOUS ANGIOMA which may have been there her entire life...or not. Once again, nobody knows. He thinks that she should have another MRI in a year to see if there are any changes to it, but otherwise to leave it alone.
She also has a benign tumor on the 8th cranial nerve (Acoustic) also known as a VESTIBULAR SCHWANNOMA. Mom has been wearing hearing aids for a couple of years now, but the doctor said that her hearing loss is probably caused by this tumor and is not age-related. He wants her to see an Acoutical Tumor Specialist. Removing it might improve her hearing significantly. But it may be one of those brain surgeries in which they have to "crack your coconut", as he said. So, unless the tumor grows and she, God forbid starts having other symptoms, we're probably going to wait and see. We WILL make an appointment with the specialist, though.
Thank God, I've been feeling pretty well. I have been having headaches for the last week of so but I'm hoping that they're from the weather or the meds or whatever... I dunno. I'm still on 15mg. prednisone daily. I have an appointment at the hospital on Tuesday (tomorrow). I have a real fear of the Swine Flu now that it's getting cooler and the kids are back in school. I feel like I want to lock myself in my house until the spring. There's a bottle of hand sanitizer near the front door and we're all using it as soon as we enter the house. I'm also washing my hands A LOT. What's meant to be will be.
Thanks for thinking of me and for your prayers and good wishes. Believe in Miracles!!
She has a CAVERNOUS ANGIOMA which may have been there her entire life...or not. Once again, nobody knows. He thinks that she should have another MRI in a year to see if there are any changes to it, but otherwise to leave it alone.
She also has a benign tumor on the 8th cranial nerve (Acoustic) also known as a VESTIBULAR SCHWANNOMA. Mom has been wearing hearing aids for a couple of years now, but the doctor said that her hearing loss is probably caused by this tumor and is not age-related. He wants her to see an Acoutical Tumor Specialist. Removing it might improve her hearing significantly. But it may be one of those brain surgeries in which they have to "crack your coconut", as he said. So, unless the tumor grows and she, God forbid starts having other symptoms, we're probably going to wait and see. We WILL make an appointment with the specialist, though.
Thank God, I've been feeling pretty well. I have been having headaches for the last week of so but I'm hoping that they're from the weather or the meds or whatever... I dunno. I'm still on 15mg. prednisone daily. I have an appointment at the hospital on Tuesday (tomorrow). I have a real fear of the Swine Flu now that it's getting cooler and the kids are back in school. I feel like I want to lock myself in my house until the spring. There's a bottle of hand sanitizer near the front door and we're all using it as soon as we enter the house. I'm also washing my hands A LOT. What's meant to be will be.
Thanks for thinking of me and for your prayers and good wishes. Believe in Miracles!!
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