Month: January 2020

Categories
Life

The Difference a Month Makes!

Life is Good

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would give this blogging thing a try! A huge thank you to Tim for keeping our blog going while I was on pain meds, sleeping or both.

Tim & Remi

The plan for Christmas morning 2019 was to wake up and see what Santa had left us under the tree. Instead I woke up in the ICU at Swedish after having my ‘satsuma’ sized tumor removed. I guess God and Santa Claus had other plans, best gift I’ve ever received!

Okay, let’s review:

  • You should definitely pick up a 3 month old puppy the week before you are diagnosed with a brain tumor.
  • Be sure to make friends everywhere you go, including in almost every department of Swedish Hospital, Cherry Hill.
  • Don’t be alarmed if you wake up every morning to the sound of hammering in your head. Tiny elves have easily built a new treehouse in my head. Thankfully they are now adding finishing touches like picture frames and crown molding.
  • Tim and I continue to be extremely grateful to our family and friends who have come to visit, brought dinner and sent treats from afar. The notes of positive thoughts, love and prayers have been super encouraging during my recovery.
  • Curbs are less scary than they used to be and I’m reducing my dependency on Tylenol. Plus my energy level is coming back and as everyone reminds me, my personality is completely intact (thank goodness!).
  • Future goals: Learning to drive again, operating the hair dryer, and having my first adult beverage in 2020.

Next appointment: February 3rd with Dr. Litvack and his NP, Nicole, to review my meds and progress.

So Much Love,

Amie, Tim, Butch, Squeak & Remi

*Enjoy a few photos from around the house. Apparently I like the saying, “Life is Good” as you can see from our wall art and my tee shirt!

Categories
Life

Out Staples. Out, I say.

Swedish Us

Hey all—

We had one of our follow-up appointments this past Monday.

The exciting side of the visit was having the staples removed from Amie’s head. I was expecting her to have a raised ridge line from the healing, but it was perfectly flat. 28 staples removed and a baby-soft fuzzy strip of hair where the incision site sits from only 2 weeks ago.

The 28 staples out of Amie’s head.
removal
Staples being removed, one by one.

We were able to catch up with Litvack and his team, Mohab and Nicole. We received updates on the medication Amie is taking and the expectation as to when she’ll stop taking some of them or transition to an oral alternative.

From what we uncovered, the medical team did discuss Amie’s particular case during the morning’s Tumor Board meeting. We figured they glanced over it last week as it was known to be benign and not as emergent as compared to other patients’ during that review.

From looking at her scans, Litvack has asked to send along two sections of the tumor for genetic testing. By doing this, they hope to find information that might help with looking not only at Amie’s particular case in more detail, but let us know if she’ll be susceptible to another case in the future. Let’s hope not.

During the Tumor Board meeting, Dr. John Hensen, Neuro-oncologist, was interested in Amie’s case. So, Litvack introduced us to Hensen and he met with us for 40 minutes to hear more about Amie’s history with her leukemia as a kid and the symptoms we had noticed over the last year that might have been directly related to the meningioma.

All-in-all, we had a very productive appointment and I earned a few beers from Elysian while we enjoyed a much needed lunch out of the house.

Much love,

Tim, Amie, Butch, Squeak, & Remi

Categories
Life

Here’s to 2020!

Amie’s tumor is BENIGN! What a great way to start off the new year!

Oh, and Happy New Years to all!

Recovery updates:

Amie’s been doing her best to rest while visiting with friends and family over the last week. We’ve been enjoying everyone’s support through the endless amounts of food, treats, and love. Lots of movies, walks with Remi daily, and naps when needed.

The battle of Tylenol verses Oxy rages on! They’re duking it out, blow by blow. Round for round, Tylenol is ahead and will be triumphant!

Much love!

Tim, Amie, Remi, Butch, & Squeak!