Lockdown Activities

We've been getting outside everyday, making the best
of the early spring weather

Kate's ambidextrous drawing abilities are
pretty good!

Owen has been loving his bike, hopping on and taking
taking off. I think this week the boys may go for a
longer ride. Kate usually gets tired by the time we reach
the mailbox

We woke to a surprise snow, of course the kids loved it.
We went on a zombie hunt, no playing at the park
but lots of fun in the school field

Kate insisted on cutting and styling my hair.
With everything closed it may just come down to family
haircuts in the backyard

Thank goodness for coffee delivery

The past couple of days have been wonderfully warm
and our mornings, pj's and all, have been spent
outside. Kids playing and me tidying the garden up.
Lunchtime rolls around and it's a picnic on the grass.
Happy times

Good Times

My Celebratory drink, a dalgona coffee, whipped coffee
on top of iced milk. Fun to make and even more
fun to drink

Well, MRI was quick and the drive in and back was even quicker. No surprise there.

One of the Dr's from my team called and let us know that the images showed that my tumor had reduced in size since November and the surrounding edema was reducing as well. This was the best news I could possibly get as I was preparing myself for surgery. Even with the steroids I am still dealing with several symptoms from the tumor, tongue and right side facial numbness amongst others. Because of this I was figuring that we had just pissed of my tumor instead of stabilizing it and it had grown again! I will have another MRI in 6 of 7 months to confirm. Only then will I feel like I have won this round of the battle.

The Dr. explained that my nerves had been damaged as a result of the swelling and we will not know immediately if it is permanent or will repair itself. Only time will tell. I'm somewhat used to it with my left side nerve damage so I guess this makes me a more balanced person?

We have established a 12 week program to get off the steroids with the understanding that if my tumor induced symptoms become more severe I am stay on them. So, here's hoping the next few months go smoothly and I can move on from this chapter and onto bigger and better things.

I had my pick of primo free parking at the hospital,
it's the least they could do! Hahaha

Mini Update/Rant

So I've been on the steroids since Thanksgiving, tried to taper down my dosage from 8mg to 2mg resulting in the numbing symptoms in my face coming back so am back up to 4mg a day. Much better than 8mg I guess.
I am also dealing with several side affects of the drugs as well, which had made these past few months challenging. Constipation, nuff said, I've found that taking higher daily doses of Magnesium Citrate helps keep everything somewhat normal. Weight gain and some days an almost uncontrollable urge to eat all the time. I really need to be aware of what I'm doing or else I can quickly get myself into trouble. My vision has changed but not sure if its the steroids or old age! I've noticed my moustache is filling in even though Rob assures me it's not.
The end of the month I have an MRI and will find out if anything has changed. To be honest, I'm not feeling overly optimistic but hey, this little bastard has been full of surprises in our 8+ years together so I'm not wasting time on thinking about what if's, doing my best to remain focused on all the awesome goodness in my life.
I'm just really done with the steroids and want to be off them.