released.

Two weeks ago I saw my doctor's Nurse Practitioner for a general follow up/MRI results and to discuss these crazy daily episodes. He tried a few things with my seizure med and made some changes. We tried to few different things....


...and guess what?? They don't happen anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


One of the many side-effects of this medication is dizziness/double vision (as is a side-effect of many meds). There are tons of side-effects for every medication (dry mouth, blindness, stroke, ...you know the drill) so it's often hard for symptoms to be traced back to one source. The strange thing is that I have been on this medication for over a year and just started having these episodes the past few months. None of my other neuros considered this or thought to change the medication. This NP put me on an extended release version of the medication to prevent peaks and lows (which he predicted was the cause).


His tip-off was that they happened around the same time of day every day with no specific trigger and then kind of went away on their own. I have done every neuro exam a million times-walk heel-to-toe on the line, close my eyes and point to my nose, squeeze their hands as tight as I can....but he did a few I have never done before. He even asked which direction my body spun when I was having these dizziness episodes and the fact that it was clockwise was of interest to him. Hmmm. I am SOOO glad he took all of these things into consideration and didn't give the canned answer of "it's get better in time."


What an enormous relief. One step closer to getting my life back.

his story.

he has never complained. he doesn't make me feel bad about needing him home or about running errands or about driving me to endless appointments.

http://soundcloud.com/tlipps/ro-bot-any



"When my ends all come undone
I don't fall apart-I don't fall apart"


I cry when I hear him playing those first chords in the other room.


There are many more beautiful lyrics he wrote but this one strikes me the most when I think about everything that has happened and what it must be like to have his perspective. He doesn't seek pity. he isn't trying to get some spotlight. No-he's hurting in silence too. But he hides it well. he has to be strong because i need him to be strong. If I mention this to him, he thinks I'm silly to compare what I have gone through to what he has gone through on the other side.


I had heard recently that during one of my first seizures 2 years ago I was on my bed, unable to move, with my eyes open, completely frozen. Tim later told me that he checked my pulse. When he told me it's ridiculous to think his experience is nearly as debilitating as mine, I told him that I had never for a second had to figure out if he was dead.


I would not choose a side. I COULD not choose a side. All I know is: I don't think I could be the person he is.

political teaching post: 14% less.

"The High Cost of Low Teacher Pay"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01eggers.html

If nothing else, here's the first paragraph:

"When we don’t get the results we want in our military endeavors, we don’t blame the soldiers. We don’t say, “It’s these lazy soldiers and their bloated benefits plans! That’s why we haven’t done better in Afghanistan!” No, if the results aren’t there, we blame the planners. We blame the generals, the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. No one contemplates blaming the men and women fighting every day in the trenches for little pay and scant recognition."

clocks.

I look to my right and there they are: my chemotherapy pills aka the poison that will keep me nauseated, fatigued, depleted, and....alive.


Last night was my first dose for this chemo week and today was rough. REALLY rough. like-i -can't-lift-my-head-off-my-pillow-until-noon rough. and when i thought i FINALLY could, there it came. like clockwork. my daily dizzy episode. same time every single day. it lasts for an hour and then kind of goes away. i have to keep my eyes closed because the room is moving down and my eyes are moving up. this is debilitating WITHOUT chemo and all the more so with it.

(these episodes have been happening for the last two months and i have taken a number of tests to determine the cause. please be an easy fix. please be an easy fix. please be fixABLE. please.)


once that is over i have to somehow manage to make it downstairs. i SHOULD have something to eat. i KNOW i should. but the thought of food makes me sick so i suck on a cough drop just to get some calories in. as the day goes on and i get further away from last night's chemo, i can stomach 2 pieces of toast...actually 3! Go me!


usually i am generally functional the first day of chemo week and then get progressively worse as the week goes on as the chemo builds up. then it even trickles into next week. some days drinking water is painful-I can feel the drops as they make their way through my esophagus.


fifteen minutes until i take them. they taste like burnt plastic and disgusting fear. that familiar taste that warns my body that it will be put through the ringer this week. beaten up.


3 more of these cycles left and then i will have completed a year of chemotherapy. a YEAR of chemotherapy. actually you can say i will have completed more than that because before i started this "year" i did chemo every day for 6 1/2 weeks while I did radiation. So really-I did almost 14 months of chemotherapy. they'll do testing after that to determine future treatments.


I hope they don't order any more chemo after that. i REALLY hope this will be it. that May will be the end. but if they do i will take it. i will fight for my life. i will do what i need to do. i will keep that clock going. even if it means more of THIS.

thanksgiving sans the turkey.

Philippians 4:6 says "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God" (NKJV)


My heart is always overwhelmed-I am constantly filled with fear. How can I be thankful? What is there to be thankful FOR? It gets easier and easier to be discouraged as time goes by. It took me a little bit of time to think of how I could give thanks for the circumstances life has dealt me. But I could. there is ALWAYS something.

I am thankful that I am ABLE to get treatment. I am ABLE to get chemotherapy.
Even though I had radiation-I am thankful that there is a renown cancer center 15 minutes away from me. I didn't have to travel hours each day to get there (as others I met had).
I go to physical therapy and I was able to rebuild my muscles that were lost with that steroid. I am able to walk. to run even. I worked with wonderful people who I still look forward to seeing. I had brain surgery twice-but I am thankful that it was with a highly respected surgeon-the best in our area. I was in the very best hands possible.


I take medicine twice a day. I am in a country that can provide that. that has enough medical research to make that.


There are awful things that happen every day. I stopped typing this post because I had to gag into a plastic bag. But I could use my arms to reach over and hold the bag. I can use my arms. I could see the bag because I can use my eyes.


I will be grateful for everything that gets better as it does. Often it feels like 2 steps forward, 1 step back, and 10 steps sideways. I get frustrated and will continue to get frustrated when it does.


but, even if it is only for today, I can try to be thankful.


I am off to an appointment. I can make it there because we own a car. because I have an amazing husband who has been by my side this whole time-unwavering. because there are people who can drive me. there are professionals who have studied medicine so they can try to fix me.


I have to have faith that this will get better soon. I have to keep trying. it is so hard-but I have to keep trying. and when i feel like i can't i know that there are people who will help me. I know some wonderful, wonderful people. and for that, i am thankful.

Other post: My case FOR "Happy Holidays!"

I am NOT against people wishing me "happy holidays".


Within a week there is Christmas and New Year's and days in between when we are celebrating times with family. These are two holidays. Plural. When a stranger or receptionist or someone I haven't seen in a while says, "Happy Holidays!" they are simply hoping that I enjoy these 2 days (and the eves preceding them). For most it is not an act of political correctness-but, rather, a lack of specification. '


More often than not, it is also used as a greeting or as a good bye. How often do people use "how are you?" as a salutation and automatically get a response of "good"? "Happy Holidays" is the awkward filler for this time of year.


In fact, if we're getting technical, a "holiday" is defined as: (noun) A day of festivity or recreation when no work is done. Sounds like the final days of December to me! What is wrong with getting wished that?


We are not entitled to be wished anything from anyone-particularly strangers. But they are being kind.


I do, however, think we should call things what they are. It is a "Christmas tree", it is a "Menorah", etc.


You can certain wish me a Merry Christmas-but I am not offended either way. I know what I believe and, let's be honest with ourselves: we are not exactly quoting scripture whilst tearing open gifts from amazon wish lists. So go ahead. Wish me days of festivity with my family. We will certainly take time to thank God for his provision. We will enjoy these days together without stressing over work.

I do not understand why there is so much fuss about a non-issue.

That being said, Happy Holidays, blog readers!

Lighter post: phone options and other tales.

I've heard MORE THAN my fair share of phone options the past 2 years and there are things that just blow my mind (so to speak):

1. Who still uses a rotary phone?

2. "If this is an emergency, hang up and dial '911'." Really? Because I thought I should just call my eye doctor first.

And then today I call the Central Library downtown to see if they ever rent out big books (which they don't-which I found out after I had to explain to them what big books are). Of course there are menu options since it's the main hub of the Erie County library system (and the most magical/overwhelming place ever!), the first of which I was not prepared for:


"Your call may be monitored for quality purposes."


At the LIBRARY???!! First of all, if you have ever been in the central library check-out line you know that they are CLEARLY not concerned with customer service. Most library staffers fall into 4 categories: bitter middle-aged women who hate change, dapper old men who wear bow ties, clueless teenagers, and jolly 90-year-old volunteers (who, unfortunately, most patrons avoid since their grandparent-esque charm doesn't overshadow their speed-or lack thereof). But every workplace has its gems. My sister-in-law, for example would fit into the "gem" category. *Note: I am NOT referring to school librarians.


Who is monitoring these calls? What exactly are they looking for? Is the employee going to recommend a banned book? Maybe the kid in the background ringing the bell as a reward for reading his summer list is ringing too loudly? Did they transfer me to "Mark Twain" instead of "Rare collections"? Or maybe they're listening for me. hmmm. My fines DID go to collections last year. Am I blacklisted?


Maybe I tick them off because perhaps I am overzealous in my clicking of the "request item" button on the website. This requires that the poor workers sift through the children's section, find the book (s) and deliver them to my library of choice. The children's section is a shelving mish-mosh of letters of authors' names. When a parent has finished reading "Cowboy and Octopus" by Jon Scieszka on the carpet with their child they place is in the "s" section. in no particular order. if I want to find it, i look through the "s" section. the ENTIRE "s" section. when I order a book from a different library, THEY look through the entire "s" section and I simply pick it up at the front desk of my library of choice.


if I have options I'm going to take them. without fear of monitoring, without a rotary phone, and, it is hoped, without needing to call 911.