Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone :) Hope you're all having a lovely holiday season.

Me and Bri at the Davis Christmas
My cousin Brandon's youngest Brooklyn. She's just so dang cute!

Merry Christmas Fat Kitty! Pumpkin wasn't too cooperative for taking a picture by the tree.

Nate showing off one of his presents

Me starting to open my presents

First Christmas Together :)

Love Always,

Kaitlin

Radiation Vacation

Hello everyone :)

My appointment at Mayo went just fine. And we have a plan!

Hanging out in the hotel room Sunday night before my appointment on Monday

Radiation Vacation will begin on January 19th at 1:15 pm. We had to do some pre-treatment stuff while we were there. They made a mold of my face and put sensors on the mask, then ran me through the CT Scan. We will use the mask and the CT Scan to line me up for treatment; I'll have to be strapped into the mask every day for treatment. It's the craziest looking thing! I'll have to get a picture of it sometime.


Otherwise, not much new (besides the steroid effects not having worn off yet, grrrr!). I'm at home in Somerset for a few days, and will head back to Madison on Christmas night to be with Nate.

Ta ta!

Love Always,

Kaitlin

I'm Off!

The Alpine Taxi picks me up in 50 minutes to take me to the Hayden Airport. If everything goes alright (and it had better!), I'll be in Madison this afternoon.

See some of you soon!

*Update*

I made it to Denver just fine, early even. Good job airport snow plow drivers!

Love Always,

Kaitlin

Less Than 24 Hours

In less than 24 hours, I will be on a plane to Madison! Now the weather just has to cooperate; I only have an hour in between landing in Denver and taking off for Madison. That does not leave anytime for errors. The good news, though, is that there doesn't appear to be any big storms heading for Steamboat or Hayden. *Fingers Crossed*

I land in Madison at 1:30, and then on Sunday begins the crazy holiday driving everywhere!

My appointment with Dr. Schomberg (radiation oncologist) is Monday at 11:30. We should have a more concrete plan for radiation vacation then!

Ta ta! :)

Love Always,

Kaitlin

Sweet Freedom

Good Morning Everyone! (Please ignore the chipmunk cheeks)

Free at last, free at last, Lord Almighty, free at last! Hahaha :) I'm so glad to be done with the Decadron. I'm actually starting to feel more normal again.

I survived getting my staples removed. Actually, it didn't even hurt! The PA who did it told me it was probably going to burn, so I layed down... now I feel silly. It took like 2 minutes and was virtually painless. Of course I kept my staples ;) I can see a future for them on a scrapbook page.

Now I'm just looking forward to 5:00!! :D And the wine was delicious.

Last One

This morning I took my last DevilDecadron! Goodbye steroids :) And tomorrow at 5:00 pm I will be having a large glass of half price wine and $1 appetizers with my friend Lisa to celebrate my FREEDOM. One month and one day of those awful steroids--it is definitely time to be done.

We shall see how long it takes my body to right itself again. Come on!

Other than that, I go to the clinic to get my staples removed tomorrow morning at 10:30. Two of my co-workers took a look at them today, since I haven't been able to see them for myself, and said that the incision looks like it's healing really well. It's been itching like crazy, so I figured it was healing ok. I'm just a little worried that the staple removal is going to hurt :-s. Nothing a Percocet can't fix, right?.. just kidding, just kidding. I couldn't drive myself or go back to work then. Accounting on Percocet--it could be fun ;)

Dr. Orton called me today! He was my doctor when I spent the night at the hospital after finding the tumor. He called just to see how I was doing and what became of everything, and he's going to stop by my staple removal appointment tomorrow. What a sweet, old man!

It's a beautiful, blue-sky day in Steamboat with fresh Champagne Powder snow :)

Ta ta!

Love Always,

Kaitlin

One Month Ago Today

New winner in the "This is the most consecutive sleep I've had in a month" contest: 7.5 hours!

With the help of two Ambien and being exhausted from scrapbooking Christmas presents all day yesterday, I actually slept for 7.5 hours straight, no waking up at all. I feel excellent :) Today and tomorrow are my last two days of the Devil Decadron, and then I am free. FREE! Now, if we can just get these appetite cravings and chipmunk cheeks to go away...

On a side note, it started snowing last night around dinner, and it hasn't stopped. We're under a winter storm warning until dinner time tonight. I love how the Weather Channel website gives the percent chance of snow. Today's percentage: 90%. Gee, do you think so?! We've gotten 10 inches of snow in the past 24 hours mid-mountain (I'm not sure how much we've gotten in town, but it's enough!). The ski industry is rejoicing, and I am cursing how much snow I'm going to have to brush off the suburban tomorrow morning.

View from my balcony

It's crazy to think that one month ago today, at this exact time, I was sitting in the doctor's office at Yampa Valley Medical Center. I was going through all of my symptoms and medical history to begin sorting out what the heck could be causing me to have a two-month headache. This is the point when Jennifer Sliney, PA, decided that we needed to rule out the two big things first: eyes and brain. And sure enough, brain it is! So much has happened in the past month; it's all been one big whirlwind. I don't know how I would've made it through all of this without the immense support from family, friends, and co-workers. Thank you for everything :)

Love Always,

Kaitlin

Finally!

After missing the phone call from my neurologist on Monday (I was in a 2.5 hour meeting for work), we've been playing phone tag all week. I had finally had it today. I understand that he is busy, but I really need to get my appointments on the 22nd because Nate and I will already be in southern MN the day before. Save some driving anyways!

So, I think I talked to just about every person I could in the neurology, neurosurgery, and radiation oncology departments... but I am victorious! I meet with Dr. Schomberg, my radiation oncologist, on the 22nd at 11:30 am. From there, we will start to plan my radiation vacation.

If you want something done, keep calling and harrassing them, I guess ;)

*Update*:

My neurologist and I finally connected tonight. He didn't tell me anything new really, but agreed that radiation is definitely the route we should pursue. It was nice just to talk and go over everything again. I think he figured out that I went over his head and made the appointment myself, hehe ;)

Glorious :)

That is what 6 hours of consecutive sleep make me feel like: g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s! I am ecstatic to be almost done with this god-awful steroid. In fact, I will be celebrating my freedom next Tuesday with a 1/2 price glass of wine and $1 appetizers with my friend Lisa after work. There is a countdown, and no I am not kidding! :D

No more brain news as of late. I have been playing phone tag with my neurologist all week, trying to set-up an appointment with him and Dr. Schomberg over Christmas to plan my radiation vacation.

I talked to Lucinda, Dr. Parney's nurse, this morning--I had a few questions from post-op. She told me that I should have my staples removed on Monday or Tuesday. So, on Tuesday at 10:30 am my head will once again be metal free!

That's all to report today!

Thank you for your continued support :) It means the world to me!

Love Always,

Kaitlin

Grrr-eat News!!

Dr. Parney, my neurosurgeon, called today to give me the final pathology report. Grr-eat news!!

The biopsy results show that I have a type of tumor called a glioma, specifically an low grade astrocytoma. From the Mayo Clinic website, "astrocytomas are the most common glioma, and can occur in most parts of the brain. Astrocytomas originate from cells called astrocytes (star-shaped glial cells). People can develop astrocytomas at any age, though they are more common in adults." So at least I have a pretty shaped tumor, right? ;)

Tumors are graded on a scale of one to four, one being the most benign. Grade one tumors are not commonly found in adults, and they haved graded my tumor as a TWO. So I'm basically as low as I can get on the tumor scale! There were a few small areas in the middle of the tumor that had picked up the dye during my MRI's, and biopsy showed that these areas might be leaning more towards grade three. However, it is not enough to bump my tumor grade up.

This is the best possible diagnosis I could've gotten! If I have to have a tumor, at least it's where it is and what it is :)

So, Dr. Parney said that we could just let it be and monitor it with MRI's, or we could be more proactive and go the radiation route. I choose to get this thing out of my head!

Dr. Uhm, my neurologist, will be contacting me to set-up an appointment with him and also with Dr. Schomberg, the radiation oncologist, while I am back in WI for Christmas. From there, we will formulate a plan for my radiation vacation.

Yay! :D

Back to Work!

It's kind of odd to say, but I'm a little excited to go back to work. But, I'm a creature of habit, and work is "normal." I could use a little normal!

Also, I just wanted to shamelessly self promote a bit. On the right side of this page I added a link for my business blog. Check it out! :D

Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers. Love you guys :)

Sleep

For the first time in 24 days, I slept for more than 3 consecutive hours. Five and half hours of sleep in a row never felt so good :)

That is all.

And I'm Back :)

After sitting on the tarmack de-icing for forty minutes in Minneapolis, I had to make a run for it in the Denver airport! Thirty four gates later, I made it just in time to catch my flight to Steamboat. Phew!

And I'm back in the 'Boat with all the pretty snow on the slopes. And seven shiny staples in my head!

Back to Steamboat

I'm heading back to Steamboat tonight. Nate and I will be leaving for the airport around 4:00 pm, out of Minneapolis/St. Paul, and I should be back to Steamboat by 10:00 pm.

It was so nice to be home, but I feel like I need to get back to as much normal as I can. Back to my apartment, my routine, and heck.. even work!

I'm feeling just awesome, and just waiting on the pathology results now.

Thank you everyone for the continued support! :)

I Have Clean Hair!

Finally leaving St. Mary's Hospital

Leaving the hospital with the world's best boyfriend

Mom and Dad got me some pretty flowers upon my arrival home :)

My favorite little guy Owen and my cousin Sasha came to visit me last night :) Grandpa also visited.

I HAVE CLEAN HAIR! These might be the best four words in the English language. Well, at least today they are! Nate and I had an adventure in bandage removal and hair washing yesterday. One more step towards feeling normal again. In a preemptive strike, I took some Percocet before we started, just in case. But it actually went very well; there was only one little lightheaded point where I had to sit down. But we’re all good now!

(I’ve got a picture of my Frankenstein wound if anyone wants to see it, but I figured I wouldn’t post it in interest of not gagging everyone out).

To recap my release from the hospital:
Everything seemed to take FOREVER! Dr. Parney was supposed to talk with me between 8:00 am and 10:00 am; however, that kept getting pushed back. I don’t know how many movies Nate and I watched, just sitting there waiting. In the meantime, they kept giving me antibiotics and slowly unhooking all the cords and IV’s coming out of me. All of my nurses were really great, especially Jenika who was with me through the entire night.

… except my last nurse, Cheryl. We shall talk about Cheryl in a little bit.

All of the Mayo staff was really wonderful, but the waiting was just killing us. Mom, Dad, Bri, Nate, and I did a lot of waiting around yesterday morning. I did have two visitors while I was waiting to get discharged! (Thank you Mark and Cindy, it was wonderful to see you both). Eventually, the family took off to take the little sister back to college, and Nate and I waited it out.

Tick tock, tick tock, just waiting on Dr. Parney. I had questions I needed answered, and he wasn’t going to release me without talking to me of course. Dr. Parney is an excellent neurosurgeon, and everything went perfectly.

Now let’s go back to Cheryl: why does the last person I deal with at Mayo have to be her? Up until this point, everyone had been so wonderful, and then I get this twit. I was little upset with her because I just flat out don’t do well with needles, so I cover my face when she’s removing my IV’s. I don’t need to see that, but she proceeds to make fun of me for doing it. By this point, I just want to leave the hospital , and there’s no reason she needs to make fun of me for having a fear of needles. We shall come back to her again.

Finally, 1:00 pm Dr. Parney and his RN Lucinda come to talk to Nate and I, and I get my answers.

So this is what I know:

I went into the OR at 11:30 am, and from there it took about an hour and a half to get me set-up for surgery. They had to attach a frame to my head (which is why I have two little screw marks in my forehead) for the stereotactic biopsy. They made a 2 inch incision in my skin, and a 1 centimeter hole in my skull. It turns out that I will have this hole in my skull for the rest of my life. Dr. Parney said that some scar tissue may fill in, but I will always have a little hole.
The surgery itself took about an hour. They took 8 little pieces from the tumor, which are currently with pathology to determine exactly what type of tumor I have. Dr. Parney said that my tumor appears to have developed in my brain; it did not spread from somewhere else. Also, that it appears to be fibrous, which tends to mean slow-growing. Both of these are good! The broad name for the tumor is a glioma. It is the most common type. There are a broad range of specific types of gliomas, and we will need final pathology to determine exactly what type of tumor I have. A glioma can be benign or malignant, either way my treatment path is looking at radiation. The specific type of glioma will determine my specific radiation therapy. We’re hoping for final pathology results within a couple days.

Now back to my release:
After speaking with Dr. Parney and getting everything all squared away with my prescriptions—or so we thought—I can finally get dressed and out of that lovely hospital gown. They insisted upon wheeling me down to the pharmacy to pick-up my prescriptions. Once we get to the pharmacy, we realize that somehow Cheryl has managed to screw this up. So, back upstairs we go to the 8th floor to get it all straightened out. I swear this woman should not be working at Mayo. Finally, we get someone to write me the correct prescription and get back downstairs to wait for half an hour. By this point, Nate and I are less than pleased. We finally managed to get out of that nut house at 3:00 pm.

It never felt so good to walk into my parent’s house and take a bath. Two days of laying in a hospital bed is a bit much, especially when I felt just fine. It is good to be home. I am starting to feel like a normal person again. Now, if I could just start sleeping through the night… but with slowly weaning off the steroid, that should help!

It took me until last night to grasp this.

For me, what was a calm, almost timeless procedure was really a long process for everyone else involved. I was talking with Nate last night about the 5 hours that I don’t have any concept of, and it all makes me very thankful and filled with gratitude for everyone’s support. My parents, my sister, Nate, and Nate’s dad all sat in that waiting room for hours, just waiting on me, waiting to hear news that I was okay. And I’m not forgetting people that I know were elsewhere, waiting on the same news.

And it’s a peculiar feeling that I have right now. I am just eternally grateful for family and friends, and the tremendous support that I have been shown.

I’m not quite sure how to thank everyone, or to put it more eloquently, but know that I mean it with all of my heart.

Love you all.

Good Morning Everyone!

I am up and moving around!

Dinner last night consisted of all liquids: chicken broth, tea, grape juice, and raspberry sherbert. They just wanted to make sure I didn't get all nauseated, which was completely fine me. Whatever drug they gave me to help the anesthesia worked! I have not felt sick at all!

After Mom, Dad, and Bri headed back over to the hotel last night, Nate and I just hung out for awhile. That amazing man actually slept on a reclining chair next to me the whole night. I just don't know what I'd do without him. : )

I didn't get a terrible lot of sleep, but I did at least get some. The night went just fine. I was up every couple hours, for one reason or another. They gave me some Tylenol pretty early in the night, just a little pain where my incision was. Sometime around 3:00 or 4:00 am the incision started to throb pretty good, and there was no way I was going to get any sleep. So, they gave me some Percocet to swallow and injected my IV with Fentanyl. Talk about instant relief! I'm sure it has worn off by now, and the incision only hurts a little bit, but that is to be expected!

My release order is already signed, and I'm just waiting to talk to Dr. Parney. Everything went so fast yesterday. What seemed like two seconds for me, was more like 4 hours for everyone else. The doctor should be coming to visit within an hour or two. I have a lot of questions about what went on.

After that, I should be free to go. Well, as soon as they pull these last two IV's outta me. They were holding off just in case I needed another round of antibiotics. I'm just happy to have the arterial line removed this morning, so I can move about freely.

It's going to be a couple days until we have some pathology results on the tumor. When I have more information on that, I'll be sure to update everyone! They said I can remove the bandage when I get home, and then I will have to figure out how to cover it up with the rest of my hair!

Nate went back to the hotel and got everything packed up, and my parents & sister should be heading back over here shortly. We'll all be heading to Somerset then, and I'll be flying out of Minneapolis/St. Paul on Friday night.

And now, thank God.. it is time for some real breakfast!

And I Feel Awesome!

Well I made it, and I feel just great. I had fully expected to be pretty comatose yet today, but surgery went very well.

Waiting in pre-op. Luckily, they only had to put one IV in me while I was awake. And that was a little traumatic for me! I took a Lorazepam and squeezed Nate's hand really hard! But, at least they could use this one to put me asleep before the put the other IV in later.

They gav me some really sexy tights to wear to help with circulation and blood clots.

Luckily, while we waited for over 3 hours in pre-op there were some movies to watch.

Just watching "Dan in Real Life"

Smooshin' the smister :)

And chillin' with my man :) Who has been absolutely incredible through all of this. He's even sleeping on a crappy reclining chair in my room tonight, despite the fact there's a comfy hotel bed across the street.
And it's finally time to go see the anesthesiologist and get this show on the road!

Everything happened so fast! I was laying down in the pre-op and the next thing I knew I was getting wheeled into the OR. They have the best blankets in there, so warm and cuddly :) They started giving me drugs in my one IV to knock me out... and that is all I remember. I've been told that set-up took a little while, and that the surgery itself took an hour. When I woke up in the recovery room, I actually felt very good. They had given me some drugs to help with the nausea, since I have had anesthetic/nausea issues in the past. After laying there for a little bit, they asked if I was ready to see my family.. and then started one of the most bizarre experiences of my life.

I no longer have any shame. Between the big burly male RN, the skinny white boy, and 3 female RN's, I thought I had been hog-tied. I had more hands on my body than I have ever had: unhooking cords, adding new cords, new robes, sponge bath, unhooked IV's, etc. I have no idea what they all did to me.

It was a completely whirlwind. And just like that, they whisked me up to my private room 8D. I think they might have fixed me up a little more after that, but mostly I was just excited to see mom, dad, Bri, and Nate walk in :) We chatted for a little bit, and then I just couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. So, I took a lil nap with my fuzzy stuffed animal that Nate bought for me :D while they went to grab a bite to eat.

In the meantime, they got me feeling like a normal person again. It's a wonder what a ponytail holder and a toothbrush can do for you.

I allowed a picture to be taken after this point.

Me with the best guy ever :)

Bri wasn't feelin' so hot with the hospital smells and all the tubes coming out of her sister ;)

Smisters :)

Yes, yes I am a dork. It's not quite "the face"--you know what I mean Sash, but it'll have to do for now!

My hair... my poor sad hair. Luckily, it can be covered, but dang that's a lot of hair! The bandage is realy making it look worse than it actually is.

My neurosurgeon Dr. Parney stopped by briefly a couple hours ago, to check on me and make sure I'm doing all fine neurologically. I don't know how many times I've had to follow the fingers, wiggle my toes, squeeze hands, and tell them my full name and birthday. Haha!

Because everything happened so fast, I asked Dr. Parney if we could talk tomorrow and just go through the procedure step-by-step so I can make some notes and get some questions answered.

Preliminary pathology didn't tell us a whole lot. It is a tumor; they are calling it a glioma. The tumor originated in my brain, it hasn't spread from somewhere else--which is good! We're hoping for some pathology results tomorrow, aiming for Friday I believe. After tomorrow I hope to have some more information.

I'm not sure what time I will be getting released yet, but we will be heading to Somserset after I get discharged.

Thank you for everyone's support, and for those who even came to visit me!

D-Day!

I figure one last post before I'll shut my computer down.

I get admitted at 7:30 am, and then I have no idea what's going on from there time-wise. I'll meet with the anesthesiologist, and then surgery itself is supposed to take an hour.

From there I will be in recovery for a couple hours, and then they will move me to my room in Intensive Care to monitor me for the night. They say I'll be up and moving around on Wednesday.

I've got a mass text set up to let everyone know when I have to relinquish my phone. From that point, any questions will be answered to the best of his abilities by Nate. I don't know what I'd do without him.

So, with that being said... I should be conscious enough tomorrow to at least get some form of "I'm ok" out, and we'll move on from there!

Love you everyone!

And The Time Is...

I will be reporting to St. Mary's Hospital at 7:30 am tomorrow. From there, I am not sure of the timeline.

Time to get this show on the road!

Chilling in the Hotel Room

Nate and I took off this morning about 7:30 am from Madison to make the journey to the Mayo Clinic.
We had to liven up the drive... 3.5 hours of flat farmland is so boring! Being dorks is what we do best :)

We actually arrived to St. Mary's a little early, so they got us in a moving pretty quickly. My MRI was set for 12:00 pm. I think I was done and changed back into my clothes by 12:45 pm. Once again they had to shoot me up with some dye for contrast... I took a Lorazepam and layed down before that needle went anywhere near my arm. However, I'm getting better with needles! Never thought I'd see the day.

Before they did the MRI, they had to hook-up some electrode patches. Two of these patches required having a little hair shaved :( Luckily they are small and can't see them at all. Unfortunately, I've got these little black dots on my face that I get to walk around with for the rest of the day! This is me pouting about the hair loss. I guess I'll just have to add the BIG chunk to the envelope tomorrow. And by big, I mean 2 inches. That is way too much hair for me!

So now, we're just chilling in the hotel room across the street from St. Mary's Hospital. It's the Staybridge Suites, and oh my gosh! I think this is possibly one of the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in!

Threre's even a dishwasher and refrigerator!We couldn't believe how nice this room is!

Mom, Dad, and Bri are currently on their way here. After 8:15pm tonight, I can call to find out what time I'm scheduled to be admitted and start pre-op.

That's all I know for now!

Thank you everyone for the continued supports, prayers, well-wishes, good vibes, etc!