Update: Life is good!

Last blog update, courtesy of my sister, was just after my MRI and (again) I’ve been doing a bad job of keeping up with the blogging. Ah well…

I had a couple of wonderful visits last week from my friends from Children’s Hospital NICU. Sandy and Barbara visited last Monday and brought us a yummy lunch. We talked and laughed and caught up on recent events in our lives and I got caught up on some NICU news.

Then on Wednesday I had a visit from two other NICU nurses, Paula and Vera. (Paula will forever hold a special place in my heart as she was the charge nurse the night my brain tumor reared its ugly head and I had to get whisked to the ER. A very, very scary night for me. She kept running back and forth between the ER and the NICU so that she could manage the NICU while keeping tabs on me.) We had a lovely visit, and toward the end of the visit they surprised me by giving me the most incredible gift from the NICU staff: a beautiful handmade quilt - an incredible work of art - with each of the individual quilt squares made by a different person and having some relevance to me being a nurse, working with babies, and other themes near and dear to my heart like cats, dogs, peace, and many other wonderful things. The nurses also made a matching pillow, with individualized quilt squares. I’m in awe and more appreciative than I can properly express. I’ll ask Kirk to take some pictures of the quilt and we’ll post them. (But don’t hold your breath…as you know, we’re not always right on top of things. Unfortunately.) The quilt is so beautiful that we’re going to hang it on the wall rather than drape it on the bed!

My nurse friends also brought other sweet gifts - cards, cookie “bouquet,” chocolates, and gift cards. I’m, again, overwhelmed by the generosity and thoughtfulness of my friends.

Been feeling good except - yep, there’s always something: I’m now having some new musculoskeletal problems: shoulder pain and neck pain that cause real limitations in my range of motion (ROM). I had an MRI of my neck done on Monday and just heard from my doctor that I have some stenosis (narrowing) in a couple of my cervical vertebrae. So more physical therapy is in store for me (thank you in advance, Pien!).

Avastin treatments continue to go well: no apparent side effects: blood pressure remains low, no bleeding problems, no stomach pain. Will begin next taper of steroids once my neck issues settle down.

Okay, that’s it for now. Love you guys. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts.

Love, /ab