Shrink it real good

not to scale

It's still shrinking!  One thing I love about Dr. Valliant is he always gets to the point quickly.  He always says hello and asks how I'm doing and then "well your MRI looks great, want to go see?" YES!  They always do two - one with 'contrast' (a dye to help things stand out) and one without.  On the 'without' the radiologist added an arrow so we could find it because its so small you can barely see it unless you really know what you're looking for.  =) On the 'contrast' film, you can still see the spot, but it is much smaller and it now just looks like a halo of white rather than a black filled  (blood) lesion.

He said what remains may just be inflammation - hard to know.   Dr. Rose was there - he was the neurologist I saw in the hospital who first said it was vascular.  I hadn't seen him since the hospital but he said "You're a teacher right?  Biology?" - so he remembered!  He looked at the films and said I must've been real good to get this kind of early Christmas present.  I think it's just having all of you on my side!  He also reminded us that he 'told us so' that it was vascular.  You go on and gloat Dr. Rose, I'm glad you were right!

Ben wasn't able to go (he tried to convince me to record the whole appointment so I wouldn't forget to tell him anything) and he wanted to know - what now?  The answer is the same - nothing, wait and see, another MRI in 6 months. They said I will probably continue to improve...S...L...O...W...L....Y, but if I keep working at it its possible.  I can do that. 

So it was a good good day.  Denver next week and we will celebrate some more.  Thank you thank you again for being my warriors - it means so much. 

Ditching the Absent Minded Professor

Don't worry, I'm still an absent minded professor, I'm just ditching the look.  Vision correcting glasses version 1.0 have received an upgrade.

I've had the new specs for about 2 months - I know, I know 2 MONTHS and I'm just now telling you?  That's the problem with being a part of normal society; things like WORK get in the way of blogging for family and friends.  Sheesh.  Anyway, the glasses...

So yeah, I got myself ANOTHER Doctor - Dr. Keeland, who apologizes for not having as cool a name as Stonecipher or Valliant.  =) But she is a most beloved ophthalmologist who spent a full HOUR with us the first time I saw her.  When was the last time a doctor spent an hour one on one with you?  She fixed me up with prism lenses. 



So here I tried to make you a little drawing to show you how it works.

The double vision happens because the muscles in my left eye don't work quite right (she did all the tests to show it was a motor, not a neural pathway/visual processing issue); thus my left eye can't quite get up to the same focal point so I see two images, one a little down and to the left of the other.  Prisms bend light; so the prism lens bends the light to trick my brain into thinking my eyes are focused on the same spot - cool huh? Luckily we have a dear friend who is a optometrist and Joe helped me pick out frames for the two pair of glasses.  One is for distance, one for reading.  They work very well, and I am learning how to be a member of the glasses wearing population.  Things like walking in the rain, opening the oven door and trying to breathe while wearing a scarf
in the cold are now much more annoying - you glasses wearers know what I mean!  So it's been interesting going from NO glasses to 3 pair (I still wear version 1.0 occasionally, the prism ones do take some work on my part and, not gonna lie, I get lazy sometimes and blocking the vision from one eye is just easier); and it is quite a miracle that I haven't lost or crushed them yet.  Knock on wood.  

The double vision was by far the  most annoying lingering symptom - I was also feeling dizzy and was pretty sure that was due to the double vision.  Sure enough since I've had the glasses, that is gone.  My balance is still not perfect, but I don't feel like my head is spinning constantly - a huge help.  I still have some numbness in my face and my left hand is still a bit of a challenge on fine motor skills but I'm working on it (more now that I'm on break for awhile.) Seems to me the symptoms are pretty stable now, but I do still notice small improvements.  Like if there is an itch on my face I can hit the target with my left hand (and not scratch my face to shreds) 90% of the time.  Its the little things.

I had another MRI earlier this week and will see Dr. Valliant next Wednesday (12/18) so we'll see what this thing is doing - and I will update you.  My guess is not much, or its gone away but some damage remains which is why there are still some symptoms.  If that wasn't the case I'd think I'd have new or worsening symptoms. 

Thanksgiving 2013

We'll be going to Denver for a few days at Christmas to spend time with Owen, Dan, Jean, Mom and Dad.  Finally get to use those plane tickets from our Easter trip that got derailed.  The semester was great but I'm looking forward to a few weeks to cook and read and walk the dog.  Wishing all of you very happy holidays - we are so grateful to have you in our lives.