Hey All

It's been a somewhat crazy time for us, but it's been pretty great too.(...pretty great? Does that work?) I started at BRG Inc, in Bloomington, IN on 01/04/2010. So far I really like the place they have good jobs, good people, and an easy going atmosphere.

As far as the twitchin' goes, I still haven't had any problems since I left the hospital in early December. Pretty good(or great?) right? So assuming that holds up, I'll be working until we leave for Cleveland on 2/17. All good things. (accent on things) All good things. (accent on good)

So, please keep prayin'. We're doing well. I don't know that I have any needs so much as just if anything comes to mind. Lift it up.

Gotta run, lunch is over.

Tony

Round 3...

Titled for a couple reasons. 1, this was our third trip to C-Clinic. 2, This is the 3rd time I've tried to write this post. Either, distraction or DSL failure have gotten in the way before. Let's move on.

As you've read in previous post, we took off on Wednesday, had our appointments on Thursday, drove home Thursday-night picked up the kid / dog Friday and now you have a time line.

For the sake of not boring the crap out of you(But still no promises), we're only going to talk about Thursday. We arrived at the clinic around noon. BTW, calling this place a "clinic" is retarded. The word "clinic" makes me think of the show Becker, or maybe the emergency care clinic that's often part of a strip mall. Still, perhaps I should be cautious with the word "retarded" as I'm frequenting neurologists. It's bigger than any hospital, I've ever seen. Bigger than a community college. I dunno, maybe even a small D1 school. Sorry, back to not boring the crap out of you. 1st appointment was at 1pm with Dr. Gonzalez. He's my Neurosurgeon. Yup...Neurosurgeon. He will be preforming my SEEG.

The SEEG
This conversation was both calming, and nerve-racking. He was able to explain how low the probability of any complications are, but he was very detailed in what could go wrong. #1 concern, hitting a blood vessel and causing a "bleed". The size and location of the bleed determine the outcome / consequences. #2 - an infection. When was the last time you heard this, "Oh, I'd love to, but this brain infection is killing me."? I know bad choice of words. #3 - Hitting, clipping or crimping a vessel. That means stroke.

So, There you go. That's the bad news, here's the good. Concern #1 has a .05% chance of happening. They only go down from there. He is very positive about the result of the SEEG. He also seems to be optimistic for the extraction. Also good. He give a little higher #'s than Hantus did. I suppose he can be a bit more accurate, 'cause hes doing the work. More good news: We were told that we'd have to wait until Feb. for this SEEG. While we were waiting for the Dr. in our little holding pen, they got a spot or someone canceled or something, so right now we're scheduled for 11/23. They also said the would move that date up if they could.

On to the good stuff. The SEEG is a little different than I understood. Instead of two electrodes, there will be up to 16. Oy. He said "...you can compare them to spaghetti noodles". They are about the same size (2mm), but don't stick to the wall when cooked. After every thing is well placed in my head, I'll be wrapped up and sent to recovery for a short time. Then, on the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. I'm sure those nurses can't wait to get me back. Anyway, much the same story as before, stay till ya twitch. They want about 5 this time. That's a bit frighting to me. But, I know they can stop the twitchin' at any time. All it takes is a little bit of IV happy sauce.

So let's say they get their 5. Now we wait. At best, they have everything they need and schedule a resection. Which is what Dr. Gonzales says is most probable. If that's the case we wait two months for my head to recover, before break out the exact-o knives. Second possibility, didn't get what we needed, so we need to replace the spaghetti (electrodes). The same two months apply here. Third, everything worked, we see it clearly and know where it and your motor functions are, but know it's decision time. "How much do you really use your left hand"?(leg, butt-cheek, whatever)

Yea, so, there it is. In all it's complicated, intense, gory, wonder. That's about it.

Oh yea, the we had a FMRI done that took about an hour. It's basically your standard run of the mill MRI but then you get instructions. It measures the increase in blood to areas of the brain to preform functions. After that we left and got home around 11:30p. Long day. Sorry for the novel. I'll try to keep it shorter next time.

As is standard fare for us right now, we continue to be greeted by people that are praying for us. That's great. Thank you all for all of you prayers.

Tony and fam.

Whaz-up which-U

So I had several people ask over the last few days, and I'll tell you. "I'm doing alright." That's not your standard "Pavlovian" response greeting/answer.

Male 1: Hey man, How ya doin'?
Male 2: Fine. How 'bout you?
Male 1: Ah, you know, I'm doin' alright.

How 'bout some tunes?



Not at all, In fact "alright" is an improvement over the last few weeks to be blunt. The last few weeks have been rough and I've counted my weeks in good nights as opposed to bad ones. However, this week we seem to be making a turn around. I've put a small string of seizure -free nights together, and the the nights that aren't, seem to be lighter. It's a good thing. So while I can't tell you that I've been miraculously healed, I feel as thought I'm improving.

With that in mind, I begin to become cautiously optimistic for the future and for Cleveland. Now that I have some control over my evenings/weeks it seems easier to get through this waiting period. 2.5 weeks isn't as daunting as it was before. A good thing.

A good example:
We were at a friends party for her 1 year-old. While there, we made plans to hope in the car the next day and go to Holiday World. That's pretty cool. Perhaps your family is spontaneous and this seems small, but this never happens around our place.
Regardless, we did it. It was exhausting, but an absolute blast! Ella will probably ask to go every weekend. So much fun. If you're an FB person than maybe you've seen photos, if not, here you go.

So, where was I? Oh yes... doin' alright.
I want to let you all know that I am in fact doin' alright. I could be better, but so could everyone else. So once again, I solicit your prayers, and am thankful for all the support offered/given.

I'll write you soon.
Tony

As promissed, good news.

Yea, so some good news... Here we go.
I unfortunately had a seizure last night, which does not sound like good news. However, it's the first in about two and a half weeks. Pretty good. I feel like I'm able to function a good bit better, which is necessary to control a four-year-old.
Anyway, as far as that goes things are better.

Also, I have a pretty good foot in the door for a new job. Much needed. As of yet no offer, but I should get a call soon. I've looked and looked and there's just not much out there. So, A. I'm thankful to be afloat, & B. I'm also excited about what's to come.

We took a little trip up to S. Beloit. We saw a lot of family and got a chance hang-out with some of Amanda's family's recent graduates. So using that as a backdrop, I'm also grateful that we have quite a group of family and friends that are good to us, and very supportive.

And naturally, there's Amanda. Who's taken on perhaps more than she bargained for with the whole "for better or for worse..." thing. She's good to me. Sometimes not very nice, but sill, I think she kinda likes me. Love ya baby.

Anyway, that's it for now.
This is me signing off, saying "support comes in many forms, steel reinforced concrete, bras, and friends, just to name a few."

Please keep the prayers coming, we certainly appreciate them.

Tony

(Wow that was deep)