I'm still here

It's been a whirlwind of activity lately...  Being a puppy owner, trying to get back to work full-time, summer prolonged April weather, and everything in between...

Saw the neurosurgeon on June 6th in Toronto. My one year zipperversary was yesterday.  I'm good!!  In terms of the Chiari, Dr. G is very happy with the surgery and my recovery, as am I.  I don't need to see him again unless I start having an increase in symptoms.  We're going to keep an eye on things every 18 months with an MRI.  This will also monitor the arachnoid cyst I have in my brain.  I have to return to the ENT who initially diagnosed me with Chiari to have my tinnitus checked again as it hasn't cleared up with the decompression surgery.  In terms of the brachial neuritis, I've got another 6 to 12 months recovery ahead of me, as I do with a full decompression recovery.

I got the full report from the neurologist I saw who confirmed the brachial neuritis.  She doesn't recommend I work full time yet, and my family doctor agrees.  Hurray!!  As the current return to work plan is going to be the death of me! I'm supposed to increase to full time by July 4th.  But I'm exhausted after 5 hours.  Like, go home, need a nap exhausted.  Plus the increase in hours has increased my pain, fatigue and my shoulder blades are winging again...  All signs that the increase of hours is too much at this juncture in time / recovery.

We're still awaiting the arrival of spring and summer.  The weather has only been nice 2 days in a row.  It'll be nice, sunny and warm 24C.  Then it will be cold and raining 12C for 3 or 4 days in a row... very depressing and gloomy.  Makes me cold, miserable and sore.  My gardens are barely growing.  There are only a few blooms on my tomatoes and I am just seeing hints of basil and green onions I planted over 3 weeks ago... Very depressing. We need some heat and dry weather for a few days... or nothing is going to grow!  Which means buying and not picking my own :(   And I down-scaled the gardening this year for 1. my arm's sake and 2. space and 3. a puppy who tries to eat everything!!

And puppy... loving the puppy... Sophie is wonderful.  We are loving every minute of puppyhood.  Including the occasional late night trips outside to pee, the incessant biting as she is teething 4 teeth right now, the defiance when we're trying to train her.  Everything.  She is the only dog I have ever been acquainted with who does not want to go for a walk.  Especially in the morning.  Forget it, not gonna happen.  Treats, pulling, bribing.  Nothing works.  So we don't go for a walk in the morning.  If she's receptive I take her out back and throw a stick or ball.  Or we do training.  Most morning she just wants to sleep or cuddle.  Tonight we will graduate from puppy school.  It's been a great class.  We're learning lots and in fact were instinctively doing some of the things they are teaching us.  (helps that I read everything I could get out of the library on training a puppy beforehand!)  She is also afraid of water.  In the tub.  In the yard.  At the beach.  In kiddie pools at the leash-a-thon... If it's wet and not in her bowl, she wants NOTHING to do with it.  Very unusual for a Weim.  

I'm helping dad fix the back door, honest!!

Water!! Ack!! Nobody told me there was water at the beach!

I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor... or am I swallowing him?

She snuggled up to me for a nap so I closed my eyes too!

Sophie is a huge attraction wherever we go as Weims are not a popular breed, but they are a very beautiful breed.  She won the youngest pet award at the leash-a-thon and came home with at least 10 bags of treats.  Everyone at puppy school wants to say hi to her.  And wherever we go - walks, the pet store, even just to the corner store - people stop to meet her and ask what breed she is.  We're very proud parents.  She is quick to learn, even if she doesn't always listen or obey.  She sits, lies down, comes, fetches usually without fail.  We're working on no pull walking, going to mat and staying.  She is the love of my life, after hubby of course.  And I wouldn't trade her for the world.

A Few Minutes to Myself

I have a few extra minutes to myself today :)  Hubby has a dentist appointment right after work, which gives me an extra hour before I would usually start making dinner. What to do?  Sit down and blog of course!

I have to admit, I want to keep up with my blogging, but my spare time is spent doing a variety of other things lately.  Reading puppy books, finally finishing a cross stitch project I started almost 5 years ago (pics will follow once it's framed), physio, yoga, visiting a friend who has just had major surgery again :( and the list goes on.

I'd like to pick up ideas I've seen on other blogs, like Junebug who is tackling the A to Z Blogging Challenge, or even Marla's Ten on Tuesday, but I can't commit.  There are days when once I'm home and away from the office computer I don't even grab the laptop except to input stuff into our food diaries.  And that I can do from my iPod.  

It's not that I don't love all 3 of my loyal readers, I just don't think I'm that entertaining and engaging that people want to read all about my little corner of the frozen world on a daily basis, especially now that I have gone private.  (And I mean it, my world is  frozen, again.  Snowed all weekend... But it's starting to melt.)  And once we get puppy, in just under 3 weeks, I'm sure I'll be on the computer even less.  We'll be walking twice a day, plus puppy school, training and playing.  I will apologize in advance if my future posts are 1. all about puppy and 2.  fewer and further between.  It's just a fact of life.  Now that I'm feeling better, I don't want to dwell on my surgery and my Chiari and my nerve issues but move forward.  I don't try to stay in the past and rehash everything.  I keep moving forward, just as my favourite quote from Walt Disney says.  Especially because I have had such success with the decompression surgery.

I'll be here, now and again, but I can't promise the frequency.  And thank-you, my loyal readers, for hanging in this long!!

Feeling Better and Worse

Chinese medicine is doing something.  Along with the acupuncture and cupping and heat treatment, the addition of liquid iron to my diet to help my anemia, I'm feeling like a human being.  Really, almost normal.  (well, normal for me!)  I don't have the dizzy spells I was having which leads me to believe it was more an iron deficiency issue than a POTS issue (hopefully!).  I've had 3 treatments.  I go for my 4th on Monday, then I have a couple of weeks off as there were no openings.  I'm pleasantly surprise, and a little relieved.  Feeling better was the whole goal here.  One step at a time.

In addition to the liquid iron supplement I am also taking barley greens once a day.  I have to mix it with V8 juice, just can swallow that "green" flavour on its own.  So, that is some much-needed protein my body was lacking.

I'm eating.  And I'm hungry!  And food is staying with me so I'm actually benefitting from the nutrients for a change.  I know, I know, it's only been 4 weeks, but I'm noticing the slight differences.  

Yesterday I went for an infrared sauna.  Very different from a traditional Finnish sauna that I'm used to.  It heats you, not the air, so you can breath and it is more comfortable.  It also doesn't just make you sweat but improves your immune system, cardiovascular system, detoxifies, improves the appearance of burns and scars... and the list goes on.  It is good for conditions like arthritis, bronchitis and much more.  I was roasted in about 25 minutes at 70C / 158F, but it doesn't feel that hot.  I know I can't handle a traditional sauna much over 50C / 120F.  

At physio we have started strength training.  Very very gradually.  I'm talking bicep curls with stretch banding - 3 sets of up to 10 reps.  Right now I manage 3 sets but at most 7 reps.  But it is a start.  And my shoulder blades are taped in place to 1 - minimize pain and 2 - reduce pressure on the brachial nerve bundle.  I'm happy with my progress so far, it's only been 2 weeks.

And on the puppy front... Macy's litter was born March 4th and China's litter on March 10th.  Hubby and I are sooooooooooooooo excited.   Sometime in May we will have our own sweet baby girl Weimaraner.  We've seen tons of pictures and chatted online with the breeder.  We send emails back and forth and she answers our questions as soon as she is free.  Poor breeder, she had the flu when the first puppies were born, moved (including her horse and all the dogs!), and was just settling in when the second litter arrived.  I don't think she's had much sleep!!  We are very happy with her knowledge and how quickly she gets back to us.  We can't wait until May!!

And on the worse front... I was supposed to go see my great-aunt this morning.  She was admitted to our hospital from her home 3 hours west of here.  But I'm running a low fever and feel blah so I don't want to pass on anything to her.  Probably a bit of a bug.  Ugh.  I hate feeling like this.  I'm hungry, but my tummy has been rumbly and I don't want to put anything in it except maybe some ginger...  I hope this passes soon.

Oh, and also on the better front - I have had headaches that go away within a few minutes, without taking anything for them.  Not sure why, but I'M LOVING IT!!  Headache "free" for a couple weeks now! (BIG SMILEY GRIN!!!!)

Warped

My sense of time is very strange right now.  I'll ask hubby what day it is and not understand that it's already Wednesday.  Where did Sunday, Monday and Tuesday go??  I'm chalking the time warp to stress and fatigue and 101 other things running through my head lately.

So because of these time warps I'm stuck in, I really owe you an update... so here's the Cliff Notes versions... because seriously, I lose track of time and it'll take me hours to do a full update.

EMG Nerve Study Results:

I have a possible answer for the shoulder issues.  Brachial Neuritis.  There is possibly a lesion on my brachial nerve.  This caused the arm / shoulder issues just after my brain surgery in June.  Good news - it's not a permanent condition.  It's on average a 2 year recovery.  I can live with that. 

Acupuncture:

I've been for 2 visits.  I felt better after my first visit - more centred and refreshed.  I was so stressed at visit #2 that I don't think I could relax even if you drugged me.  But I have 4 more visits booked.  I will continue to see the acupuncturist, who is actually a Dr. of Chinese Medicine (BIG GRIN and thumbs up!) for a couple of months.  She is working on not only my arm / nerve issues but also my horrible digestive tract and my arthritis - which is out of control right now because of the cold - warm - dry - damp - snowing - cloudy - sunny - can't make up it's mind!! weather forecasts lately.  She explained some of my EMG results and will review my MRIs as well.  She is taking in the Western medicine findings and treating where she can with acupuncture, inferred and some other heat therapy, cupping etc.  She has discovered a couple things without me telling her about them too and I think she is a genius.  From my pulse she could tell my GI tract has been acting up lately.  From my tongue and my eyes that I'm severely anemic again - due to the GI issues... And a few other things.  I started an iron supplement and a green powder supplement to try and help the GI and anemia.  She is AMAZING and I'm so happy that I was referred to her.

Physio:

I went to see a new physiotherapist yesterday.  He comes very highly recommended and I can see why. (He's the physio the local doctors go and see....  he's gotta be good.)  My consult was only supposed to be a few minutes for him to decide if he would take on a patient with brachial neuritis as he has not dealt with it in his 24 years of practice.  I was there an hour and a half.  And I came out with another appointment on Friday, two homework exercises and hope.  Hope of regaining all of the strength that I lost.  Hope of returning to my new normal life.  And finally understanding what all of the MRI, CT, and EMG reports mean.  No one has ever gone through a report with me.  Until the new physio and my acupuncturist that is.

Work:

I continue to work 4 hours a day and I'm still dragging my butt arm by the time I get home. (Like Igor in some horror film... my arm hanging limply in front of me...)  But I feel like I'm at least accomplishing something most days.  The dizzy spells I have from time to time cloud my thinking and I feel like I haven't done anything.  But it's getting better and I can at least see 1 place on my desk right now that is not a foot high with file folders.  My bosses continue to support me and are amazing through all of my return to work.  The young lady they hired to assist me with the filing, copying, etc is working out very well.  It's great to have the help.  I don't feel like I'm floundering as much anymore.

LTD:

The long-term disability assessor is going to send someone to assess me at work.  Don't know what it will entail or what will be involved.  But I'm looking at it as a positive.  Help me get back to my new normal.

PUPPY!!!!

We're looking at getting a puppy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm just a little excited, and a little anxious!!  And we're going to get MY puppy!! MY DREAM PUPPY!!! My "I've wanted one all of my life" puppy!!  Hubby spends every evening on the internet researching breeders and the dogs.  We have sent away several applications to breeders in Canada and the US.   I have 3 books checked out from the library sitting beside me on the couch.  Hubby sits and reads it out loud to me after supper.  (I'm too tired to focus on anything lately... darn anemia!) (And I've also been SUPER B!T@HY lately because I'm so tired... poor hubby)

Doesn't she just make your heart melt??? This isn't the actual puppy.  Someone else owns this little sweetheart... the litter we're interested in isn't born yet... (this is actually the mom of one of the litters!)

and finally...

AQUARIUM:

It's up, it's running great.  There are 5  2 new fishies living here now, for starters.  2 angel fish and 3 2 bronze corydories.  I love to sit and watch the fish play in the current from the output.  And they love to come to the side of the tank when we're standing close.  They almost beg to be fed! (Argh... do to a phosphate problem in my tank the 2 angels and 1 cory died within 12 hours of posting this so I had to "amend" it... back to the beginning with the fish, again.)

For today, there's the last few weeks in a nutshell.  I'm exhausted.  Time for some down-time.