Categories
Life

What’s next?

Amie & Remi

Hi Everyone,

It has been a long time since our last blog so a quick update:

In April, I had an MRI at Swedish Cherry Hill and a virtual appointment with Dr. Hensen. At the time my doctor noticed a small spot he wanted to watch, letting us know it may be a new tumor growing in the same location and it might not. 

Medical Update

Fast forward to July, we returned to Swedish for my 6 month MRI and appointment with Dr. Henson. Due to COVID-19, I had my MRI and appointment in office while Tim waited for me in the car. Luckily he had the animated movie, The Book of Life, to keep him busy. 

The results, no new tumor growth!! The spot we saw in April turned out to be scar tissue, we were so relieved and I kinda forgot to post on the blog (my bad, sorry y’all). My next MRI and clinic appointment are scheduled for January, 2021! 

I am happy to report that I feel better now than I did a year ago! My balance and sense of space are pretty much back to normal, walking up and down stairs is no longer a problem. I continue to have numbness in my left foot and calf, most likely nerve damage that occured during my surgery. Otherwise all of my daily activities are back to normal, including driving Tim crazy while he works from home… the animals aren’t much for conversation.

Adoption

As many of you know, Tim and I have been hoping to adopt an infant over the past two years. After many prayers, tears, and hugs we have decided to focus on our fur family of five. This was not an easy decision to make, but we really appreciate all of your support at the end of our adoption journey. Now it’s time to focus on our health, our blessings and see where our next chapter takes us.

Beckler Basecamp

Thanks to Megan and Andrew for the beautiful corn hole boards for our hide-a-way! (Instagram for Live Wild Workshop)

A perk during the pandemic (yes, there have been a few bright spots) is we found our hide-a-way in the mountains! Tim and I have dreamed of this opportunity since we started dating and we are now proud owners of Beckler Basecamp—named after one of our favorite hikes. The property sits on the Cascade River, just outside of Marblemount, WA. The property included a 5th wheel trailer we named “Betty White” which we plan to renovate in the coming years. Activities include roasting Samoa cookie s’mores, walking Remi through the woods, playing corn hole and relaxing along the river.

Happy first week of fall everyone, please know we are sending our love to all,

Amie, Tim, Butch, Squeak & Remi

Categories
Life

How Are We?

Hey all,

It’s been awhile since we’ve provided any update. Obviously, we’re all dealing with a new normal, so we hope everyone is safe and healthy.

Amie had an MRI yesterday—yes, April 1st, and it wasn’t a joke. I drove her to the hospital at 9AM, dropped her off, and found a spot on the empty streets, parked, enjoyed 1934’s A Thin Man and some classic Jazz—Davis and Coltrane, not Kenny G.

Amie entered the hospital and was screened for COVID-19. Some of the attendants thought she was an employee (don’t know why, wink!). But she had her temperature taken, scanned, and went down to the MRI screening room.

90-minutes later, Amie left the building and I picked her up. We had a scheduled video call with her doctor, John Hensen, at 11:30AM to go over the scans. So, we drove over to Marmite restaurant where we had preordered a take-away lunch to make it convenient when we were done with the video chat.

With the video call itself, all-in-all, Amie is doing well. The scans still show the hole in her head where the tumor lived. Dr. Hensen noted that it should continue to shrink over time, but said most likely the brain may never fill back in fully. More good news is that she is able to remove 2 of the 3 medications from her daily routine. Yay!

Mocktails

There is bad news though… Amie can’t have adult beverages for a YEAR! This is due to the third medication she is on to prevent seizures. So, we’re going to research some classic and discreet mocktails for her to enjoy. We don’t know if it’s a year from yesterday’s scan, or from her pre-op date, December 22nd. Let’s hope for sooner than later.

Again, we hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these quarantine days (weeks?) ahead.

All the best.

Tim, Amie, Remi, Butch, & Squeak

Categories
Life

The Difference a Month Makes!

Life is Good

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would give this blogging thing a try! A huge thank you to Tim for keeping our blog going while I was on pain meds, sleeping or both.

Tim & Remi

The plan for Christmas morning 2019 was to wake up and see what Santa had left us under the tree. Instead I woke up in the ICU at Swedish after having my ‘satsuma’ sized tumor removed. I guess God and Santa Claus had other plans, best gift I’ve ever received!

Okay, let’s review:

  • You should definitely pick up a 3 month old puppy the week before you are diagnosed with a brain tumor.
  • Be sure to make friends everywhere you go, including in almost every department of Swedish Hospital, Cherry Hill.
  • Don’t be alarmed if you wake up every morning to the sound of hammering in your head. Tiny elves have easily built a new treehouse in my head. Thankfully they are now adding finishing touches like picture frames and crown molding.
  • Tim and I continue to be extremely grateful to our family and friends who have come to visit, brought dinner and sent treats from afar. The notes of positive thoughts, love and prayers have been super encouraging during my recovery.
  • Curbs are less scary than they used to be and I’m reducing my dependency on Tylenol. Plus my energy level is coming back and as everyone reminds me, my personality is completely intact (thank goodness!).
  • Future goals: Learning to drive again, operating the hair dryer, and having my first adult beverage in 2020.

Next appointment: February 3rd with Dr. Litvack and his NP, Nicole, to review my meds and progress.

So Much Love,

Amie, Tim, Butch, Squeak & Remi

*Enjoy a few photos from around the house. Apparently I like the saying, “Life is Good” as you can see from our wall art and my tee shirt!

Categories
Life

Out Staples. Out, I say.

Swedish Us

Hey all—

We had one of our follow-up appointments this past Monday.

The exciting side of the visit was having the staples removed from Amie’s head. I was expecting her to have a raised ridge line from the healing, but it was perfectly flat. 28 staples removed and a baby-soft fuzzy strip of hair where the incision site sits from only 2 weeks ago.

The 28 staples out of Amie’s head.
removal
Staples being removed, one by one.

We were able to catch up with Litvack and his team, Mohab and Nicole. We received updates on the medication Amie is taking and the expectation as to when she’ll stop taking some of them or transition to an oral alternative.

From what we uncovered, the medical team did discuss Amie’s particular case during the morning’s Tumor Board meeting. We figured they glanced over it last week as it was known to be benign and not as emergent as compared to other patients’ during that review.

From looking at her scans, Litvack has asked to send along two sections of the tumor for genetic testing. By doing this, they hope to find information that might help with looking not only at Amie’s particular case in more detail, but let us know if she’ll be susceptible to another case in the future. Let’s hope not.

During the Tumor Board meeting, Dr. John Hensen, Neuro-oncologist, was interested in Amie’s case. So, Litvack introduced us to Hensen and he met with us for 40 minutes to hear more about Amie’s history with her leukemia as a kid and the symptoms we had noticed over the last year that might have been directly related to the meningioma.

All-in-all, we had a very productive appointment and I earned a few beers from Elysian while we enjoyed a much needed lunch out of the house.

Much love,

Tim, Amie, Butch, Squeak, & Remi

Categories
Life

Here’s to 2020!

Amie’s tumor is BENIGN! What a great way to start off the new year!

Oh, and Happy New Years to all!

Recovery updates:

Amie’s been doing her best to rest while visiting with friends and family over the last week. We’ve been enjoying everyone’s support through the endless amounts of food, treats, and love. Lots of movies, walks with Remi daily, and naps when needed.

The battle of Tylenol verses Oxy rages on! They’re duking it out, blow by blow. Round for round, Tylenol is ahead and will be triumphant!

Much love!

Tim, Amie, Remi, Butch, & Squeak!

Categories
Life

Road to Recovery

amie_id

Amie returned home late on Thursday. Prescriptions in hand and 28 staples in the top of her noggin. What a week, right?!

With her first day back, we didn’t do much: a couple Hallmark movies, ordered pizza, and our annual viewing of Die Hard… because we sort of missed Christmas, and it’s not Christmas without a little John McClane action.

For those of you who wish to support us, Amie is a huge fan of soups, stews, and chilis or any funny MEMEs. She is very limited to screen time, but does enjoy a good chuckle.

God is definitely watching over us all!

Much love!

Tim & Amie

Categories
Life

Let’s Do This

christmas_dinner
Christmas Dinner

Merry Christmas, everyone!

As you most likely saw on social media today, Amie is doing well. Her procedure ended last night and she was admitted to the ICU around 9PM Christmas Eve.

I arrived at the hospital just before 9AM this morning and stayed with her for awhile. We had some good laughs, caught up on the latest happenings around our house with our fur babies, and tied up some conversations that might have been lost pre-surgery.

Amie’s doctor came in just after 12PM to catch up and give us a more thorough report of her condition—that being stable. He did show us the BEFORE (left) and AFTER (right) of Amie’s CT for her brain.

The red highlight shows the tumor mass.

We asked about the pathology report for the tumor. Dr. Litvack, M.D. said that no one was staffed the night of the surgery, but they expect to have a report sooner than later. Their tumor board meetings occur on Mondays, but he was confident that the one in Amie was benign.

Amie was transferred out of the ICU earlier this evening. Based on her progress, Dr. Litvack, M.D. did say that she could be back home as early as this coming Friday. (Fingers crossed) She does have to focus heavily on OT and PT to make sure she can accomplish the most basic of tasks at home though.

As of now, Amie has a long road to recovery. We were informed that she will continue to have multiple MRIs scheduled over 2020, and we will be working closely with Dr. Litvack for years to come.

To end, I want to take this moment to thank Amie’s father, Bill, for calling her out for some of the motions she was having difficulty with on Sunday and he told her CALL YOUR DOCTOR. So, thank you, Bill, for going there and having your paternal instinct kick in!

Thanks, everyone.

Tim

Categories
Life

Merry Christmas to All, & to All a Good Night!

Earlier this evening, at 6:41PM, I received the call from the Head Nurse in the OR. Amie’s doctor was just finishing up closing the incision.

Within the last 10 minutes, Dr. Litvack, M.D. called me personally and gave me an update on everything.

Amie was a champ, as we all know! Dr. Litvack, M.D. was able to get the ENTIRE tumor removed. Hooray! He mentioned it was somewhat “stuck” which resulted in him taking extra care. As a result, he predicts that her post-op PT will be more focused around her left leg rather than her arm.

Amie is currently coming off of her anesthesia slowly and will be transferred to the ICU tonight.

The only concern he mentioned was that she had a moderate amount of blood loss (600-700mL), but there was no need for a transfusion.

I will be visiting her Christmas morning and hope to be by her side for a good part of the day.

Much love to all and thank you for all of the support, prayers, and words of encouragement over the last few days.

Merry Christmas, one and all!

Tim

Categories
Life

Mud you, Hippie!

Frost Donuts
The Thank You: 2-Dozen Frost Donuts
Names could be updated later once I can confirm spelling, etc. of those who have been part of Amie’s stay at Swedish.

Hello all…

Amie is now in surgery and I will post again tonight once I get a call from Swedish.

The staff of Swedish—Cherry Hill has been nothing short of amazing. Caring for her bedside since she arrived at 2:30AM on Monday morning.

As we all know Amie, she’s made dozens of friends during her stay. All starting with Seneca, the front desk coordinator, at Swedish Emergency—Mill Creek and the EMT Transporters, Sonos, Angel, and Jeff, who rode with her in the ambulance down to Cherry Hill. Sonos even giving her a hug after they dropped her off and said she’s a badass.

Jemmie, Johannas, and May have been Amie’s nursing staff for the last couple days. I have witnessed that they’ve heard nonstop stories and chatter from her since she arrived. Surprised?!

Amie and Debbie enjoying a moment together.

Amie’s mom, Debbie, her sister, Robin, and I visited this morning before Amie’s surgery. We were joking as she was wheeled off to the OR that the Anesthesiologist is going to be the brief hero for the medical team when Amie’s actually quiet for 6 hours straight.

As a thank you to the staff and those who have cared for her, I picked up 2-dozen Frost donuts this morning to deliver. Thank you to anyone in the medical field with your professionalism and care, and humor at times, you provide to those who are in need.

Stay tuned for another post tonight!

Tim

Categories
Life

Cancer Sucks

amie-remi
Amie & Remi at home.

Hello Family & Friends—

Sorry that some of this news might be reaching you late, but Amie was diagnosed with a brain tumor last night after a CT in the ER. Over the last few months she noticed left sided weaknesses and an increase in headaches and trouble with balance while walking up and down stairs. Her PCP said it’s time to check it out. 

Upon initial assessment at Swedish Cherry Hill campus, the best option is to resect her tumor that is the size of a satsuma orange. The neurosurgeons believe that this is a meningioma tumor located within her skull, but not her brain. 

Her resection will take place tomorrow, Christmas Eve, and her first stop is recovery in the ICU.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers!

With much love!
Tim, Amie, Butch, Squeak, & Remi