Hi Honeys I’m Home!

 Well…that was fun.

 OK, not so much but it was relatively painless. I got to stay in the fab Lunder building (beautiful AND a room of my own!), ALL the nurses were awesome+ and the teams of neurologists were cool if obscenely YOUNG or maybe, to paraphrase Dylan, it’s just that I’m much older now, I was younger than this once.  

 

Best yet, my MRI was a walk in the park. Normally, to counteract my prodigious claustrophobia, I start taking 5mg of Diazepam the day before my scan. The next morning I take another and one more just ahead of time. This time there wasn’t any lead up/prep time (aside from one half hour). The nurse and I decided that a 10mg dose was the best bet. I also didn’t have time to come up with transporting visuals or storylines to focus/meditate on. Instead I slowly counted, over and over, from 1 to 100 and then back down again. It worked! For the first time in nearly 40 years of MRI hell, when they pulled me out, I was all, “Wut, we’re done – it’s over?” 

 

I’ve just sent a message to my neurologist, the awesome Dr. Scott Plotkin, through the patient portal (Patient Gateway) to find out where we go from here. Surgery? If so, can it wait until after I vote (early voting on October 17th!) Is having me involved in the Innovative Trial for Understanding the Impact of Targeted Therapies in NF2 (INTUITT-NF2) still on the table? The drug, Brigatinib, is still in Phase II clinical trials. 

 NOT having more major slice and dice, on me old bod this year would be totes groovy BUT if it’s got to go down, I can deal. Of course I can – it’s what I do.

I was supposed to have a physical therapy appointment today (remember, if you will, I’m still recovering from last month’s spine surgery) BUT I’m taking a pass. I’ll still get in a walk, the elliptical and a round or two of my PT ex BUT I do believe I need a day off from the medics, wonderful as they’ve all been.

Communication while in MGH this time was pretty seamless. I didn’t rely on Otter – which is the new iPhone app that’s generally pretty cool. The version I have though only gives me 40 minute sessions. Instead I just opened Notes and had the nurses and docs speak directly into my phone mic. A few of the nurses had never experienced this method of communicating with us deafies and were pretty psyched. Cool!

Ya know, here’s the bottom line – I am SO goddamned lucky to have Jen, Ten, Oni and all the cats in my life. They take such BRILL care of me.

Also too, it’s so awesomely good to be home.