AWKWARD TURTLES & ACOUSTIC NEUROMAS

I know it's been some months since I've put up a new post. I actually wasn't planning on writing anything new until I had my MRI in June. But I realized I couldn't let my one year AN-nniversary pass without taking a moment to say a few words. After all that Iggy and I went through, it simply wouldn't be right. Believe it or not, I almost forgot today was my one year anniversary. And I think that's a great thing. It means that I've moved on with my life and that my surgery has not had any serious lasting effects. I am the same girl I was a year ago with only a few minor physical changes. The fat that was placed at my incision site has finally sunken in and dispersed as the doctors said it would. So I now have a faint scar and a depression about the size of a quarter behind my right ear. It's still slightly sensitive to touch and it still weirds me out a bit to know that part of my skull is missing, but it's not at all painful. The area in my hip i

For any of you who are still reading this blog and are bound and determined to see this hearing aid debacle through to its end, I wanted to let you know about the most recent turn of events. Several days ago, I received a lengthy but polite letter from Medical Mutual stating, in so many words, that they would in no way assume responsibility for the cost of the SoundBite device. I am more than welcome to submit an appeal free of charge within the next 180 days if I feel that I have a good reason to appeal. Or if I feel that the decision is just ridiculous. (It may not have said exactly that.) Which of course it is. I told myself that I would not use this entry as a rant against the injustices and evils of the insurance industry but I would like to say just one thing. If insurance companies cover prosthetics which are defined as "artificial substitutes and necessary supplies that replace all or part of a missing body organ or limb and its adjoining tissues; or replace all or par

I hope that everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and that you have an even better Christmas! In spite of the cold weather, crazed shoppers, and the excessive amounts of calories I intake, the holiday season has always been my favorite time of year. Even more so this year, when I have so much to be thankful for. I'm going to keep this entry short as I have little news and even less time to write. I mainly wanted to hop on just to follow up on the whole hearing-aid fiasco as it's turning out to be. The visit with the audiologist at the end of October went well and was incredibly helpful. At the end of all the testing and talking, I ended up with my top choices being the Phonak Cros and the SoundBite, with the SoundBite being my 1st choice. At this point, it's going to come down to cost and ease of upkeep/maintenance since I'm planning on hauling one or the other with me to Ecuador in a few short months. As of the moment, the Cleveland Clinic is working with my insura

6 months. Woo hoo! Here I am over halfway to my 1 year post-op AN-niversary. I love being able to say that. 6 months! 6 months and I feel whole again and healthy and am embracing life and cherishing the little things with more tenacity than I ever did prior to May 11th. To mark this happy occasion, I went to my home away from home, the Cleveland Clinic, to check in with my favorite doc. Since my right eye still wasn't behaving the last time I met with her over the summer, she wanted to see me back this month to make sure that I really was 100%. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't strange driving back up to the clinic after so long. After my last followup, part of me felt like I was finally closing that chapter on my life. Tumor's gone. Case closed. But being back on the road to the Cleveland Clinic felt like I was reliving those crazy moments all over again. The anxious, sweaty-palmed drive up there in the 4:00am darkness on the morning of May 11th. The week long rolle

Routines are funny things. It seems like we're always desperate to escape them. We count down the days until our vacations, find exciting new jobs, finally try that odd recipe that calls for cherimoya (cheri-what?). Perhaps finally take the plunge (quite literally) and go skydiving. And here's the funny thing. Once those moments are over and done with and we get swallowed right back up into our daily grind, those moments seem like they never happened. Like they're only genuine memories if we really take the time to convince ourselves that they are. That's exactly how I feel about my surgery now that I'm nearly four months out. Now that I'm more or less back into the swing of things, it almost seems like it never happened at all. Which is crazy when I think of all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into this ordeal. Of course I'm still dealing with the few remaining "souvenirs" of the experience (more on those in just a second) but I'm happ

I'm so thankful that my recovery process has continued to speed along without any more major obstacles. After all the ups and downs of the last two months, it's great to wake up consistently feeling great and with only tiny reminders that I ever had brain surgery. But sadly all of this smooth sailing means I have less and less to chat about and, well, what can I say? I miss you guys! This experience has not only allowed me to "meet" some great new people but it's reminded me of how much I enjoy blogging. Perhaps a new blog of my everyday rants and ramblings will be in order? In the meantime, I do have a few updates to share. I'm happy to announce that I have completed my physical therapy (I've got the t-shirt to prove it) and was sent home with only a few exercises to continue doing (though I can't say I've been faithful about keeping up with them). Overall, I rarely experience balance issues anymore and that's certainly been a huge facto