One down....2 to go right?

Well Bill's first eye surgery couldn't have went better! The procedure took about an hour. Unfortunately Bill had to be awake for it. They used local anesthesia around the eye but because the surgery was so close to the eyeball any slight movement could be pretty bad. Bill was in a little pain during the operation but 3 tylenol was all he needed post operation. He has been up and about like he never had a surgery and has been in no pain (must have been all the Miami Vice's in Vegas :). He goes back for a check up in 2 weeks and that's when we'll find out when the next surgery of straightening the eye will be. Pics are on their way!

Oh no you didn't!

Bill went to the VA to link up with one of the brain surgeons on Monday to go over his latest MRI....drum roll please.....
Everything looks great! no tumor growth and the shunt is doing its thing. He will now get an MRI every year or so. Good news is amazing! We will be going to Vegas next week to celebrate my birthday and apparently to celebrate for Bill! Happy birthday to me...and Obama...today is his birthday :) peace and blessins', peace and blessins!

Feeling Very Thankful

Kind of a slow day at work so I thought I would post a little something that I've been wanting to share.

The past year our family and sometimes friends and extended family have been attending a brain tumor support group which I have shared in previous blogs. The last few we have attended have been very powerful and have truly reinforced how thankful I am that my dad is getting stronger and stronger each day and still has his awesome personality :) There has been multiple people in the last few meetings that have brought up the fact that they are scared of dying and even some that have already lost children, or loved ones to brain cancer.

Sometimes I'm kind of down or don't feel like going to the support group each month but each time I come out of there, it's like I'm filled with a totally positive vibe. Even though what everyone in the group is going through is super depressing, it is a place for them to just say what they want and relate to each other, and by the time the hour and a half is up the energy in the room is totally different. It is a pretty surreal experience. We are so thankful we have found this support group and I am reminded each month how fortunate and lucky we are that Bill is alive and well.

Here are a few other blogs of folks that are part of the support group if you are interested in following their journey's:

http://www.markmillermusic.org/blog/
http://thelizarmy.blogspot.com/

Next Step

The past month has been quite enjoyable. Bill is getting around on his own a lot more and starting to do day to day activities without the reminder and assistance from the fam...I think i even saw him do a dish or 2 the other night :) Now that the summer weather has finally arrived, Tere has been taking him to the pool for some fun and exercise. We do run out of fun activities to do with Bill so if anyone has suggestions please let us know.

On Monday, Bill had his first appointment with the eye surgeon to see what can (if anything) be done to open and correct his right eye. My mom had an interview so Traci and I took him to the VA in SF to talk with one of the eye surgeons...very interesting stuff.. I will try and break it down for y'all as best i can.

THE PROBLEM WITH BILL'S EYELID:
While extracting the tumor during the first surgery, the "third nerve" was badly damaged because the tumor was pretty much engulfing it. Damage to the third nerve enables you to be able to open your eyelid. You can still close it but not open it.

THE PROBLEM WITH BILL'S BOTTOM EYELID:
Because Bill's eye has been shut for 16 months...that's right I said 16 months, his bottom eyelid has curled in which in the long run can cause eye infections and scratching on the cornea. Not chill.

THE PROBLEM WITH BILL'S EYEBALL:
Also while extracting the tumor, other nerves and eye muscles were damaged. When we manually open Bills eye it can only go to the right and back to the center and not all the way to the left.

STEPS:
Step 1: Bill is scheduled for the bottom eyelid surgery (there are fancy names for all this but i don't remember them) August 16th. The surgeon said this operation only takes 30-45 minutes and will be very uncomfortable for about 2-3 days.

Step 2: The next surgery would be to straighten the eyeball so once the eyelid is open there will be no blurry vision.

Step 3: Upper eyelid surgery would be the final step.

No big deal right? Until then Bill, Tere, Adam, Traci and I are going to Vegas for my birthday / Bill and Tere's anniversary / summertime fun! In the meantime we all have something to look forward to! Until next time...

Before and After

Here is a little video comparison of Bill before the shunt and after. A little brain fluid goes a long way.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

Looking Up!

Today Bill had his first check up with the neurosurgeon (Dr. Larson) since the shunt was put in on February 16th. Everything is looking good. Bill is getting stronger each day and no longer shuffles! He has been going to the pool to do water therapy to build his muscles back up whenever the weather is nice....California weather has not been so hot lately. Here is a pic from last week when Bill was in the pool


A month after the shunt was put in Bill went to Florida for a few weeks with my mom and the Smiths for a little vacay...first in over a year and much needed! Bill was able to keep up the whole time and even stayed up past midnight a few nights :) We definitely think that walking around and being out and about helped him get stronger. Glad that they were able to have a great time and enjoy themselves. They were even able to celebrate Maranda and the Gators win the SEC womens gymnastics championship!


As of right now, we are waiting on an appointment with the eye doctor to schedule a time for his eye surgery. Dr. Larson reccommended to have it done. He didn't go into detail what it entails but they will have to have one to open the lid and another to straighten the eye. It's not some crazy operation that will be aired on Discovery Health or anything...kinda think his first one should have been though...

Kind of a random side story that we discovered the other night while eating dinner. Bill had blown his nose and noticed something hard and white had come out of his nose.(pretty much lost my appetite at this point...Tere had made a really good dinner too). At first he thought it just was a super hard booger but then we looked at it closer and it looked like some plastic part of something. We decided to keep it to ask Dr. Larson about it...and it turns out it was bracket thingy they used for his second surgery that your body is supposed to absorb after a few weeks of the surgery but apparently this time it didn't. Dr. Larson said that as long as a wrench doesn't come fling out next time then we're all good.

All and all it was a great check up appointment and at this point the shunt is doing its job. Sometimes proteins or other fluids in the body can block the shunt and cause problems with the drainage amount but as of right now things are looking swell. Dr. Larson was surprised on how good Bill looked and how much of an improvement he has made post-shunt.

Sorry for the delay on the postings but someones gotta bring home the bacon :) We are all doing great and are soooo glad the hard part is long gone! I will post some good video footage this week to make up for it.

AHA!

Well it's crazy to think that we are coming up on a year since Bill's first surgery. I guess time flys by when you're not having fun too. We got the results of Bill's MRI a few weeks ago and it showed that he had a lot of fluid build up in the brain, which was causing his shuffling, confusion in directions, and lack of short term memory to name a few. The surgeon suggested that we have a shunt put in to help circulate the fluid out of his brain. This will help him walk normal and start to get a better grasp on time and memory. So we are going to go ahead and have the surgery done! It is scheduled for Feb 16th and is only supposed to take an hour....which mean 6 hours Bill time :) (hopefully not though) Here is a pick of Bills MRI. The bright white area is the fluid build up. As far as tumor goes, it has stayed the same size since his last MRI that was taken in April.


Along with his regular physical therapy activities, Bill has been taking some swimming classes about 3 days a week to strengthen his muscles. Here is a pic of him and I doing some exercises.


Although we are dealing with this set back, each day we see a little improvement in Bill and are looking forward for this next surgery to be done.