Clary Love

This is the week in which we all say goodbye to the 2023 year and begin to prepare for the birth of the 2024 year.  Many will celebrate the transition by cleaning their spaces and planning New Year's Eve parties, and a few will take moments to reflect on the year leaving and make space and plan for the year to come.   I do a little of all of these things I suppose.  I am already slowly placing the holiday décor in piles to be put away till next year.  It is a bittersweet time as I love holiday decorations up in my house, which create such a cozy atmosphere.  I am also trying to be intentional about reflecting on the year passing.  Last year was a year full of mourning and grief, this year has been a year full of discovery of health concerns and the beginning of healing.  Each year I pray and claim a word for the year, and as I focus on that word, I grow in its definition.  I seek out bible verses, quotes, and stories that will help me be chal...

Recovery is not linear and I am not a fan.   Last week I was bragging on how well I was doing, how great I felt, and this week, well I am not bragging today.  I have journaled in detailed about the thirteen days after surgery for my own records.  It is emotional and raw and I am just coming to terms with the pain and emotions that I went through.  I am not sure if I can every forget those days. That are so present, it feels like the same memories of childbirth but without the beautiful ending of seeing a sweet boy in my arms at the crest of the pain.   The first eight days after surgery were the worst.  It was a pain that I would not wish on my worst enemy, if I had one. I was constantly icing my head and taking meds. Bobby and the boys loved me tirelessly, serving, supporting, and trying to help.  When that pain finally started to relieve I thought, wow, this is so much better. I thought I should be doing things, going places and I did....

This may shock and amaze some, but the recovery from deep brain surgery is a two-week period. I have been told that I should not run a marathon or anything, but I should be up and moving, using my brain as much as normal.  If you think about someone who has had hip surgery, they must get up and start walking quickly after surgery. It hurts, but that pain will turn into progress if they move. Brain surgery, if I start using my brain, the pain will also turn into synapsis firing, brain reconnecting, and recovery will be more progressive.  The most amount of pain will come from the skull/bone pain. However, if you break your arm, you are put in a cast, and you return to work within a few days, this pain will be similar.  There is no muscle to go through, simply skin, bone, and brain tissue. The brain technically does not have pain. It receives pain sensors from the other parts of the body and relies on the information but can not feel pain itself.  In recovery, I am tol...

Since November 1st has come, the days have felt shorter. 16 days, 15 days, 10 days, 7 days, ... and as I write this, it is only 5 days away. The emotions over the last few weeks have been different. I am striving to continue to hold on to peace from God and not the fear of this world.  My family strives to hold on to peace from God, but it is not easy.  However, in the midst of this, my boys are thriving. Blaine received Student of the Month for Inola Middle School, and Elijah was crowned King of the ESA Carnival after raising over five hundred dollars for the school. Both boys were brought to the School Board meeting to be honored. What beautiful humans they are and the great men they are growing into. However, I am most proud of how they love Jesus and others. I know they strive to see how to do such a simple and challenging task daily, and that is the joy that they are learning and growing.  Due to Pre-OP, I had to miss the Board Meeting and the Veterans program Elijah...

Here is a view showing the tumor from the side view. It is located in the middle-middle of my brain.  The Pineal Region. Where is sits, the nerves and vessels use that canal to then go down into the spinal column. Blocking this area can be dangerous.  Here is a closer view.   This is the view from the top of my head, looking down.  My eyeballs look the creepiest part of this entire photo. lol 

Mom and I went to the city, OKC, on Halloween day to meet with the neurosurgeon Ian Dunn.  He walks into the room, and you can feel his confidence.  It was not a prideful or boastful confidence but the confidence of a man who has worked hard to get to where he is in his profession. He was kind, had great patient-provider connections, and was honest with everything.  During the first part of the visit, he reviewed my updated MRIs and showed us a better picture of the tumor. He shared how it is potentially touching a nerve and maybe a vessel and how he will preserve the nerve and vessel and leave tissue of the tumor if needed. Dunn shared the tumor will rarely, or never, come back.  He has never seen one return in his experience.  Mom asked about cancer and his previous cases.  Dunn does fewer than five cases yearly, and I will be number four in 2023.  It is rare to need this surgery. In the twenty-four cases he has ever performed, he has only seen patho...

 Update, my MRI was postponed from 10/24/23 to 10/31/23.  The wait to speak with the doctor is still on.  The wait to find more information on the mass is still on.  The belief that God is faithful and has a plan is still evident.  Please be in prayer with me.  Anxiety has its waves, as does grief.  It storms in like a summer rain with no clouds in sight.  It shocks you and brings you back to the present.   

We were at a local and favorite diner a few days ago.  There are only a few tables in the joint, and it is a community sitting most often. There was a gentleman that came in and sat down.  I barely recognized him and asked the Owner of the diner who it was.  I realized it was a man I knew, but each time I saw him, he was typically very drunk.  He is wealthy and well-known for his endeavors, a laid-back man from what I know, and always kind to me.  However, when I asked how he was, he proceeded to tell me he had been in the hospital due to some men attacking him and leaving him for dead.  I was shocked.  I told him I was sorry to hear that and glad he was back on his feet.  I added that God must still have plans for his life since he survived such an ordeal. He joked back that he had never figured out God's purpose for him.  My youngest, Elijah, overheard the conversation and later brought it back up to me on the way to school. I asked both my...