I guess this is going to be my annual contribution from now on. Another year behind me and do I need to tell you what a year it has been, in general, not for me specifically. I am still tumor free, kind of back to normal which I don’t think I appreciate daily because normal is not what this feels like lately. So where am I?

• Hair is awesome, loving it – much much harder in texture – and see – my vanity that got me here is still alive and kicking – let’s start with hair 🙂 who does that? Well, people that lost it and now appreciate having it. Still short, keeping it that way and so easy to maintain. Dyed it a few times to just play a little too 🙂

• MRIs are still a pain, we still have a more of hate/love relationship after about 20+ of encounters – and it still gives me a gasp when I see it. Xanax is a necessary accessory – except I am not good with drugs like that. Last time I don’t remember anything that happened between the registration and getting home – and I lost my watch somewhere in between! Cheaper it is not getting, that’s for sure. My deductible is gone every year just for these lovely quarterly encounters.
• My memory is improving and I have been working on it – pretty much no impact on long or midterm memory. But short term – still sketchy. My notes taking is top notch, my password security not so much, my Xmas gift hiding and finding – absolutely pathetic. It took me 2 years to find a present for Dad that I purchased ahead and didn’t even have to hide. I bought a bunch of books on memory improvements and play a lot of games on phones on brain power – and most importantly have fun with it. It continues to be a source of many jokes in the family (oh no, mom hid it, we are screwed)
• New headaches. So my migraines stopped, the real, 2 day head in the toilet sick as a dog migraines – which was a great by-product of my tumor extraction. Earlier this year though, I started having momentary vision issues (panic attack as that was an original trigger for what?) and then followed with numbing of my leg, arm, face). Since we are now the self-appointed medical experts on anything head/brain related, our thought was – shit, stroke, really? Did I win a prize for anything brainy crazy guinea pig? So new doctor is on the horizon- I now have a neurologist which I guess would have been helpful anytime during the past 20 years. Net net, he was calm as a cucumber – don’t panic, just a different manifestation of headache, “normal” complex migraine. Neurtec is my new pill in the bag and it works like magic 🙂 Never even get to the point of headache if I take it when the vision blurs start. Remember, brain all clear 🙂

OK, that’s it for this 3rd year anniversary, folks. I keep telling myself that I am not high risk for covid since I am not on chemo and my immunity is back to normal.Tell it to all the folks around me and care – my parents, husband, friends – thank you for worrying and caring – but I am doing great – 3 years to a date – after thinking that the world is coming to a halt, for sure.