I had a severe bout with vertigo in May and even to this day, I am still not 100%, but certainly am a lot better than I was in May. It took a good 2 months just trying to get over the BPPV (which was what I was diagnosed with). BPPV is a condition of the inner ear where the crystals are which keep us balanced and stable. I had to have some head repositioning treatments by a physio (Epley maneuver) where they reposition your head to make the crystals fall back into the inner ear canals where they should be. It took a couple of those procedures to stop my vertigo but then I was left with residual dizziness and was not able to do much of anything but sit around and now I am still left with cervical spine/neck and eye issues which I'm still trying to get through 5 months later. I certainly am way better than I was and am able to get back to my normal life, but in the meantime I am getting massages, acupuncture, physio to see if I can get the remaining issues dealt with. Not liking this thing call "aging"!!
Brian had been feeling very well (and taking care of me for a change when I had vertigo!), but with ongoing follow-up for his multiple myeloma and ongoing tests with MRI, skeletal surveys, and bone marrow biopsies, it was determined that his MM is back and now he has to go back on chemo maintenance treatment for the rest of his life. We had a summer family vacation booked in Florida, so the doctor said treatment would start in August after we came back so that we could enjoy that holiday without worry of taking the maintenance drugs. It was so very disappointing to get this news as Brian was feeling so well. He now has completed one month of his therapy (Revlimid and dexamethasone), taking the meds 3 weeks on and 1 week off. He didn't have too many side effects other than some insomnia, fatigue and nausea. Nevertheless, these symptoms are debilitating enough especially when he was feeling so well before taking them. He is now on his one week off and is feeling well again until the cycle repeats itself this Thursday. We are hoping that it just will take his body some time to get used to these medications and hopefully those side effects won't be so debilitating. Otherwise, though, Brian is doing well and we are able to enjoy our daily life and we hope to maybe go away over the winter on his "off" weeks, but we shall see how he gets along with it all.
We had a good summer taking the grandkids for a 3 day trip to Blue Mountain and had a fabulous time with them. We were able to get their early summer deal where you get a wristband for their attractions and can go on them as many times as you want. Since I couldn't do the mountain ridge rider due to my head issues, Brian had to take turns taking the girls on the ridge rider and they must have done it at least 14 times each! My head ached just watching them come down the mountain as fast as they could. Here are a couple of pictures:
A week after that, we headed for Florida for a week's stay there. We rented a 4 bedroom house in a resort style area and the kids had a fabulous time in the pools there and we also had a small pool at the house, so they were in the water 80% of the time and a good thing too considering how hot it was. Breanne and I, Annika and Selena, and Mavie and Timmie drove down, taking 3 days to get there and it was actually quite an enjoyable ride down. The girls were really good in the car with their books and I-pads and other toys and other than Selena asking every 15 minutes how much longer we had to get to the next hotel, it was a good ride down. We changed things up on the way home though, Breanne needed to get home as she had a busy work week, so Brian canceled his flight home so that Breanne could fly home with James and Selena. Annika drove home with us with the two dogs and we hardly knew any of them were in the car, they were so good on the way home. Annika and Brian would go swimming at the hotels we stayed at on the way home so she had something to look forward to once we stopped.
So that is my catch-up for now. We are doing well, the kids are all back to school now - Levi starts FT kindergarten next week, and everyone is happy and healthy!
Here are some pictures we took over the last few months. Hopefully I won't take as long to write again!
In February, Brian and I spent a month in Hilton Head:
We ran into an old friend, Sandy Wagter, while there and we had a great time reminiscing about the old days! Sandy's husband (Fred) was one of Brian's ushers at our wedding and the baker of our "famous" wedding cake that got washed out in a car wash hours before the wedding for which Fred raided a local bakery in Woodstock to make a new cake with little time to spare! Sadly Fred is no longer with us but we have some great memories! It was so good to see Sandy though!
These are a few pictures from Annika's dance competitions!
Watching the Royal Wedding!
I finally got to see my Teen Idols - The Monkees!! Great show they put on too!
Well that is about it for now. I actually didn't have pictures of our Florida trip on my computer, so wasn't able to post them.
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