BCCTWB

April 24th, which was a little over a week ago, was a real zinger in this brain. It was the 1st “anniversary” of when we found out I had an “unidentified bright object” hanging out in my left temporal lobe. The shorthand for this is a UBO, which I still chuckle about because of what I perceive to be similarities to a UFO – both are unidentified, both are bright, both require specific tools and science for increased visibility, and, lastly, both things have a mysterious to be determined factor on the lives of those with or around them.

While we knew about the blob in April, it wasn’t until May that we had more specific details about what was going on. May, the brain cancer awareness month, is when I had my first brain-focused scan to figure out what we were working with. In fact, it was one year ago today – May 3, 2023.

May, the brain cancer awareness month, is when I met with my neurosurgeon, oncologist, neuropsychologist and neurologist at Columbia. (Say that three times fast.) Early stages of diagnosing my tumor included a whole host of different appointments with different brain specialists. A really interesting at home 48 hour EEG scan left Ryan alone with the girls for two days while I bunked with my sister – that was special.

Ultimately, my biggest emotion about May, the brain cancer awareness month, is that the Universe decided it was time to introduce himself with a forceful handshake. And chose a pretty fucked up way to do it. BUT, I will say, we’ve become so well-acquainted over the past year that I’m okay with it. It’s as if the Universe knew I needed these types of connections to carry on dealing with this disease.

It’s all weird. And I continue to find that no matter how much normalcy I intend to maintain, this is and will continue to be, my life. This Universe (I really need to name him. And yes, it’s a him because he’s pushy and wild and weird and *occasionally* annoying.) has made ignoring things and rolling with the punches super challenging. I mean, just this week, 364 days after my first appointment with this guy, my phone rang and my caller ID showed…

I had a moment of – “oh shit do I feel like answering this?”; “did Dr. Stone call him about something?!”; “this has to just be the Columbia office, why would he be calling?!”

Well. It was in fact Guy, AKA Dr. McKhann, and he was calling to check in. Out of the blue. He’d been clearing his desk and saw something that made him think of me so he wanted to say hi. One day shy of our meet-iversary, he randomly thought to call me and talk through how things have been medically and personally over the last year. He asked how my family has been, if we’d done anything fun with the kids, and, because clearly I’m SO good at leaving tattoo-style permanent impressions on folks – he wanted to see how my tattoo process was going. When I threw a number out there he laughed and said something to the effect of “well, I guess you just don’t mess around.”

Maybe I’ll name my Universe That Guy… clearly Guy is my brain guy and That Guy is the reason Guy called a day shy of our anniversary.

In conclusion, because May is brain cancer awareness month, and the color that supports brain cancer is gray, That Guy is insisting that we acknowledge it all through a funny rhyming connection – in May we wear GRAY. Feel free to throw on a comfy tee, sweats, a pair of socks, whatever works for you, but if you’re rockin’ the gray you’re sending me some good juju.

AND. In real conclusion – in an effort to help the smart people kick brain cancer’s ass I’m participating in a walk to fight brain cancer next weekend. It’s come up in prior posts but given that we’re a week away I felt it was appropriate to highlight it again. If you want to learn more and/or donate – Charity Walk Details.

And for my PS obsession – this post’s accessory is a photo of what might be the most OMFG event I’ve been through in a beat. Yanking some weeds in the front yard and stumbled upon this lucky little lady. 🍀🍀🍀🍀