After an extended period of struggles, my grandfather left this life and returned to the loving arms of his savior and his wife. He was a giant of a man, both physically (6'3" strong as an ox) and spiritually. Although I will miss him, I'm truly happy for him that he is finally at peace and with the love of his life.

MRI 4-14-12

So, Katrina had an MRI yesterday. It was all clear, we're still in remission. We'll be switching to three MRI's a year instead of four for now. She's also going to start taking some new meds to see if we can keep here energy level more consistent through out the day.

We also had Dentist appointments today. I have a tooth that is dissolving it's root just like baby teeth do so they'll fall out to make way for the adult teeth. The problem is that this is an adult tooth. They are going to try to fix it as is, but it may have to come out and be replaced. The more I think about it the more I kind of wish they'd just pull it and replace it. Even if they replace with metal it will at least be the same color. The problem is that it's in the front of my mouth and it will always look like I've got something stuck in my teeth. Katrina forgot to per-medicate (she has to take antibiotics a couple of hours before going to the dentist), so we have to take her back in tomorrow. 

2 Years

Two years ago today they took my wife into another room and cut open he skull in hopes of removing a brain tumor that would have eventually blocked of her fourth ventricle and killed.  I have no doubt that without that surgery and the radiation that followed that Katrina would not still be here today.

It has been a long hard road that we have walked over the last two years and part of me hopes that this aniveresery holds some sort of significance that goes beyond the passage of time. I hope that it is the beginning of a return to normalcy.  The beginning of the end of our journey.

Perhaps that has been one of the toughest parts of this journey, the not knowing. Many of us have had the pleasure at some point in our life of taking a long road trip. The journey to wherever we are going is full of excitement and wonder.  The journey home, however, is more like a chore and when we finally pull into the driveway it is a relief to be home. This Journey that we have been on has been like the return leg of a long road trip, only we don't know where we are on that trip. We continually hope that we are pulling into the driveway, and yet we always fear that we have only just started the journey. It gives a whole new meaning to "enduring to the end" when you have no idea, what or when that end might be.

Here's hoping and praying  for two years that are far better than the last two.



So where are we? Katrina is going to attempt to return to work in a couple of week, teaching part time. We really found ourselves between a rock and a hard place between the insurance and disability.The insurance never would okay the neuro-psych  test to she how she will preform under stress so we are going into this blind. I hope and pray that she can be successful because it truly does meant so much to her.  Despite everything, despite how hard it is she is passionate about teaching and devoted to a return to it. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we begin this unkknown leg of our journey.

As for my self, I don't know if I mentioned that I went back to school to finish my teaching degree. It's hard, far harder than I would have expected. To any young kids reading, don't put it off, it only gets harder as you get older. That said, I've finished my foundations of teaching courses and will be starting my field experiences here shortly. I'll do my student teaching in September of 2013, I should be done with my coursework well before that but that will be the next available co-hort.

       

More on Tests and Insurance

So, here is some more of the story. After giving the rehab doctor the names of who I could go to, we chose another doctor. Again, the insurance company said she wasn't authorized and gave us the name of the first doctor that we were referred to. My doctor's secretary called to make an appointment. Now, the insurance company said the test wasn't authorized. I wrote an email and a letter to the insurance company asking them to authorize the test. My rehab doctor gave up. He said until it is requested by someone, we would hold off.

On another note, I am going to start teaching part time at a younger grade. I'm excited about returning to work, but it will be a lot of work as I try to learn a new curriculum.

Insurance and tests

So it's been forever since I last posted. Where are we? Well, Katrina needs to have a neuropsych test done, but the insurance is giving us the run around. Here's how it played out.

Katrina's rehab doctor refered us to a neuro-psychologist at the university. We called the insurance to clear it and they said that this doctor wasn't covered by our insurance and gave us a list of six doctors who were. We submitted those names to the rehab doctor and he picked one, then called us to let us know. Again, we called the insurance to make sure everything was set. Suddenly none of the doctors they gave us were available on our plan. That's right THEY gave us a list of six doctor who were NOT on our plan. GRRrrrrRRRr. So I went on their site an I looked up the neuro-psychologists that are on our plan and we gave that list to the Rehab doctor. We are waiting to hear back.

This whole process has taken about two months. Yuck!

So what is a neuropsych test? Essentially it's a prolonged (5hr)test similar to an IQ test that is designed to test how she performs mentally over and extended period of time under stress. We need to have this done to decide how to move forward with everything.