Visualize This

If last week was the week of the tumor affected hearing, this week is the week of the tumor affected vision. I saw my regular optometrist and the results say I'm not totally blind. I'm unable to see in my left visual field approximately 25% less than I was able to see prior to the second surgery. She said that she is familiar with the prism glasses, however, she recommends that I wait another 3-6 months before looking further into that solution. That means no driving for 3-6 months unless somehow, miraculously, my vision suddenly returns. I did read online that some people have had that happen. One day they just wake up and the problem has corrected itself. I figure if I just plan for this to happen, it will. Maybe I should just plan on that for tomorrow. The good news is that my regular vision hasn't changed and I have the same prescription for glasses and contacts as before. So that's something to celebrate! It's the little things, after all.

Still no word on what's happening with my immune system or any plans to move forward on potential treatments. I am going to Houston tomorrow (I can't wait to be warm), but I don't see the docs until December 20. I have a scan and an oncology appointment that day. I've been working hard to keep my glucose down and my ketones up by incorporating fasting after around 5 PM when possible. I got that tip from a guy I contacted who uses my same diet to keep his tumor from growing. I met him at the keto conference. The fasting is working extremely well. I also have been restricting calories to 1300 when I can't fast, which is what I used to do to keep my glucose low. This is an experiment to see if this method changes how my scan looks. Some of the people with glioblastoma using the diet have reported not only slow growth of what's in there (which I have also seen), but have seen shrinking areas of concern. I figure it doesn't matter if it's inflammation from treatment or viable tumor, anything inflamed needs to decrease in size and intensity. My short term goal is to get Aidan off to college and he's starting high school next August, so I've got to keep my game face on. Of course, once I meet that goal, I will establish the next short term goal, but for now I'm keeping my eye on that ball. 

On the regular life side of things, I'm almost finished with my online course. All I have left is tons of grading, answering emails from students with ridiculous questions, and posting grades. I still cannot believe that I was out for a brain surgery at midterm and they never even noticed. I can't figure out if this was due to my amazing abilities or if it was their obliviousness. Perhaps a little of both.