Heeelllooooo!

Howdy Everyone!

How's that 'Hopey -Changey' thing working out for all of 'ya...

Its been quite awhile since I've been here to 'blog' (stupid word). I don't like the word 'twitter' either...sounds really teenage -boppish so please don't take me there and do NOT expect me to ever engage in such activity! Right after surgery I was encouraged ( invited) to join Facebook-and I think had I not been on drugs I would not have partook(is that a word?), but it seemed 'fun' at the time. The next thing I knew, I had people all over the place asking me to take surveys, write on their walls, etc. :) It's all innocent and such, so I'm not really thinking its all that bad, but you could waste too much time on that site. I would rather just email someone directly or speak w/ them on phone. BUT, it has allowed me to catch up with some people I hadn't had a chance to speak with in a long time.

Its been an eventful/uneventful summer. Mainly pretty reflective.... Spent most of my days puttering around and working on regaining strength and working on the house. Jimmy and I went to Eureka Springs and I got to try out my 'driving -longer -distances' part of my brain, and the ever loving, 'driving -on -mountain -roads -with- switchback' part of my brain, both of which worked fine! (BIG YEA!) It was soooooo nice to escape from Memphis and get out in nature. Need to do it more often. We are thinking of going to Sedona in the fall, and maybe Wyoming at Christmas. I hope so. I just hope my 'flying- in- plane ' part of my brain is up to it!

Apparently that's why they made seats 1A , xanax and Amaretto Di Sarona for....;)

Nick went to Florida to visit with dad for a couple of months, and is back now and ready to get back to college. He will be moving out here soon. I'm so old....and this subject is what caused at least half of my reflectivity this summer. Nick and the following:

A very dear friend of ours passed away on August 7th- Gary Floyd. He and his guys have meant so much to not only the entire Felsenthal clan, but on a different level, so much to me. He has made our house a home and brought me into a circle of friends at Heartsong Church who have been here for us over the past couple of years in ways that I wish everyone could have a chance to witness and encounter. Gary did that for us....

Gary had a aneurysm burst while he was by himself at home about a week after my surgery. It was a miracle he survived alone, but that he made it through surgery was just another...His wife Ann has been by his side for 3.5 months. He was making progress after 3-4 weeks at Baptist Hospital here in Memphis, enough so that he could be taken to The Shepard Center in Atlanta for rehab http://www.shepherd.org/. He was doing well, had a couple infections, got over them, had a shunt put in, was doing better, and then for some reason started struggling w/ pressure issues and then pneumonia. He passed away and into Heaven at 11:45PM August 7th. Our hearts have been heavy, as we miss him and hurt for his wife Ann...but we also are thankful he is where he is now and no longer in pain and not knowing the boundaries of the human body. God Bless you Gary-We Love You.

Healing is continuing for me and my noggin. I was able to get my hair colored to its original color in July finally ( I'm one of those people who has been naturally blessed with golden blonde hair-ha ha), and so it was nice to come out of Juv'e ( the place where I go...highly recommend) and still have my scalp intact and not bleeding from all the chemicals (hmmmm, same chemicals I've been putting on my scalp for how many years....) When ALL of my hair follicles start growing out gray then I will stop doing this insanity.

I still get tired late in the day and sometimes feel like I need to shut my eyes,but for the most part I feel a whole lot better than I did before surgery! The steroids and lack of movement prior to and after surgery did cause me to put about 10 pounds on, so I am in the midst of working on getting that taken care of. Recently started mountain biking again. I love riding, but had to put that aside for many months prior to surgery because of dizziness and sight issues, but have started up again and just love it! I also love Wii- Pretty good at the hula hoops....

Well, I have to go run some errands. Hope to hear from you all sooner than later.

Remember folks, wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.

Love To All!

Here are Nick and Deirdre waiting for me in lobby during surgery

This is my incision line and staples:







Here I am pre-op w/ parayer blanket made by Barbara Watts , and given to me by her and my small group at church- The nurses let me take it in with me.



Here is the inbound and outbound flight arrival times for the patients in surgery:

Here is what Wendy looks like 2 days after operation at home in bed:

The evidence of needing a neck lift has never been higher.....uughh

Hi Everyone!

This is apparently what I looked like in recovery, right after surgery.

I found out a while later that the OR nurses, who were so kind and were giving me hugs and praying for me, braided my hair out of the way instead of shaving a space to make the incision so that the doc would have a path to follow and I wouldn't have to be partially 'bald' there for a while. How nice, huh?


I had to wait several hours in recovery before they could take me to NICU as there weren't any empty beds available for me there...not like I knew the difference though!

The first evening was okay except that I was nauseated and I refused to take phenegren or Reglan, so I just got sick a couple of times. I finally kept a popsicle down around 4AM, and then it was smooth sailing. I was more worried about any reaction I may have to all the meds they give to you, but haven't had any! I feel pretty good considering.

The first night in NICU they ask you questions every 30 minutes to look for neuro-deficits, etc. They of course are also checking every bodily function known to man kind as well..What cracked me up the most though was ( and if you are a liberal and reading this, I am sorry, but I just had brain surgery and I don't care if it ticks you off ), was that they ask you the same questions over and over, Full name, What year is it?, Where are you? WHO IS THE PRESIDENT?-Ughhh. I think thats what made me nauseated the most while I was in NICU:)) Are they trying to illicit a response from me???And then I'm thinking....these people are taking care of me...be nice Wendy , and try to say just OBAMA, and not Hussein Obama...


Okay , enough of that. He is one of God's children too....Remember that folks.

Anywho.... The second morning they moved me to room out of NICU that I had to share...yes, share, with someone else. I didn't even know they did that anymore! I haven't seen a room like that since probably the 80's, and I've seen alot of hospital rooms.

I had a neuro exam done the second day after surgery and the doctor said I did the best of anyone she had given the test to...:) They had me dong these frickin' mazes that you couldn't pass over paths you already went on and you had to go to a certain list of places on map, etc and start here and end here. I would have had to think about it for a bit on a good day. I somehow did pretty well on it only missing one. I felt like an idiot, but she said she was impressed. At least someone was!

By that evening, Deirdre , who spent the night w/ me , made them move us to a room w/ nobody else in it. The lady we were with was very restless, moaning, and her phone was ringing, and they kept having to do alot for her. I hadn't slept in two days and was ready to ask Deirdre to just wheel me out into the hallway so I could sleep!

I did sleep better in our new digs. I mean, 2 to 3 hours is better than none!

They released me at a round 1 PM or so that day and we all drove back to Memphis, arriving home around 4-5PM.

I slept pretty good last night in my own bed. Garby cuddled up next to me. Thank GOD we have a temporpedic ( I know that is not spelled correctly...as are probably a full third of the words here....you'll live) hospital adjustable bed! I couldn't imagine having to lay flat or try to get elevated.

I have few things I can't do. You know, fun things like cleaning, cooking( I actually like that) and lifting, so I have help for that. I would really enjoy getting my hair washed as its pretty gnarly right now with all the 5 lbs of antibacterial vaseline crap they put on it. My head feels like the underside of a crank shaft! I do get to wash my hair tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that....maybe not so much the drying though.

Dr. Thompson told me right after surgery and a few other times, that the tumor came out so easily, it wasn't even funny. He said it virtually slid out. This was a meningioma,a type of tumor that grows out of the meneges,the skin lining of your brain. Regardless of what type of tumor anyone has growing in the brain ,just the fact that it is in your brain is going to cause pressure on brain parts, ventricles and nerves, regardless of whether it is growing from the actual brain cells ( like Nick's was-astrocytoma) or like mine , growing from the cells lining the brain pushing in on the brain...its going to cause issues eventually.

Thompson said he was able to get 100 % of it. A pathology report during surgery showed it to be benign, and he is not recommending any radiation or chemo and just to have a MRI in a year every year for awhile! I was worried because it(was) a fast growing meningioma. Typically meningiomas are a type of tumor that grow 1 to 2 mm a year. They watch them via MRI's to monitor their growth, especially if there aren't too many or no issues. I had a MRI in Jan of 2007 whereby there was nothing, and I had one done in February of 2009 and it was over 3 cm, so they considered this to be fast growing and I was told there were the type that are more likely to be malignant. I was worried about having any treatments, and quite honestly would have probably opted away from any. All I can do is THANK GOD for answered prayers and for actually making this a good thing for me...(more on that later).

I'll post later. I'm going to go get some water, watch the Navy kick butt in East Africa and maybe watch something funny on TV, like MSNBC(:) Hell no....

Can you host a tea party after April 15th???? is that 'wrong' or socially unacceptable nowadays?

Love EVERYBODY!!!

Love,

Wendy

We're Off To See The Wizard....

After Whitmor's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony today in Southaven( I'll post pictures later), Deirdre and I are on our way to Nashville, whilst Jimmy and Nick follow behind us an hour or so later.

I need to be there early enough to get a chest X-Ray done at the hospital and maybe have some time afterwards to RELAX...They were supposed to have done this last week when I was there for all my pre-op lab work, and I DID ask before we left if there was anything else we needed to have done while we were here, and of course they said 'No'....( If everything was to go smoothly I would think the Earth was spinning backwards....so that is par for the course.)

My crainiotomy is supposed to start at 7:30 AM tomorrow morning (Thursday), and should last around 5 or so hours. It is being performed by the 'wizard' you see above in the picture. His name is Dr. Reid Thompson, and he is the same surgeon who did Nick's brain tumor removal last year. He specializes in brain surgery only; everything from the skull base upwards only....no spinal cord, or peripherals....just the noggin's contents. He performs over 250 brain surgeries a year, which is why we chose him. He's got a little experience! You should check out his CV!http://www.vanderbiltbraintumorcenter.com/

I am so thankful for everyone's support and prayers for me and my family through this adventure. The definition of what friends are has been expanded greatly, and God has given me some of the best support around. I especially want to thank ( I'm doing this now because I may be slobbering and a little dull upstairs for awhile...actually 'dull' would be nice...I hope I AM dull upstairs for awhile...that beats vertigo and panic attacks any day!) my friend Deirdre Holmes Ungren for taking vacation time from work to come with us and help out in Nashville. I didn't even have to ask...she's on top of it, and makes sure it is done. :) She doesn't know how much of a help this is to us...

My cousin Rhonda who came in from Fort Smith , AR and is staying at the house while we are gone and when we get back for a while...As soon as she found out what was going on she jumped in and volunteered to come and help. Another true angel!

Mary Stone, Pat Frazer, Genny Kilpatrick , Brenda Ross and Terry Hobbs: These guys make up my small group at church(Heartsong), and have been there for me through this whole thing and beforehand with prayers and shoulders to cry on and support like you wouldn't believe!

Barbara and Jim Watt- These guys and their prayer intercessory team have brought me a new sense of peace and I am so thankful that they exist. Barbara and Jim are like an extra set of grandparents and are always a phone call away w/ prayers and support. I love you guys!

Thanks to all my friends and family who have been here for me, Jimmy and Nick.

I am sure the next few weeks or so are going to be 'fun', but I pray that we get this thing out, behind us, and that I can start living again w/o the visual issues, dizziness and anxiety. I am really looking forward to a vacation somewhere like Hawaii ( hint-hint Jimmy), or my favorite place on earth so far...Montana.

I've noticed while looking for info online about everything brain tumor related, that alot of people name their tumors...Yes, name them, like 'Ted' or names of characters in movies that were mean , etc. If anyone can come up w/ a catchy name for my meningioma that I like, I'll use it from now on...Send your ideas to my email at wendyfels@reagan.com ( changed  since then ) 

Well, I'll see how I feel in the next few days or weeks and see about getting on the computer and trying to post some stuff. I hope I remember how to! Geeezzzz...I'm only 41 :)

Love Ya' All!

Wendy

Brenda Caught Me Exercising The Other Day...(Thanks Brenda!:)

The Funny Video of The Day- Thanks Rhonda!

----- Garfield Immortalized -----

I have been watching this artist out of New York for awhile now, and finally was able to get hold of one of his 'Cat Heads'....that's what I call them anyway. Looks like the Garbinsky, huh?

I'm growing an egg behind my eye, just in time for Easter...yay!

I was really looking forward to getting a facelift this year, but instead I have to get this taken care of. Seriously folks, my face is dragging...

Well...we're off to Nashville on Monday to see Dr. Reid Thompson about this lovely lil' thing growing behind my right eye. It looks like a meningioma, which is the kind of tumor my dad has(d). His was on his parietal lobe & he had it Gamma Knifed in 2005.

For those who need a primer/ refresher in brain parts see the following link

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Brainlobes.svg

My son, as those who know my family may know, had a brain tumor removed last January from his frontal lobe at Vanderbilt by the same doc I'm going to see ( hence me going to see him). His tumor was a grade II astrocytoma. It was completely resected and he has had no re-growth...Thank God!

So much for the good health sentiments below, huh?

No, really...everything occurs for a reason. I already know that. Its not up to me to know why, but I always see why in the end:)

I have met so many other people that have brain tumors, or who have HAD them. Its just amazing to me that these are as prevalent as they are!

I imagine that if everyone had a baseline MRI around maybe 2o yrs old, doctors would be able to catch so many more BEFORE they grow and do any damage, but I also believe that the incidence of brain tumors being reported would skyrocket. There is a group out of NY that is trying to get MRI's available to anyone at a very low cost called The Brain Tumor Foundation. Check out and watch their video http://www.braintumorfoundation.org/roadtodetect.php .

I'll check in later next week w/ more....

* Side note: I asked a neurosurgeon here in Memphis a couple weeks ago about the possibility of getting a lift done at the same time, I mean...you're already there, right???? I had a hysterectomy a few years ago and was able to get a tummy-tuck because they were in the 'neighborhood'....He looked at me kinda' weird. ( I wasn't serious, but he thought I was and just because of that it was worth asking...:)

Jimmy and Wendy in Hot Springs 12/21/08

Garby Enjoying the Superbowl...Sound Asleep.

Happy New Year Ya'll ! ( hehehe-I can say it like that 'cause I'm in Memphis)

God Please....Puuhhleeaasse let these next 365 days be a outpouring or growth spurt because of what the last 365 days has molded us into. I hate to say or ask for a 'better year than last'...that sounds so typical, and of course , isn't that what everyone would hope for?

I just want this year to be less to do with health issues and death and more to do with hope and living life.

As I was going through some old recipes to organize into a book, I found on the back of one sheet of paper some notes I had taken while watching Charles Stanley several years ago. I think they are always timely and are much needed reminders for everyone, so I put them into Word for safe keeping and thought I'd put them up here as a nice little reminder for folks(and myself) to look at and to be a comfort.

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

To get our attention

So we can develop righteousness and maturity into our lives

To prune our life ( John 15: 1-2)

Teaches us obedience ( Hebrews 12: 5-6)

To make you trust Him

Brings us into constant dependence on His grace and goodness

To manifest Christ's life and character in us

So we can share the holiness of Jesus

Enables us to share in the suffering's of Christ ( Phil 3: 8-10)

To prevent pride in our lives