Brains & Bones...

Hello my fellow readers, it's Trevor aka T Man back as a contributing writer for Bloom with Brenda. I've been hearing that some of her readers are happy that I'm going to be sharing once again. As one of her faithful readers who is a great friend, shared the following comment which was appreciated so much. He so eloquently put it; "Great having T Man back in the writer's chair."  You do realize I stand? BOL Seriously, I crack myself up. No bones about it. Speaking of bones, you're probably wondering about this title, that Brenda came up with? It actually has a two-fold meaning. Let me explain in the next paragraph. 

It happens to be both Brain Tumor and Arthritis Awareness Month. Brenda is the brains of all of this and for my part, I will be receiving some bones. BOL This all came about because as you know, her last blog was titled; Brenda's Brainstorm & Trevor. It was retired last year, but you still can go back and read those posts at your leisure. We see that some of you are and for that, we thank you! Feel free to comment as well. 

In case you want to go back and read, here is that link. https://brendasbrainstormandtrevor.blogspot.com/

Now to the main event! Brenda has lived with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for almost 32 years. In fact, she was diagnosed in May of 1991, not even realizing at the time that it was Arthritis Awareness Month. She became a brain tumor survivor on September 8, 2008, almost 15 years ago. The first Brain Tumor Awareness Month was in 2009, so this was wonderful being a survivor for almost a year at the time and realizing there was an awareness month for that too. 

We thought a little background was necessary so you would understand the whole concept of this. Brenda's father who has since left this earth almost 16 years ago, would always ask; "Do you get the concept?" Brenda always found it amusing but now realizes the seriousness of it all. Her father lost his battle to a thief called Alzheimer's on August 3, 2007. So you definitely see where the brain part comes in. She also lost her oldest sister Sharon, to the same thief on May 9, 2020. Brenda was a flower girl at her wedding, when she was 5 years old, so that is a sweet memory to cherish. 

The month of May is an emotional time for Brenda. She also lost her best friend in life her mother, on May 31, 2011. Her first month of living with RA was filled with tears and hopelessness. She didn't know anyone in the area who was living with this and wanted to know how she could go on and deal with it. She reached out to a friend in the medical community who had been diagnosed with a serious disease around the time that Brenda was going to be at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Get this, her appointment with the rheumatologist was on September 8, 1988. On that same date 20 years later, she would have her craniotomy to remove a nonmalignant right frontal lobe meningioma brain tumor. Speaking of the right frontal lobe, a poem will be shared at the end of this planted blog post. I almost forgot about using that terminology. I usually dig for things, so planting is not really my bag. BOL I really got off the track here. Back to when Brenda reached out to her friend. He was able to offer her some great insight on how to cope. His was a complete surprise, so Brenda could relate to the shock of hearing or in her case not really hearing the words. This has all been explained in past blog posts, so we will not be going into that this time. BOL

We will explore the brains part of this and then end with the bones. The brains of course is all part of Brenda's journey as a brain tumor survivor. This has not been an easy road by any means. She has true friends who get this. In fact for the first time in almost 15 years of being on this journey, she was able to explain what it is like living with frontal lobe syndrome. Her friend asked good questions and really tried to understand what it meant and what Brenda needed to do. He asked if she needed to calm down? That was a fair question and Brenda tried to explain the best she could. When it does occur, she prefers to be alone and work through it. A big part of that is writing. Brenda can be laughing one minute and wham, the tears can start flowing. Let me expound on this in the next paragraph.

Brenda is selective in who she shares with about her frontal lobe syndrome, particularly in the real world. She has found that things can become clouded especially when it comes to perception. She reached out to a friend who knew about her acquired brain injury and told him she had experienced becoming overstimulated at a function and ended up having a meltdown when she got home. Brenda felt bad for unloading on this person. Brenda apologized for burdening him, which was her perception. The response was; "You didn't burden me and you never have to apologize." You have no idea what that meant to Brenda. That is a true friend. We share this because a big part of Brenda's recovery is still dealing with frontal lobe syndrome, which was mentioned before is an acquired brain injury as a result of her craniotomy. It has gotten much better. There was a time when Brenda had a hard time being alone, especially at night. Brenda has lived alone since 1981, so this was a new and frightening experience. Don't be afraid to reach out to your friends in your circle. Brenda has a small group that she values so much. Her kindred spirit from the West Coast means the world to Brenda. They have been talking on the phone and messaging back and forth more recently. They connected years ago and seemed to click right off. Brenda's late mother picked up on that one. She said; "You two seem to be good for each other." Definitely a kindred spirit. Although Brenda has never met her in person, it's an undeniable close connection. 

Brenda still deals with motion issues, particularly benign positional vertigo at times. It usually happens without warning and can be scary to deal with. Brenda's main fear is that she will be alone and end up not being able to get to a safe place in time and end up falling or even worse, getting seriously injured. They cannot seem to find a solution for these attacks, as she has been to a balance clinic and could not even finish the tests, because she became so sick. The only thing she knows is that when she had to turn her head to the right and hold, it was much worse which made sense, because that is the side her brain tumor was on. The left doing the same exercise was not a problem at all. It's frustrating but all Brenda can do is keep her medication on hand and use when needed. Her worst attack ever was over 5 hours. Brenda shares this because even though they were able to remove the entire tumor, there are still residual effects that were left behind. Let me dig a bit more in the next paragraph. Brenda plants and I dig. BOL

Brenda became creative and starting writing. Frontal lobe syndrome can be a blessing and a curse. She has mentioned that numerous times during interviews and has written about it as well. She chooses to see the blessing in all of this. In fact, her whole attitude of living with RA changed. It didn't happen on September 8, 2008. It took several years, but it finally came to fruition. We now enter the bones part of this planted blog post. BOL

Brenda had been living with RA for over 17 years at the time her brain tumor was removed. She did not have to go to physical or occupational therapy after her craniotomy because of the fact that she was doing full range of motion exercises. They were amazed at how well she could move the day of her craniotomy. It was at this time though, that something else had changed. She had to actually think about what they wanted her to do before she could complete an exercise. This was frustrating for Brenda. She was even told that she was blowing the ball in the bottle wrong to get it up, to keep her lungs strong to avoid getting pneumonia. She was also given insulin because of the steroids causing her blood sugar to rise. This is very common, because Brenda was not a diabetic. When they came in with the pen to inject, that was her question; "Am I a diabetic now?" This was all new and foreign to Brenda. You usually end up with quite an appetite also, because of the steroids. That did not happen for Brenda as she dealt with so much nausea during her hospital stay. Brenda has found that her 2 challenges continue to intersect, which was proven in this paragraph. They can't seem to be separated. It would be like tearing Brenda apart. BOL

Brenda did finally come to an acceptance of living with RA, largely due in part to being able to connect with another warrior, RA Guy on Facebook. She saw how he was dealing with his struggles and was impressed by what he was doing to help make his life better. Brenda knew she had to try to do that too. She was a fighter by nature. She still had her full-time job. June 2nd, she will be celebrating 35 years at her present place of employment. Big changes took place last year, but Brenda managed to hang in there, even though it has not been easy. Change is never easy, but it is paramount for growth to take place. Brenda takes pride in that she is proficient at what she does. She works alone for the most part, which is fine. She enjoys projects that challenge her and the satisfaction that when they are completed, knowing that she has done her best. It's a personal triumph and feels great, kicking RA to the curb and navigating life as a brain tumor survivor the best she can every day. Brenda still remains in RA clinical joint remission for the 2nd time, since being on this journey for almost 32 years. The first time was short-lived, but this time has been over 3 years. There is always hope! Brenda does however, live with Osteoarthritis (OA) which involves her feet, ankles and lower spine. She was actually diagnosed with degenerative arthritis of her lower spine while at the Mayo Clinic in 1988. Almost 3 years later would be her diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It was her present rheumatologist who finally diagnosed her with degenerative arthritis in her feet and ankles last year, so she is definitely not pain free by any means. Walking is paramount in keeping her back in shape. 

I've enjoyed bringing this planted blog post as your special contributing writer for this time. I hope it's given you more of a dog's eye view of Brenda's inspirational life. She fights hard every day folks! Make no mistake, Brenda needs her friends, who she appreciates so much for all of their encouragement, especially those in her close-knit circle. Brenda only hopes she has been that kind of friend to you as well. Here is that poem as promised. 

Until next time, this is Trevor aka T Man sending golden hugs.

🧠🦴💛