Fighting in the Garden...

Hi, it's Brenda, with another planted blog post. This one comes out of a personal experience which happened to me several weeks ago. I decided to expound on this and you will understand as I keep planting. Usually in a garden you encounter weeds, but this will encompass a whole different slant. 

Now for what prompted this planted blog post. Apparently, I was practicing my boxing skills while sleeping, managing to bump the left side of my nose, felt something moist and I ended waking up to a bloody nose. While I found this comical, it brought me back to almost 16 years ago, when I was experiencing waking up to a bloody nose quite often. It wasn't until after my craniotomy and receiving my MRI report and disc, it was noted that my sinuses were involved. That made perfect sense and I found out later that could have tipped off that I had a brain tumor. I said, could. My MRI report also mentioned something about mimicking MS. That made sense because of the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that I live with. RA and MS are actually from the same gene pool, as well as several other diseases. I found that fascinating and finally after so many years of battling sinus issues, it all started to make sense. 

My sinus issues actually got worse when starting a medication for my RA. I am no longer on that medication, but I still battle with sinus issues from time to time. I have had very few bloody noses, so that one I had a few weeks ago was a complete surprise. I guess my competing at Madison Square Garden is not in my future, so I will settle for fighting in the garden. I'm so grateful my sense of humor remained intact after my craniotomy, although it still remains dry. I'm good with that. 

This got my wheels turning. With every planted blog post I try to come up with innovative ideas and things my readers can relate to. I got to thinking about my opponent. It is invisible for the most part.

If you don't see me limping, you probably wouldn't realize that I live with constant pain. My head also hurts when it rains or a drastic weather change, which is also invisible. It's called barometer head and it's a real thing folks. Frontal lobe syndrome is also real, which I had no idea what it was until I experienced it for the first time about a month after my craniotomy. I started sobbing for no apparent reason. The first year of being a brain tumor survivor was truly the roughest. I was getting used to the new me. It also changed a lot of things for me. Every aspect of my life became much more meaningful for me.

I've always been a fighter, but this was different. I knew something was wrong the year my meningioma was discovered, as I was experiencing lots of head pain. Not a headache. I asked for a CT scan and was told not once but twice, by my then primary care physicians's nurse; "If we find nothing, we are done." Not a great patient experience, but I decided to go ahead with the CT scan. They found a mass and then an MRI was ordered which revealed a meningioma.  I was not crazy after all. Always fight for your rights as a patient. I had no idea it would be a brain tumor. Blows my mind thinking about it. 

My rheumatoid arthritis (RA) journey started out just as bizarre. My 1st rheumatologist told me to go on disability and have my husband take care of me. I was sole breadwinner and told him I would work until I no longer could. I started my 37th year with the clinic that I'm presently employed at on June 2nd. Has this been easy? Not on your life! I have no choice but to fight every day. My fellow warriors do the same and many of them face invisible opponents. We do not know what another person is going through. I continue to share my story in hopes that my readers find encouragement, if they are facing a battle. I no longer refer to my struggles with RA as a flare, but rather an attack. Fighting every day, even if that means resting and listening to my body. 

In this corner, every day I put my gloves on and fight. It may be an invisible opponent, but I'm much stronger and I always come out swinging and knocking it down. This is all figurative, but I know you get what I mean. Writing and being able to express myself is one way I fight to keep myself in the ring of life. 

I would like to end this planted blog post with a seed of enrichment. I wrote this in 2013, but I found it timely. "Always fight for what YOU know is right, by becoming your own advocate!"

This year we lost a fellow meningioma warrior, who fought the good fight for many years. Kim Rowan, was an inspiration to so many. She not only designed pictures for me to spread brain tumor awareness, but she was kind enough to design several for arthritis awareness as well. May her memory be a blessing. 

The shirt I'm wearing in this photo below was designed by her. It is a brain tumor awareness shirt, but I managed to spread both kinds of awareness by sporting an arthritis bracelet showing my fighting spirit. Until next time, KEEP BLOOMING and FIGHTING! ❤️🥊