My dear friends:
I've been putting off sending out an update until after the last of round one of follow-ups. I have five groups (neurosurgery, endocrinology, etc.) all working together as a team to attend to me and there's a LOT of coordination and follow-ups. The pathology report is back and they have my tumor (which they are pretty sure they got all of without disrupting the pituitary gland) rated as a level 4 which means the least likely to come back. I still have a lot of brain fog and the occasional pain pricks in my skull but neurology seems to be satisfied with their part. I've seen the ENT a couple of times to get more of the packing and clots out of my sinuses but my heart rate keeps dropping to about 65 over 38 while they're working on it and then I have to stop. But we'll get it all out eventually.
The hardest part is to get all of the parts of my body to play nicely together. I have to have my blood monitored regularly to make sure that all of the hormones that my thyroid and pituitary gland are responsible for (and that's a LOT) are coming up to the appropriate levels. Right now I take medication to bridge the gaps but it is a step-down process and my first step down was apparently too soon because I really felt pretty bad so we went back up to the original dosage for another week.  I also have a lot of stomach issues and no appetite. I also have a couple of blood clots in my leg which means I need to be really careful of bleeding since I'm on blood thinners.
But, hey, life is good.  I spent about an hour outside finishing painting my window trim and I finally forced myself down to my office to catch up on things (NOT a complication of the surgery; I just hate office work). Best of all, I have received numerous bouquets of flowers which is my favorite (keep that in mind if you're still around for my funeral) and to this day I haven't actually cooked a meal since Sept 6th, which is the greatest gift of all time, both for me and for those who have to eat my cooking.
In all seriousness, I believe this whole experience has been a gentle love-tap from the Almighty.  I had the opportunity to really bring God's love to a lot of people in the hospital who were very lost, and I was blessed with the care and concern from people I didn't even think knew I existed.  There are so many out there who have it so much worse than I do, I can only be grateful.
God bless you all,
Rosanna Connelly