This morning we went to a PT appointment. Veronica did very well. She had a good conversation with the PT about the three parts of the vestibular system and the work she has to do to get back her balance and get rid of the nasty dizziness.

After the PT appointment, we went for a mile long walk in the SD heat and sun.  We stopped for a simple lunch.  After lunch, Veronica had a follow-up appointment with the doctors.  They are happy with her recovery and encouraged her to keep working.  Veronica is cleared to fly home on Sunday.

Veronica rested while I worked then we took a walk down to the beach.  We walked a long way on the beach and then back up to the house.   Veronica’s fit bit says that she walked 3.35 miles today.  I am going to make brats on the grill now.

It has been a week since beautiful wife came out of surgery.  Her resolve has impressed me.  She has come so far.

We walked across the street that is in front of the house to Subway.  The street was very busy, and inside Subway, there was a pretty busy lunch crowd.  There were many different conversations going on at one time, and the machines behind the counter were making the usual noises.  It was a lot of sensory input for Veronica to handle.  She did a really good job walking over there and waiting to order.  Every day we add more.  Today has been beach sand and a busy fast-food place.

This morning Veronica was determined to get some “real walking” in.  We walked the 7 blocks to the beach and back.  While at the beach she walked a good distance in the sand.  It is very soft sand, which was a good challenge for her.  We are now going to try to cross the busy street and have lunch at Subway.

Today I went to CVS to get another round of meds for Veronica.  The insurance company is limiting the number pills that we are allowed to have so I will go back tomorrow.  Frustrating for me, but I understand that many people need this protection.  I decided to walk back to the house.  After walking through the high-end shop area of La Jolla I found this little gem called “Coast Walk Trail”.  I showed the pictures to Veronica and we discussed possibly going over there and giving it a try.

After the initial diagnosis, Veronica was presented with a number of possible ways to treat her tumor.  Based on her age and the size of the tumor “wait and see” was taken off of the table by the doctors.  Eventually, the tumor would cause unrecoverable damage inside of her cranium.  We didn’t like the outcomes of radiation.  The likelihood of success wasn’t a strong enough for us.  This left Veronica with the choice between two surgical approaches.  One option allowed for the possibility of keeping her hearing, with the risk of causing chronic migraine headaches.  The other option almost guaranteed the loss of hearing, but gave the doctors the best access to the tumor and probably would have a better chance of getting the whole tumor out.  There was a discussion among the doctors as to which was the best procedure for her tumor because it hadn’t compromised her hearing yet.  They informed us of the likelihood of success and side effects of each option.

I feel that Veronica had chosen early on which procedure that she wanted to undergo.  Her history of migraines kept her for entertaining the idea of trying to save her hearing.

The day before the surgery we had a meeting with the two lead surgeons and after reviewing her MRI again, they both struggled with the idea of taking away her hearing.  It was hard for Veronica to have live through deciding again to sacrifice her hearing.

Veronica put it like this “You have this crappy option,  you have this crappy option, you have this crappy option.  Pick one.”

Dr. Schwartz told Veronica after the surgery that while he was removing the tumor he discovered that he would not have been able to save her hearing with the other approach.