Overdue ramblings

Hello, hello, hello!

I have been meaning to get this blog post written for probably a week and a half now. However, my poor mono-laden self has more than a little trouble actually getting things done these days.  Perhaps I should back up. Here we go...

I left my Newton home in a sad farewell the morning of Monday, Aug 22.  Though I was anxious to arrive at Knox and begin my senior year, things have been somewhat emotional with my family recently, so we all shed our tears as Abby and Kyle left the night before, and then again as I left that next morning. Abby headed back to  her apartment in Sully so she could settle in before beginning her second year of teaching in Montezuma the next day and Kyle went back to Central College to start his senior year there.  It was sad for us all to be dispersing from Newton, but I'm glad Abby and Kyle are close enough to see each other at least more than they were able to when she was in college at Wartburg.

Anyway, I drove the short 3 hours across Iowa and into Illinois in my rather full Explorer and then one trip at a time, I carried all of my stuff up to my beautiful apartment on the second floor of the nicest dorm building on campus.  I was the first of my roommates to move in so I got to take my sweet time rearranging the room I now share with my roommate and best Knox friend Emma.  Long story short I spent the whole afternoon organizing, arranging and generally falling in love with our apartment.

Tuesday was the first day of tennis practice and even though it was quite warm, I was so happy to be back out on the court.  We practiced hard Tues and Wed, and then Wednesday afternoon I came down with a fever.  I rested, sweated and froze with the fever for 2 days before the trainer sent me off campus to see the doctor. We hoped it was only my body being unable to maintain an appropriate temp after the hot weather...but it turned out to be mono.  I was slightly taken aback as I figured my exhaustion was just from the fever and mono was a little more of a long term inconvenience than I was expecting.  Here I was at Knox solely for tennis preseason and suddenly I was restricted from any type of physical activity for at least 2 weeks.  Not exactly the best way to start my senior season...but at the same time I was very relieved it had waited to hit until I had moved myself in and it was also a bit of a blessing that I had a week and a half to rest before classes start.

I went back to the doctor today and was given another 2 week restriction on running, jumping, pouncing...really anything strenuous.  But at least he did say I could stand in one place and hit balls if I really want to...which I do.  I will miss quite a few meets but I'll do my best to stay patient so at some point I can really get back on the court to play my game.  I have gotten a lot of lovin' from my friends here and friends and family back home. Thank you thank you for that! The cards bring lots of smiles to my face

On a completely different, and more important note, my father is improving!  My mom writes so eloquently in her caringbridge page for my dad that I know my update won't do it justice  so feel free to check out her writings if you haven't already! (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/samclark1/journal )  Things were a little nerve-wracking at home when I was there before Knox because dad was definitely not himself and all we could do was wait for the trip out to Duke University.  He was sleeping a lot, talking little, and in quite a bit of pain.  It was so hard to see him suffering like that.  Thankfully the North Carolina trip can just in the nick of time and my mother was strong enough, mentally and physically, to get the two of them there safely.  On Thursday they had very hopeful appointments with the doctors at the Brain Tumor Center.  On Friday, Aug 26th, which was dad's 61st birthday, he got his first treatment.  They pumped him full of two specific types of drugs while he peacefully slept.  One of the drugs is supposed to cut off the tumor's vascular growth (which is how it survives) and the other is supposed to kill the cancerous cells.  He received the first treatment there, and then we will receive the same thing again in Iowa every two weeks until they are supposed to go back to Duke in mid-November.  After the treatment on Friday, mom and dad had to book it out of North Carolina due to the impending storm. They made it home late Friday night and were met by Abby and Kyle at the airport.  Although the meds did make dad a little sick, they seemed to kick in quickly! Mom has been talking about all his improvements and I sure wish I could see this as it is happening.  Seeing the rapid decline and then later incline in his abilities really makes me step back and contemplate the phenomenon that is the human brain. It is fragile and yet resilient. It is vulnerable, but also plastic (a word used to describe its ability to grow and change) and it can often recreate connections that may seem to be lost.  This close-to-home experience has given me all the more reason to be glad I have chosen neuroscience as my field. It is endlessly fascinating to me.

Well I think this might be a long enough (but hopefully not tooooo boring) post.  Sorry it wasn't more creative- this illness has made my brain a little mushy and dulled my ability to be clever.  Hope it isn't gone for good! Thanks so much to everyone who has been keeping my family in their thoughts and prayers.  We are taking it day by day and enjoying the sweet things in life!

Love to all.
Rachel