A Milestone here, a milestone there…

Here’s the latest picture of my hair grow-out. A selfie that’s not too complimentary I must say… But unless you look down at the top of my head or look at me from the side, you really can’t see my comical ‘sideways part’. And it’s getting just long enough on top to almost lay down (especially if I push it). So maybe when it gets a little longer it’ll lay over the scar as a sort of combover. But for now I’m still wearing a hat when I’m out and about, don’t want to frighten anyone as it’s a little late for Halloween!

Yesterday I had two long outings, one was a 2 1/2 hour shopping trip with Nicole – went through Target and Bed Bath & Beyond hunting for gifts. Had a long nap after that one. Then got up and we all went to Sea Pearl for my first dinner out; another milestone! Unfortunately, the restaurant got really busy and I had to duck out near the end for a little peace and quiet. Happy 89th Birthday June!

So here’s my theory: My two working brain cells are struggling to keep up with a single conversation, but they still attempt to process everything I hear. In a crowded restaurant (or mall or any place with lots of voices), they get overloaded, and those two cells just sort of shut down. Same for if I’ve gone too long with too much external stimulation, they go on strike for a bit and I have to have a lie-down. Ok, maybe I have just slightly more than two working brain cells, but I definitely did lose some (checking my pockets)! And I do have more stamina than a few weeks ago, so that’s another milestone.

Speaking of milestones, here’s a list of some major post-op milestones passed, I may be a bit hazy on the actual dates…

1. surviving the operation – waking up in the hospital recovery room on day 1
2. living through the worst headache in my life, a 9.5 out of 10 on the gurney heading to the MRI on day 1.5 – after that I was on drugs for several days
3. getting the first of many head-banger headaches (an 8) after the main drugs wore off, day 8
4. getting the staples removed, leaving a long sideways scabby patch over my noggin, day 14
5. getting the pathology report saying the tumor was a type I (benign), day 14
6. 1st day of no pain meds (not to be repeated for a good while), day 16
7. 1st shower taken without in-shower help, day 19
8. switched from walker to regular cane, day 21
9. first writing a blog entry of my own, plus moving back into my own bed for night-time, day 24
10. taking showers completely by myself, day 28
11. PT and OT retire, I do my own exercising from now on, day 30
12. first car ride (& errand run) since coming home from hospital, day 32
13. first evening entertainment, game night with the Epstein’s, day 46
14. first time home alone without babysitter, day 47
15. re-start exercise regimen, starting off gingerly, day 49
16. last time to take the heavy pain meds, day 55
17. enough hair to start thinking about a haircut, day 63
18. constant headaches have eased from a steady-state 3 to a steady-state 2, plus first big family dinner (Thanksgiving), day 70
19. first attempt at helping someone with technology (thanks for your patience Cheryl!), day 77
20. dipping toes into social online stuff, day 81
21. constant interior noise (tinnitis?) begins to get loud enough to really annoy me, day 90
22. first dinner out at a restaurant, day 93

And today is 94 days since the surgery. Anybody want to add-to or help verify/correct this list?

My future milestones will hopefully include a headache-free day (heck, I’ll take an hour), a clean MRI in January, getting off the meds completely, losing the cane, getting back my driving privileges, getting back on the golf course, getting to go to a movie theater (Angelica Mosaic anyone?), taking a real road trip (Bethany Beach anyone?), getting on an airplane, getting CJ off to the college of his choice (hello Boston!), a trip to Tahiti with Nicole, and Practical Help blazing past 6,000 members!

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