Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving, and it is GORGEOUS outside!!! The best Thanksgiving weather I've seen in YEARS!! Sorry, but getting excited about the weather is a must when it was 75F / 25C today!!  (And our usual temps are in the 50sF / 10C tops this time of year. And I've seen snow this time of year too!) So, yes, it's beautiful outside and I'm thankful!

For my side of the family, Sunday we are all converging at mum's with our homemade favourites to gorge ourselves on turkey and all the fixings.  The hubby's side is a smaller affair on Monday, but just as wonderful.  There is also have a bridal shower on Saturday night for hubby's side of the family.

Thanksgiving also means large game hunting (with guns) opens tomorrow.  Opening weekend is also known as Moose Widow Weekend.  Not that my husband is a hunter, (thank heavens) but I know plenty of wives and girlfriends who will be at the Canadian Male Strippers on Sunday night because their men are out in the bush chasing Bambi and Bullwinkle.  Me, I'll be on the couch with laptop in hand lap.  (Which FYI, sits on a stand on my lap, my skin is not getting burned as reported on every other news report this week!)  I'm thankful for my husband, whether or not he was a hunter, fisher, gatherer, didn't matter to me.  I love him.

I'm thankful to have made it through my posterior fossa decompression without any major complications!! HURRAY!!! I'm approaching 4 months post-op and still doing well.  I had the wickedest optical migraine yesterday, but it wasn't a Chiari headache, so HURRAY (yet again)!  With the exception of my on-going shoulder issues, I'm doing wonderful.  I feel like I have most of my life back.  And I'm feeling better than I can remember feeling in years, literally, years!!  

I'm most thankful for my family and few close friends.  Without them I wouldn't have made it through my difficult days, diagnosis and appointments.  They have been my rock, my shoulder to cry on, my heart-warming hug - even if only a cyber-hug, and my biggest supporters.  I couldn't ask for more from my family.  They may not always be breaking down the door to help, but when I need them, they're there in a heartbeat.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!!

Post Script:  Shoulder reassessment was this week.  Physio's evaluation - brachal plexus injury - which means neural damage (nerve) and no prospected return to work or normal activities in sight...  But I push through the exercises daily... and now have to reign myself in a bit - I've been a little overzealous with them...  My shoulder blade is out of place, and really, that sucks!! OUCH!! But my range of motion forward is improving, even if my abduction is still extremely limited.  13 days until I see the orthopaedic surgeon for the verdict!

The List

1.  You can't hold onto anything - dropping toothbrush, hair brush, stapler, iPod, fork, etc.

2.  Standing with pressure on one leg or the other makes it goes numb

3.  Ice pick pain in my left temple

4.  Reaching up to brush my hair makes me see stars

5.  Typing the number 6,000 makes me go cross-eyed

6.  No point in eating breakfast... it's not going to stay put

7. A ton of pressure in the left side of my head behind my ear

8.  Turning a corner while walking down the hall makes me dizzy

9.  Dinner consisted of mashes potatoes and gravol (dramamine for my US friends)

10.  Shaving my legs is impossible without resting my head and hip against the wall so I don't fall down in the shower

11.  My ears are ringing so loud they drown out most everything else

12.  There's not enough ice in the freezer

13.  There is so much pressure at the back of my skull it feels like someone has reached into my skull and is pulling it downwards...

14.  My eyes want to pop out of my head

If you can relate to the symptoms I felt today, you know it's not been a good day.  If you're feeling the same, I totally sympathize.

The End of a Rough Week

My headache lasted through most of the week unfortunately.  It came and went in waves. And each time I exerted myself it came back with a vengeance a short time later.  I had to leave work at 1:00 on Tuesday, just couldn't do it.  I made it through the rest of week though, and hosted my very successful Pampered Chef party on Friday night.  But the exertion on Friday laid me out on Saturday and part of today.  And with a lingering symptom.

I get numbness in my face, but it usually only lasts for a few minutes to an hour at the onset of a migraine.  This time the numbness lasted for hours at a time.  Like I'd been to the dentist for freezings.  My inside of my mouth and my cheeks were numb all the way to my eyes.  A very unnerving sensation.  If it comes back tomorrow I will go to the walk in.  It's not a new symptom, but it is far more persistent than I've ever had.

I'm hoping that by trying to have a quiet day today I will be alright this week.  When a headache lasts a week it takes a lot out of me. And it makes me feel unproductive and lazy.  I'm still adjusting to the limitations which I find myself facing with the Chiari, and more and more just in the recent months.