A Red Banner Day!!
We were up at the crack of dawn and on the road to NYC by 7:30 AM - in the rain. We being me, Willie, mom and dad. Took us a couple of hours to get in, but the really cool thing was that I experienced ZERO (zip, nada) dizziness or disequilibrium (one of my fancy new words - like it?) during the drip!
Got to the hospital parking lot, where the attendant directed us about halfway down the ramp. (Stay with me on this - I'm about to make a pointl...) I launch myself from the car with gusto - right up until I by brain realizes that I am NOT on a flat surface - eek! I grabbed the car and mom until I could get my wits about me, then proceeded with extreme caution up the ramp and into the hospital front doors (with my armed guard protecting my flanks.) I'm sure it was quite a site.
We were a little early, so stopped at the Starbucks kiosk for a coffee - my first public event, complete with lots of ambient noise (the enemy of my people, the Single Side Deafies.) All systems go, although I will caution myself against ordering hot beverages in public again for awhile. Apparently the numbess in my mouth causes me not to realize something is hot until it reaches my throat - well, you can imagine how that turns out.
Off to the Surgeons office to be "de-sutured." He was very pleased with his work - and with my progress. Stitches (both head and belly) came out without a problem. I had armed Willie with a list of questions, so while the sutures were flying out, the questions were flying equally fast. Good thing Dr. Roland is a brain surgeon and able to multi-task with aplomb. The hightlights - because I am not having the balance issues that everyone expected, I have the green light to try a short driving expedition this weekend (Willie will be sitting beside me, fully clenched and ready to pounce.) Dr. R also feels like my face may resolve sooner than the expected 5 months or so. He will see me again in about 3 weeks for an assessment and will refer me to a facial physical therapist as needed at that time. Numerous other little things, but all positive!
The next big accomplishment of the day (see, I told you this was a Red Banner Day, didn't I?) was lunch IN PUBLIC! We went to IHOP (yes, Willie's favorite) where I selected the multi grain pancakes as being the safest option. Good choice, as I was able to get them into small bites with no mishaps along the way - only disappointment was that all of the syrup tasted weird to me (I think maybe the tongue numbness is affecting how I taste sweet things...) There was a big group sitting right next to us for awhile that was VERY noisy, so I got to experience that aspect of SSD for the first time. Didn't much like it. It is SO hard to hear when there is background noise. However, I'll give it some time to see if it gets easier - and in the meantime, I'm sure I'll drive everyone crazy saying "what?" all the time. sigh.
Once home, it was time for a little nap - up and feeling ready for almost anything now (okay, that's probably a slight exageration, but I do feel pretty darned good!)
More later...
Deb
YEA!!! Sounds like a good day to me!! I, personally don't have too much trouble w/ the SSD but some do. I just don't really dwell on it. You seem like the type to me to just go w/ life and not worry about it, but if you need something else later, go for it!! I did too much today: WalMart, Home Health Care x 2, went thru clothes in 2 girlies closets, started on guest room clutter (walk-in closet when Grandma's not here) and planted plants! Whew! Now I am ready for bed - glad you had such a good day!
ReplyDeleteK