I'm Back!!!

I'm
back!

Well...

kinda.






You may remember...

July 28
I tripped over
a Rottweiler
and bonked
my
head...

I was
out
for
2 hours

lost to
the
world...

When
they found me
unconscious
they
"accidentally"
sent me to
The Heart Hospital.

For
one
day.

Dismissed -
I discovered
I'd had
a
concussion.

A
bad
one.

I tried
to
ignore
it...

That
didn't
work.












I
took off
work
for a
month.

Took
TJ
to
Mississippi.

Then...

I tried to bike.

I tried to work.

I struggled
to be normal
that fall.

Finally
November 12

I had to admit -

I needed help.

It took 9 doctors
before I
found
the right one.

Dr
Wonderful
Horner!


But what
he told me
hurt!



- You,
Dr Steussy,
don't know the meaning
of the word -
rest!

And
your brain
needs
Total
Cognitive
and
Physical
Rest.



That means -

No exercise
No computer
No tv
No work
No driving
No reading.

What kind of
life
is this?

What
could
I
do?

I
was
desperate...

Until
my wise sister,
Cally,
came
to visit.

Helen,
she said,
you have to take
all those
things
you loved....

and pack them
away
in a
backpack
and lock it
in
a closet...

And
you need a
new backpack
filled with new things
that can bring you
joy.



And
so
I
did...

I filled
my
days
with
baking....

art....

and,
of course,
cats.

Daily

I tracked
my
symptoms.

Weekly
my wonderful brother,
Nic,
and his wife,
Marti,
stopped by
for a
chat.

(and to knit a hat)

Months
blurred
by.

s
l
o
w
l
y.













Finally,
as
spring
began
to
stir...














My
head
began
to
clear...

I
returned
to
my
microscope...

I
found
my
camera...














Now,
9 months
post-concussion
I still
can't
bike...

Just the tepid
turns
of
an
exercycle.

Limited to
12
minutes
a
day.


I only get to
increase
2 minutes
each
week.






Baby steps,
says
Dr. Horner.




It's ok.

I'll
eventually
get
there...

Surely
by
the
summer....

I'll
be
climbing
mountains...

and
biking
multi-
centuries!


and
maybe...


just
maybe....

before
the
end
of
2013....


I'll
find
a
way

to
forgive...

that
danged
Rottweiler.