Ah, yes. I am home in the D-- specifically the Hills of Bloomfield-- safe in the four walls of my parents' house. Katie and I returned to my house in Cincinnati after a few errands earlier this evening, and I'm one of a small group who can recognize the warning signs of Katie losing her mind...these were definitely starting to appear when she brought up a lovely statement: "So, what do you think about going home for a few days?" As good as that sounded, I really thought she was kidding. Yeah, 15 minutes later, I'm in the shower, Katie walks in and goes, "Ok, I talked to Dr. T., he thinks it's a good idea for you to be home, too, so yeah!"-- and within the hour, we were en route to Motown, Hockeytown, the D, Motor City, HOME. My mom made casserole and there are fresh sheets on the bed...Katie was NOT KIDDING.
A few comments from the Greek chorus:
1) The discharge orders from Dr. T. were fairly clear, particularly on the point of not doing anything that could potentially jar my head or neck. (Remember? The inappropriateness?) Well, Michigan roads are not smooth. One could go so far as to say that they are "jarring". J-Granholm and I need to have a little sit-down.
2) I'm pretty sure that if Katie and I hadn't come home, and made it in the time we did, one of us would be dead right now. Either Katie would've hurled herself out of my living room window out of sheer desperation (if we hadn't made the trip north), or Katie would've thrown me out of my own car because she was so sick of the overwhelming Dananess. I DON'T BLAME HER. (My cousin Hazel and I will have to discuss this, but "overwhelming Dananess" is a rare strain of a more widespread disease called Monfortonsillitis, and if I have my epidemiology correct, it's caused by overexposure to the Monfortongue. There's no vaccine or treatment, so again, Katie's not to blame.) There was a car trip we took during high school where some snowy roads in Northern Michigan led us into a ditch about 18 inches away from an evergreen tree, from a decent speed. I think Katie would've preferred that car ride over the one tonight.
3) Katie talked to Dr. T., the attending neurosurgeon (he's sort of the Ari Gold of the neurotourage, I guess)...he said the surgery is 99.9% set for Monday morning (16 Feb), barring any major unforeseen whathaveyou. I am taking this as very encouraging news mostly because I'm eager to get my body working again. An interesting point Katie brought up earlier is that there's no way to tell what I've been missing all this time, while this business was lodged in my spine. The body adapts over time to different challenges, trying to compensate for what it lacks-- so, given that, what will my body be able to do once this obstacle has been removed? I've had these crazy, somewhat disparate symptoms that the doctors have attributed to the tumor...but what if there's other stuff I've been battling without even noticing? What an incredible quandary...not to look back and think of what could've been, but to look forward to what could be. I hope it brings a better golf game, a higher vertical, better endurance, and fluency in Farsi. But, whatever...less headaches, a functioning right side, less dizzyness...those are all fantastic options, too. I'll just focus on getting through the surgery with all of the faculties that I had intact prior to it...and then we'll go from there. Like a wise man once said, "Difficult takes a day; impossible takes a week." (High-fives will be granted to the first person to get the correct attribution.)
Anyway-- I am so glad to be home for a few days. I'll be back in Cincinnati soon enough, and the shitshow will be there waiting for me. But for right now, I am exactly where I need to be-- to make it Detroit-specific, my parents are my own personal 1997 Grind Line for the time being. Feed me a coney, wash it down with Rock-n-Rye, play me something Motown-- I'm home.
Glad you had a safe trip to D. Enjoy the home cookin' and get back in one piece, OK?
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I am so glad I get to be the 2nd lead in this story. I am proud of you for sticking to your list. I also expect that I will be included in the dedication of any future books you author. See you soon sweet cheeks for now its back to the GI tract. I think we should get a little cranium game going maybe Katie and Evan can join us for dinner tomorrow or something and we can throw down.
ReplyDeleteHey Dana - It's "Ms. Graves" now "Ms. Wolf" -- or just Leigh :) Thanks for keeping all of us updated...I study social networks now, and yours is bigger than you know...and can come in handy in unexpected times. There are tons of us out here thinking of you. :) I'm also SUPER PROUD that you're a technology superstar & blogging! xoxo
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