I had surgery and multiple brain injuries in March, went to rehab for three months ( one month as an inpatient then two months for outpatient therapy ) and was back in school by April.  In August I returned to art which was a struggle cognitively. Since September, I’ve been interning at a local hospital three days a week and going to classes all day on Saturdays and twice a month on Wednesdays.  Tonight and all day tomorrow I’m taking some time off for myself…..

I can understand why the neurologist I was seeing at Helen Hayes thought I was crazy when I told him I was ready to return to school so soon after all this mess…I have attention issues, I have to really focus and pay attention to certain things. My energy level fluctuates from high to low.  When I have to interact with a variety of people, perform tasks, walking from here to there it take a lot of energy physically and mentally. Technically I’m still in the first year of recovery from a stroke and two brain hemorrhages….

Two months ago I had the hearing in my right ear tested. I could hear a continuous tone, the ear felt full and the sound was diminished. I would also feel a sharp pain inside my ear. I had my hearing tested again this morning and my right ear is almost back to “normal” I noticed the change recently and wasn’t surprised when I heard the news. I no longer hear a tone in my right ear or feel the fullness I had felt before. When people speak, I can hear a slight echo of the voices around me whether it’s from the television, or others speaking. Receiving sound inside my right ear is causing me slight pain, i.e. pressing the phone to my right ear. The tonal quality of voices and sounds in the right ear is distorted. Not sure if this will go away. I am suppose to see the ear doctor again in December.  I hope in six weeks I no longer hear and echo in my right ear….

Next thing which needs to be fixed is my eye…I see an eye surgeon at the end of this month…

Next week I will see the neuro-opthmologist I had seen during the summer. He had suggested I wait until the 6 months after my multiple brain injuries to begin discussing options for surgery.

I am however, getting restless at times regarding my upcoming eye surgery. I know everything will go well, it’s just I have to wait until January of next year to have my eye corrected. Which means I’ll continue to have double vision until then in addition to the tape covering my right eye.  It will be nice to  see out of both my lenses.

I have trust issues with neurosurgeons since my surgery in 2009 and the most recent one this past March.   Like in any profession, there are good eggs and rotten ones.  I have had both good and bad doctors. There is a part of me that knows my shunt won’t be put in backwards again. However, there is portion of me which is doubtful and doesn’t trust surgeons. It will take some time for me to earn the trust of another neurosurgeon.  According to the doctors at Columbia Hospital ( in New York City ) I cannot see a neurosurgeon until I have surgery. In the meantime, I have to see a neurologist. I understand why I need to see a neurologist, however my concern is who will be operating when I come into the ER with an obstructed shunt? Apparently I will have two doctors when this occurs: one main surgeon then a backup for him in case he’s not available. I don’t think this will happen again for maybe 7-15 years since the shunt it on the correct side now….

My hope is sometime soon, these genius inventors will come up with a way to predict when the shunt is going to stop working.  It doesn’t make sense I know when the orange juice expires but not when the shunt is going to stop working…..

We need Star Trek technology where you know in five minutes what’s wrong with  the patient and how to resolve the issue.