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December, 2011

Recovery period

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Who would think I have a 1 foot long scar running across the top of my head under hair?

6 weeks after surgery (1/20/2012).

This time last year, I was studying abroad in Europe, visiting the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France.

With no idea that the rest of the year was going to be a disaster.

How scary life is.

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So my dad’s company’s satellite company in Germany’s vice president sent me a get well gift, and I am a little confused with the cryptic message that came with it.  

The letter said,

Hi Hiroko

A strong girl needs a strong Partner

I wish you all the Best.

Is this like… A German saying translated into English thing, or is he proposing that I get married (to someone), or that I get married to this teddy bear he just sent me…?

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Now I’m not even a princess anymore.

They took away my tiara.

One staple at a time.

57 of them.

Ow.

Now I just look like a slightly balding girl with a scalp problem.

Life sucks, yo.  Where are my magical powers?

We learned today that the hole in my cranium is actually not filled by cement, but just smoothed out by it.  Makes me feel a tad better, I suppose.

I found a photo of myself with the same pose a few days after surgery and was going to upload it here as comparison but then realized it was probably too gross and TMI for the general public woops.

I actually did “clean” my room before I left…

-6 Days?

I can’t count.

But I am back.

Well, have been back for 2 nights now, constantly oscillating between a headache in some random part of my brain or a mild high from painkiller (probably Tylenol. who knew).

I have my head sliced from past left ear almost to my right ear, 57 staples, and left frontal lobe all fortified with cement! Superhuman yet?

Apparently when they went in to cut the AVM out, they found two smaller ones underneath.

How do you just find little AVM’s underneath others while cutting one out and just what…

I am going to spare you the whining of how they are treating my post neurosurgical pain with Tylenol and actively tried to kick me out of the hospital after 3 days despite the fact that I stayed one of the nights in the ICU spending most of the night throwing up blood or having nosebleeds.

But no more needles and blood and glucose pricks and shots and insulin and stuff is good news to me.  Even though I still can’t move and thinking about thinking puts me in pain. 

I swear all I do all day is think about Tweeting because the actual prospect of Tweeting hurts too much to even think about and all I am thinking about Tweeting is how Tweeting will hurt and I mentally tweet the same thing 30 times because I can’t get past the “Moving is going to hurt and my head hurts already.”

I live my life very productively.

That being said, Texting and Twitter are easiest ways to get to me, and calling may not have that good of an effect.  Or long blocks of text. Keep it short. :D

Thank you all for all your support! Now I am just going to go… Loop on the couch for a few hours again…

( Here’s a photo from maybe day or 2 after surgery after they moved me out from ICU, pretending to be alive. )

4 Days

Got a haircut.

We will have to fix it after they shave a line from the top of the head down to near my ear under my hairline, but for now, this is much better than having to shave my whole head like they had initially told me.