uh oh !

today is my regular three monthly mri. now a regular six weekly mri :-)

while you're here, they say, we'll also do a ct scan. just in case there is damage since the last open head surgery.

oh drat... the ct shows fluid on the brain. on each side. a bit of a worry, but they let me walk home.

I'm home, thinking of lunch, the phone rings.

I'm to get to hospital... this afternoon. tomorrow, the surgeon will drain the fluid from my brain. oh. no question. go to hospital. uh oh

i phone deb. she comes home from work. takes me to hospital. i wonder if i can earn frequent surgery points :-)

now i'm in hospital. feeling low. hospital is fine. i scored a nice dinner. the prospect of surgery is fine... not nice but this one will be relatively minor. and i'll sleep through it. i just hate being away from home... away from deb.

the surgeon drops in to explain what he will do. small cut above each ear, two small holes into the skull, insert tap and drain.

the drain will be left open for a while (how long? no idea) so more blood can drain. yuk

i tell him, okay, I'm now ready to go home. no luck :-( I'm stuck here for at least 48 hours... so he says.

===

why is there blood oozed out around the brain? did i bang my head? not as far as i know.

best guess is... a few days ago we were running... i fall over. land hard, flat on my back. I'm fairly certain that i did not hit my head. but i did land hard. perhaps i jarred my brain within the skull, caused damage.

that's the best guess... better than having no reason at all...

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===

One, be a good person; two, have fun; three, be happy; four, show respect and be respected; and then number five was, if you can play tennis after that, it's an added bonus."... Ash Barty's first coach
   

up and down :-)

Deb & I are out this morning for a run along bush trails. Seven km at Ellis Brook.

It's a beautiful spot -- especially now with wildflowers blooming. The main attraction is "Sixty Foot Falls". The Falls are dry except after heavy rain. Today they flow :-)

We were there about a year ago, also to see the falls flowing.

The run starts with a lot of steep, rough uphill track. Mostly, we walk.

On a rare downhill stretch... I discover a new way to fall over :-)

There are worn grooves running down the track. I put one foot into a groove which, of course -- I do not see.  The foot slips... I bang down flat on my back.

I gain a few grazes, nothing serious. Not even enough to get sympathy :-) But I now have to admit to having fallen over *twice* in the last three years...

The last third of  the track is down... down steep steps. Steps formed mostly of rough rocks. Tricky! Very slow going. Six years ago we went round in one hour twenty. Today it's just over two hours... Deb could have done it faster :-)

Hard work! Good fun, good scenery. Home again... we are both ready to relax :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

Question authority. Don't expect to like the answer." ... per Ginger Meggs

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

meaningless dreams?

I regularly dream. Most are forgotten within minutes of waking up. Some dreams are memorable. Some -- no doubt -- are susceptible to deep and meaningful interpretation :-)

I've been telling Deb that we need a dog. I'm dreaming that I walk into a family gathering. There is the new family dog. His name, I'm told, is Prindiville. I say, Hello Prindiville. The dog barks and jumps round in excitement. I repeat the name, very quietly.

Okay, it's a wish-fulfilment dream... it's not going to happen. Still... If we do get a dog -- at least I already know its name :-)

===

I'm dreaming that I'm in a room with a window which overlooks Paris. The hotel housekeeper asks me if there's anything I want. I ask... Where do I go for breakfast? It will be brought to your room, she tells me. We are both speaking in French. Which... in the dream... I understand.

I wake up... hungry and still thinking about breakfast.

===

A few minutes later I realise that the "hotel" room is familiar! It is very much like a room I stayed in in Brixton London, in 1970. A relative's house. There was even a housekeeper who prepared breakfast, though she lived in the basement level and I never met her. No deep meaning to the dream, just a very distant memory.

===

I'm dreaming that I'm walking... past a rocket which is parked beside the road. I climb into the pilot seat, the leg room is cramped. I think, if we fly to Mars then this could get uncomfortable. I take off and fly a couple of hundred feet above the ground... Memories of the days when I flew a light plane (Until I fly the rocket off into space.

This dream could have meaning! Wanting to escape? Reading too much science fiction? Inspired by recent flights into "space". With, perhaps -- my own desire to fly to Mars. My desire to escape is not limited by reality :-)

===

On a more feasible desire to escape: Deb and I are considering a short holiday. I'm having difficulty working out details:

Deb works several days a week, a holiday needs to fit into the non-working days. There are regular days with the family, we don't want to interfere with those. We want to avoid a holiday with the crowds of children on school holidays. One day a week is weekly shopping and running. Some weekends are rogaines or special orienteering events or trail run weekends. Oh, and brain scans could upset the best-laid plans...

It's difficult to set dates for a holiday. And we still cannot decide where we want to go, on whatever dates are suitable.

Oh well... a work in progress ... :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

Question authority. Don't expect to like the answer." ... per Ginger Meggs

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

win one, not win one

As I fold and sort a basket-load of washing I think, there must be some truth in my claim that it takes months to get over brain surgery.

Because today I am feeling so much better :-)

Sorting washing? Yes!

I do the washing, the laundry. It's a task within my normal capabilities. And yet... for the last few months it is beyond me.

I look at a load of freshly washed clothes. Pick something out. And can't work out how to fold it. Fold a shirt? I can't even work out which is the front. I've passed this task on to Deb.

And now -- yes, it's been several months since my head was last opened and closed. And today... finally... sorting the washing is so very easy.

Definitely a milestone :-)

===

The subject line of this post was almost, Win one lose one. But the next point is not really a loss. Just not a win:

===

I read about "prisms" which, apparently can shift the light from my blind patch to where I can see. Sounds useful.

Today I speak with the optometrist...

Yes, a special prism can be attached to glasses. So something off to my left can be projected nearer the middle of my eyes, so I can see it.

Except for two problems.

One, the shift is very small.

And two... The eyes and brain notice something odd... and begin to adjust. With the final result... the eye plus brain act to counter the benefit of the prism. The final effect is... no improvement.

My best bet is still, to learn to look carefully.

I'm getting better. I don't walk into very much. Unless I relax my vigilance... :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

Question authority. Don't expect to like the answer." ... per Ginger Meggs

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Not Alone

Deb found an interesting article. With the catchy title, "HH: Homonymous Hemianopia: challenges and solutions".

Oh, that's what I now have. Can't see out of half of each eye.

There's a list of HH-related problems... inability to identify obstacles. Problems with driving, reading, navigation. Tell me about it :-)  All so familiar. A whole article about HH. Wow!

It actually makes me feel better to know that I am not alone. It also seems to make Deb feel better, to know that (for example) my problems with navigation are just a standard side-effect of losing vision to one side (small chuckle).

The solution section of the article can mostly be summarised as, Learn to look more carefully :-)

But there are "prisms" which can help. They shift what is seen from the blind side, to the bit of eye that still works. That is very interesting... if it's available in Australia.

An interesting ... eye-opener (he he he) of an article. Thanks, Deb :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

Question authority. Don't expect to like the answer." ... per Ginger Meggs

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Reluctant to rogaine

We're going to miss the next rogaine. Various reasons including... I can't navigate. I struggle to walk up hills.

Not to worry! We'll be ready to rogaine for the next-but-one event. That's the 12 hour Spring rogaine, Deb's favourite event. There should be wildflowers :-)

We were out this morning, for a jog in Walyunga national park. What a lot of water in the river, after a few weeks' of heavy rain.

btw: This morning's run is how I know I have trouble with hills. Ah well... keep on training.

No trouble with the rough tracks, though, so that's good.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

Question authority. Don't expect to like the answer." ... per Ginger Meggs

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)

Can I orienteer?

Sunday: we go orienteering. A "bush" event on a farm. I try a VE Very Easy course. It's a test: can I navigate? Short answer: No...

Actually... I find seven of the ten controls. So I can navigate... up to a point :-)

I start walking from seven to eight. In hindsight I believe that I walk 50m and should walk 100. Then turn back... become disoriented... find another control (not one on my course).

Now I'm disoriented. I manage to retrace my steps... back to my control seven. Now I go back and forward between two controls... From "7" I find the not-my control, then "7" again... repeat. Until I find "8" I can't work towards the finish.

I circle back and forward... till a fast runner appears. I ask for help... and he walks me back to the assembly area... Phew! Nice man :-) Then he goes off to finish his own H1 course.

Yes -- I do need an escort. I am thoroughly bamboozled.

I walk 4km in 1hour30. Officially it's a 2km course.

===

And this is no excuse, but...

It's cold (12 C). Raining. Driving here we crossed a 30cm deep fast-flowing creek. Going home the creek is is twice as deep. Several trees are blown across the road. Of the three VE entries: one did not start. None of us successfully finished.

A wild day! Strangely enough -- I have enjoyed the event :-)

===

Deb drives us home.

I am absolutely exhausted.

A good day... in hindsight :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

One joy scatters a hundred griefs" ... Chinese proverb

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com/ :-)