...and THIRTY-FIVE!

The twelfth has rolled around again. I've survived another month, for a total of thirty-five since the day I heard "malignant".


I did my own neuro test today, just for grins:

• I know where I am (I'm right here!) and what day it is.
• I can draw a clock and a cube (actually gained that ability since the craniotomy).
• I can count backwards from 100 by 7's (ditto).
• I can close my eyes and stretch out my arms and touch my nose with each pinky and forefinger.
• I can walk a straight line on my toes and heels.
• I can tap my fingers and thumbs together and roll my hands over each other in rhythm.
• If I run my finger along the outer edge of my foot, my toes curl under like they should. (Did you just try that one?)
• I can close my eyes and trace a letter or number on either palm and feel what it is.
• I can spell WORLD backwards (without writing it first).
• I have coordination, balance, and neuromuscular strength (just ask my sensei about karate class this week).
• I can still do stuff (like my own neuro test) "just for grins".
• I can still remember Scarlett O'Hara's opening lines in the movie Gone With the Wind ("Fiddle-dee-dee! War, war, war --this war talk is spoiling all the fun at every party this spring. I get so bored, I could scream! Besides, there isn't going to be any war.")
• I can still recognize and match musical pitches--which is really important, because another Messiah performance is coming up!!!
• Although I do it less frequently than I should, I can still write a complete sentence or two.

I'm working, I'm teaching Relief Society and directing the choir at church, I'm enjoying my husband and my kids, I'm serving on the PTA board, and I'm working toward my brown belt. If someone pulls a knife or a club on me, you should feel really sorry for them.


The only signs of brain damage are my really messy bedroom and my tendency to lose car keys and shoes when I'm in a hurry to get somewhere.


But most importantly, I'm alive!