Summertime

Well! Recovering from brain surgery wasn’t as bad as a I thought it would be! I had so many visitors, phone calls, messages and gifts during my recovery it was truly touching. People are so thoughtful and it meant so much. I felt truly cared about.The first week I was a bit slow but I had my mom staying with me taking care of me and then plenty of friends to step in when she had to go home. I couldn’t lift anything heavy or bend over which is actually quite limiting but the worst part was sleeping sitting up for the first few days at home!! You really take laying down for granted haha. So uncomfortable. At least when I was in the hospital I was so doped up I would just fall asleep. The pain wasn’t too bad though, slight headache but nothing a bit of Tylenol couldn’t fix. My nose bothered me but it has been through a lot – that’s how they got to my brain. Kinda bizarre that they can do that but it beats shaving my head!! The doctors weren’t able to tell me when the next surgery would be so the waiting continues.  They did however clear me to fly!!

My follow-up with the neurosurgeon isn’t until the end of July which actually worked out quite well for me. It meant I could go on a 3 week trip to England with my mom and dad which was so much fun! Not only did I get to see so much family but spent nearly a week in Scotland and went to Paris for a girls night with my mom, Auntie Tracey and cousins Terri and Lia! I really wanted to see more of Europe and said the next time I went to England I would have to visit continental Europe and I did! Paris was like a whole other world, just amazing. We weren’t there for long, just one night, but we saw as much as we could!! I broke my shoes we walked so much but it was totally worth it. Next time I would love to spend a bit longer there. Sit at street cafes in the mornings, sightseeing in the afternoon, then stroll along the Siene at night. We did a river cruise and it was just magical. It was great to go up to Scotland as well – again a totally different world where I lost the ability to read hahaha. All of the signs saying the names of towns was just beyond me hahaha I swear it wasn’t english.  My mom, my Auntie Cyn and I took the train up to Carnoustie where my Auntie Ange lives – a great way to see the countryside! It was a bit chilly while we were there but we had a lovely cottage right on the sea – we even saw dolphins from our window. My dad and Uncle Deryck drove up for a night as well and we had a bonfire in the garden. We spent most of our time in England visiting with family and didn’t stray too too far from Scarborough but it was nice to travel around the Yorkshire countryside. Saw a lot of places we used to visit when we’d go over for family holidays and ate lots of fish and chips. Can’t wait to go back again! I love being able to pop over to family’s houses or them coming to us for tea on a night, or going down to the seafront for a stroll. I didn’t have a phone, computer or tv the whole time we were there and I thought I’d miss it but we always found something to do that I really didn’t at all. Of course I missed all my friends back home but Facebook really isn’t all there is to life hahaha!

Having time off also meant I got to spend a few days in southern Ontario visiting friends and family there before and after jetting off to England! My friend Janine just had her first baby and I was so happy I got to meet little Gabrielle just 10 days after she was born. My time in southern Ontario was supposed to be longer – hoping to stay for a few weeks after getting back from England before heading back to school in September but I had to get back to Calgary for my followup with the surgeon at the end of July. Unfortunately this meant missing the wedding of two of my good friends I went to Brock with L Congrats Kimmy and Jamie!

After the trip to England I spent a night in Newmarket with my aunt and uncle before flying back to Alberta. The followup appointment went well but one of my surgeons is off all of August so that means I can’t be scheduled for surgery until September. I was really impressed with him though, he was trying to get some OR time and come into the city to do my surgery during his time off. Too bad it didn’t work out! When I called home to tell my parents my surgery wouldn’t be for another month dad suggested I go home for August. So I did. It was a perfect summer in Marathon, not too hot not too cold. Many a great afternoon was spent reading in the garden and I even saw the aurora borealis one night sat around a fire with the family. I went home a week before my sister moved back to Ottawa so it was great to hang out with her since I hadn’t seen her since January.

I got the call for my surgery while I was home and they scheduled me in for September 6 – the day after my 29^th birthday. Happy birthday to me! In a way it is a gift because I will finally get fixed, but at the same time who wants surgery for a birthday? I’d much rather just eat cake. Guess this means I won’t be heading back to work in September either which is upsetting. I told my grade one students that I’d be back in September so I feel like I’m letting them down. I was looking forward to getting back to the classroom but the new plan is to be back at Thanksgiving!