My Pet Head-Rock

This time of year, we frequently hear these song lyrics: He’s making a list, checking it twice. I say, “Wait, only twice? What kind of slacker are you, Santa?” I have long been a fan of making lists. When I was younger, the lists were more of a catalog: the countries I had visited or wanted to visit, clothing items to buy that would complete my wardrobe (who was I kidding? It’s never completed!), guys I had dated. Now that I’ve reached middle age, the lists help me remember what I need and want to do. Yeah, kids, you read that right – I need a reminder sometimes of the things I want to do. That little reduction in memory capacity is waiting for you, too, when you reach middle age. (Hmm… I don’t like the term “middle age.” It sounds so much older than just saying my actual age of 45.) I rely heavily on such checklists during recovery from my craniotomy, but they look a little different now. Initially, they actually looked different without one’s having to read them because ...

My husband and I did not do all of the things I list here, but we realized after the fact that they would have been helpful. 1.      Cleaning. a.      Do all your laundry as close to your surgery date as possible. Make sure that your comfy, lounge-y recovery clothes are ready for you. b.      Clean your house, especially the bathrooms, and change your bedsheets the night before leaving for the hospital. c.      Take out the garbage! d.      If you live in a house, do all or as much of the seasonally appropriate yardwork as you can.   2.      Pay any outstanding bills. You probably have a stack of medical bills sitting around. If you are able, pay off everything you can before surgery because you are liable to forget such things afterward—and you don’t want to pile up overdue charges just because you’re recovering from surgery. This will also ...

This was in my fortune cookie the day I had a checkup with my neurosurgeon. November 29 th marked exactly four weeks since my craniotomy and was the day I met with my neurosurgeon to discuss how things are going. Once again, I was reminded of how the doctors I’ve had at Abbott Northwestern have been excellent: Dr. Stanley M. Goldberg for my colectomy – he spoke directly to me and not just to my parents even though I was only 13 – and Dr. John Mullan for my craniotomy. They are/were both good at what they do, respectful, reassuring in their confidence, enthusiastic about the work they do, and … hmmm. I want to say something like “easy to talk to about my concerns” or “not dismissive” or something along those lines, but those terms seem inadequate. I felt heard . That’s probably one of the best things you can say about a doctor, in my opinion. So here’s where I stand, one month post-craniotomy: ·        Pain: If there’s not another body par...

Enough to start an addiction? Maybe so. By now, you’ve all heard that there is an opioid crisis in our country. I did not fail to consider this when facing a surgery for which I knew I’d be prescribed narcotic painkillers. Before I go into my experience with Percocet, here is some basic information about the opioid problem of which we should all be aware: 1.      “Crisis” and “epidemic” are not overblown words. The CDC reports that in 2015, approximately 15,000 people died from prescription opioids alone. Last year, more than 64,000 people in the US died from all drug overdoses . (Compare to approximately 32-35,000 deaths from gun violence per year– go, USA!—and around the same number, maybe a little higher, from car accidents .) The rate of opioid deaths has quadrupled since 1999. 2.      This crisis is not about preventing kids from doing drugs (“Just say no, kids!”), though obviously some of the overdose deaths come from illici...

Craniotomates are told to take four to six weeks off of work after surgery. Due to the nature of my job (teaching = getting a long-term sub) and the holiday schedule, I am fortunate enough to get two entire months off. Since my pain and discomfort are minimal, this sounds like a great time to kick back and get caught up on my Netflix streaming, no? No.    Brain surgery is unlike other surgeries, I’ve realized. When I had my colon removed in 1985, I indulged myself in MTV and Danger Mouse and listened to tapes of Howard Jones and OMD . When I had exploratory abdominal surgery in 1991, I watched news about the Gulf War and The Golden Girls. I listened to my tunes when there was nothing good on TV. But now, after my craniotomy, my house is often silent. Brains are complicated things, simultaneously fragile and remarkably resilient. Brain surgery and the medications prescribed for swelling and seizures afterward mess with the functioning in some subtle and not-so-...