4 weeks Post-Op

Overall it was a good week. Despite the busy schedule, work was very productive and I had an opportunity to meet with old colleagues. In terms of my condition, I had a slight setback due to some carelessness on my part and met with my Endo which hasn't provided any results yet. With that, here's where I am with my current list of issues.

List of issues:

• Headache - slight setback
• Insomnia - tolerable

New to the list:

• Twinges of numbness in my limbs

Although I did have a good week, I did make a big mistake during football practice towards the end of last week. We were trying to teach our kids the long-snap rather than hiking the ball up close and personal. Our little center (hiker) was doing great unopposed but in tackle football, that's hardly realistic. Since I had been feeling better, I grabbed a pad and decided to pop him when he snapped the ball. As soon as I did it, I knew it was a mistake. He barely moved from my hit but the jolt rang through my head like church bells and that familiar sharp pain in my forehead came back (dammit!). I paused and waited for it to subside and it did subside from its peak intensity but not to the normal dullness that I could ignore. Instead it retained a bit of a sharp edge to it and it was no something I could simply dismiss. Damn, damn, damn, damn! I asked another little boy to take over my opposing duty but the damage was done. As the days passed, it remains, to the extent that by Friday, I had to take a pain pill. I had been able to avoid taking those for over two weeks and now I'm back on them. (Dammit!) The good news is that my headache doesn't worsen when I bend over or stand up any more. Now it's just there all the time.

The twinges in my limbs are weird and they coincidentally started happening a day or so after that regrettable decision. I can be moving or sitting (it really doesn't matter) and then I'll feel a twinge of numbness in my knees or elbows. Not at the same time, just random (and weird).

The office visit itself went fairly well. They were encouraged that I wasn't experiencing any fatigue and I had weened myself off the hydrocortisone over the weekend prior to my visit. It was a good sign that my pituitary gland is recovering and generating the necessary hormones to keep my body going. (I'll have to do a better job of writing down the hormones they keep talking about, it's all still very new to me.)

The visit again tested my dislike for needles. Not only did I have to allow the vampires (aka phlebotomist) to take more blood, the sweet nurse had to inject me with something before the blood draw. "Left arm, right arm please..."

I delayed publishing this post in hopes that I would have received results from my Endo but 4 days later, I still don't have anything...