Category: Milestones

Back At Work Full Time

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It’s only Wednesday, but I’ve worked for 8 hours every day this week so far. Monday and Tuesday in the office and today from home. So far, so good. Haven’t fallen asleep or fallen down the stairs, so that’s a positive sign.

Monday I had a pretty good headache by the time I got home and was very tired. Tuesday was VERY tired all day, but no headache. Today I had a headache all day. Almost called it a half a day, but stuck it out after two Tylenol after lunch and even made a pretty good dinner. EXTREMELY exhausted right now. Forgot to call my mom today…hope she forgives me! I’ll do it tomorrow.

As I start to develop fatigue during the day, I get this zinging pain around the bone plate area. They don’t last long, thank God, but they’re very sudden. Almost like a little electric shock being sent through a pointer. Very sudden, sharp pain, then it’s gone.

My scalp is still numb. Maybe a LITTLE bit more feeling back. Hard to tell just yet. At least taking showers doesn’t wipe me out as much. My jaw is still hurting through. Sometimes it’ll get a longer, aching pain and other times it’s a zinger pain like the head pain is.

I now have one side burn. ONE. LOL The hair around my ear has grown back, but it’s not long enough to go behind my ear with my glasses, so it has a tendency to stick out straight. Thankfully the rest of my hair can cover it for a bit.

The few people who know I’m back at work have been very welcoming. I didn’t see any of them while I was out these two months. Thankfully, I didn’t have a huge pile of jobs waiting for me when I got back and I have a good project to work on that will keep me busy, but isn’t terribly pressing so I can take my time with it. I know the fatigue will be with me for a while, so I’m extremely thankful to work for a company that allows me to work from home so I don’t have to get up as early and worry about the drive. Dave has been driving me this week.

Hopefully tomorrow and Friday won’t be too tough and I can catch up on my rest this weekend. But, it’s another milestone I’m getting through getting back to the real world. I’m one of the lucky ones.

Day of Rest?

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Today was supposed to be my day of rest after working yesterday, but I’m not sure I did such a good job of it. I was tired when I woke up…or rather when my cat woke me up, over and over again, but not as bad as I was expecting to be. I’m pretty sure the good nap yesterday helped.

I wanted to try driving again and Dave needed to go in to town, so I offered to drive. This time I drove into town and back home. It was a bit of a struggle on the way back as I could feel my confidence and awareness waining. It was the perfect amount of time and distance to try this out again.

Had a pretty good headache when I got home and needed to lay down and rest. I did not rest enough though. Should have napped. Tomorrow could be interesting, but I got a full drive in today, so I’m proud of myself for getting that done. Need to do it more. One day at a time.

First Day of Work (at home)

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I’m going to try working at home this week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to see how that goes for me. I got up early, washed my hair, fed the cats and ate breakfast at my normal “work” time then at 7 a.m. I made the short commute into my home office. I need to get used to sitting at a computer screen all day again.

I did okay until about 9 a.m. then had to step away from the computer and walk around a bit. At 10:30 I needed to close my eyes for about 15 minutes, so I set the timer on my computer and sat back in the chair. Ate lunch and walked for 10 minutes inside, then pretty much pooped out around 2 p.m. I TRIED to get a full 8 hours in, but couldn’t keep my eyes open after 7.5 hours. Then slept for an hour and a half.

Not sure how I’ll feel tomorrow, but it’s a start. I received a beautiful floral bouquet from a friend and that sure put a smile on my face and perked me up!

Support Group

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Yesterday was a major outing for me and a major event for the state of Maine and anyone who has been effected by brain aneurysms.

Maine Brain Aneurysm Support GroupThe first meeting of the Maine Brain Aneurysm Support Group was held in Portland and by all accounts it was a great success. The Brain Aneurysm Foundation sent two of their most notable representatives to join us and helped us get the ball rolling. The medical community was also highly represented, which was most important.

We have been trying to get a support group going for years and it took getting the Brain Aneurysm Foundation directly involved, to get the local medical community involved…which was what we needed and had failed to do successfully in the past.

When I left the hospital after my brain aneurysm ruptured in 2006, I was given nothing but a book on traumatic brain injury, not an aneurysm, and sent on my merry way. If I hadn’t found an online community of other brain aneurysm survivors, I would have floundered and felt very alone. My doctor at the time had nothing in his office on what to expect while recovery from a rupture nor any info to assist newly diagnosed patients.

That is our goal with this support group: to assist those recovering, to comfort those who have lost, and to educate those who are newly diagnosed. And now, with the local medical community involved, our mere existence will be generated amongst medical newsletters and calendars and we hope to help many more people…and perhaps save lives through our Brain Aneurysm Awareness events.

It was wonderful to see new faces and hear their stories. Some more challenging than others and it makes us aware we’ll need to address many different topics throughout the months as each story is different. The brain aneurysm is what binds us and simply knowing we’re not alone in our struggles is what this group is all about. There IS a community of people effected by brain aneurysms throughout the state of Maine.

I was exhausted afterwards, but it was worth it. I wouldn’t have missed the first meeting unless I had to, because we’ve worked so hard to get to this point. For some reason the side of my face near my incision around my jaw and ear has been swollen the last couple of days and remained so last night, so I put ice on it for a time, then promptly fell completely asleep for the entire night. I needed that full-night’s sleep that’s for sure.