Author: Darren Long

A blog about me, my meds, my brain surgeries, my hospital stays, my doctor visits, my life... la la la...

Visit to the Neurologist & Therapists last week

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Today is a “Do Nothing” Day. I’ve been getting to the point where I almost think that I can get by with that on most days. I have to look at the calendar hanging on the wall to see what is happening on these days.

On Thursday last week… hold on, takes me awhile to just “think”… oh, I saw my Neurologist. He hadn’t seen me since the surgery back a month ago. He has such great things to say about me. He was very impressed with the way I looked…..and this blog. LOL! He likes my grammar and the way I write. Thinking about what to type and thinking while typing makes this thing great and very long to do. Now, the fact that I may take hours, or a day, just to think/remember things that I’ve done days ago. It’d be even harder if I was to tell you what I just did last hour! Short term memory sucks…

Wait, wait… We were talking about what the doctor thought. Let me get my thoughts back to that. He said that he was impressed with what I have done and accomplished so far. This pertains to what seems to be a better “thinking” process, while my scars on my head are looking pretty fine too. Eh, it was hard work to get all this personal skin healing done. I just have to pat myself on the back for it.

Now, I’ve also been going to these therapists (still) on a regular basis. As you’ve read, the physical one is pretty much easy since we are just doing physical therapy for a left-side too weak compared to a right-side really strong. It’s strong ’cause it shakes. “Why is the left so weak?” you may think. Well, I’m lazy. I just type. She wants to build my left-handed muscles. I’m not looking to build strong muscles on my left, because I have some already on the right. Ok, this physical therapy thing is just a “whatever”. It’s been 30 years and I know how this arm is just seeming to get better all the time after this surgery when I use it.

Okay, my Speech & Language therapist is being very helpful in pointing out “why” speaking or thinking of the real words that I want can just… take too long. I have trouble thinking of my words I need to say and the things we do are still hard and I need to really work at it to “maybe” get these words out of my mouth. It’s stupid that I just can’t think of these words to say. Need to keep working on thinking about what to say as long as I need or JUST STAY QUIET.

I have to do both therapies on Wednesday this week. Just the Speech & Language one again on Friday.

Hello Mr. Less Pieces of Brain????

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These “pages” of “homework” that I am being given from my newest Speech/Language Therapist are to be done on my own without a booklet or Internet help to take home. Just work done on lots of papers.

“Where is the Leaning Tower of Pisa?” — ???

Woah? Tower of Pisa leans? See, I would know everything about this before this surgery into my brain before. Now that I think about it, I can see it in my head. Where is it? It’s that country that starts with an I—-…. See….  Italy. That’s good for me. Ahhh.. Maybe I just need to do all the damn questions on here to give myself time to think. 😉

“How many years are in a decade?” — 10 years

Lots are better and easier for ME. If I can guess the people who are unable to answer this question for they some reason, can’t do that….. ha ha…

The real problem is THINKING OF THE WORDS that I need to answer questions… But, right now is later in the afternoon. Above was earlier in the morning and I was thinking and typing faster. Almost 4 o’clock and I’m already getting tired.

Looking at my posts today…

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I was just looking at my previous posts in this system and looked back to the very first one. Today is the one-year anniversary of the whole thing of the beginning of the web site. Wow! Quite the time taken to think and type done by myself and my wife for this whole thing being done.

Now, at the beginning of my web site, I have a date that is equal to now, but I started the stuff before the date. Actually back in January of last year is when I agreed to start. 

I am having some pain in my head today. I don’t know why. Maybe thinking too hard about a year ago? 🙂 Maybe not. My skull still has pretty “dents” and “marks” after the surgeries that can be seen on the outside. Need to take some meds for the headache.

I still don’t have any memory of this last hospital stay and never will. That’s fine, but this head hurting is not as fine. Today my head has a pain, but I’m still living now. Need to go to bed because my head and eyes are just very tired. I believe this is a feeling I’m going to have at this time of the day for at least (maybe) for the next year or (hopefully) less. We’ll see…

Two Therapists…

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On Friday I had a schedule for two therapists. A Physical one for about an hour and then a Speech & Language one right after that. Did my usual type of physical therapy that I’ve done with the first one. Just doing some different things here and there in the room that we were both in. Tossed or bounced a large ball back and forth for awhile among other things I did during the time I was there with her. After I was done, I went back to the waiting room.

The Speech & Language therapist, a couple minutes later, showed up and brought us to a separate room from the work-out room where the physical therapist & I were. This is where we always go. We started by having me show off my crossword puzzles I had worked on from last week that she had given me to work on. Couldn’t look up the answers in anything, just in my mind… It was two crossword puzzles on two papers to do. Not the MOST complicated things in the world, just taking time. Did I finish them in two days like I thought I would and not did them earlier? No. There was just two or four words that I had unfinished on each page. Not a bad figure if I’m doing these straight out of my head being all screwed up right now. <grin> Need to finish them now. I was also given two more papers to do for next weekend. Don’t know what those are. Not supposed to look until I start. Eh, okay.

Visited the hospital doctors…

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Just got home after my appointment from KU Med. My head was cut-up after the incision/surgery on the left side and it looked good. Wanted to check up on that. Came out good and the doc said I could go ahead and shave my face near my ear which would show off some stuff on the left side. Have to wait and see…

The doctor said:

  • The incision in my head looked great.
  • I defiantly need “cognitive therapy”.
  • Strength is good.
  • Need to strengthen my neck because my head leans to the right.

That was about it after the doctor said that I needed to see him in 3 months.

He also talked and said the scars on the top of my head from November will probably stop the hair from growing. So, that means I have these scar lines in my head that were used to show where my head was cut at, I will not have hair growing there. Hmmmm… What do I do now? Maybe wear a hat all the time? Just shave my ugly-striped top of my head all the time? I just have to think and see…