Happy Anniversary!

Four years ago today I installed a new printer for our home computer. Not a big deal, but I happened to knock myself silly when I was crawling out from under the desk after plugging it in. Knocked myself out, actually. The next day I couldn't remember my birthday. The next week I couldn't remember how to make a sandwich or coffee. The week after that I started having seizures. Life just seemed to go downhill from there.

We saw doctors. We read books. We prayed. We cried. We saw more doctors. No one had any answers for us other than "You'll be fine in a few months." Oh, were they wrong! I did get better as time went by, but months? No. Years? Yes. As each anniversary has passed I have been able to see progress that I have made, but there has been a sadness, too, as I remember who I was. Just the other day I was rereading last year's post In Memorium and thinking about how much has changed this past year. This year I am not sad in thinking about who I used to be, because I am so much closer to that than I have been in the past three years.

I have to say that this has been the best year yet. I finally found two wonderful doctors that have really listened to me. Even when they haven't been able to give me definitive answers, they have been compassionate and caring and taken time to explain anything that I have questions about. One of these wonderful doctors prescribed Topomax to help with migraines,  but it also stopped my seizures. I haven't had a seizures in almost a year! What a fantastic side effect!

Now that I don't have seizures, I am a new woman. I can drive wherever I want whenever I want. I have gone to Austin and back to shop - by myself! I have taken two classes at the stamp shop in Salado - by myself! I even spent a weekend in Austin by myself when I just needed to get away for while. I flew to Atlanta for our annual LOSTie gathering - by myself! I have to admit that I was nervous about the whole airport thing - airports and my sensory issues haven't had a good track record, but I had no problems at all!  My independence and self confidence have returned and it is so nice to be free again!

I still have limits, but they continue to expand. I still have sensory issues, but they don't result in seizures anymore. I still thrive in a quiet environment and get easily confused in a noisy environment, but I'm much better than I was. I do most things on my own without the need for a "copilot." Math is still a challenge for me, but as long as I have a calculator on my cell phone I'll be okay! I'll never be the person I was before my head injury, but I'm so much closer than I was a year ago. And I hope that a year from now I can say that I'm even closer than I am today.

God is good and He has great plans for me!