Day 4

I’m seeing a lot of improvement. After continuing to complain about the vision in my eye and the pressure, I was given a steroid to help with some of the inflammation. I explained that this is normal and should go away on its own, and taking the steroid does increase the risk for infection slightly, so I need to monitor my incision closely.

My son was able to stay at her house last night, and this made me so happy. I acknowledge that this puts a lot of burden on my husband to try to do everything for him by having him around, listening to him sleep, being able to talk to him; just makes me feel so much more comfortable.

At this point, I’m trying to adapt and find new ways that we can play games and interact, and I don’t want to drown my healing or cause any pain or increased intracranial pressure.

I don’t know what those games look like yet, but sitting outside and watching him play with his water table, and sitting on the floor reading books as much as I’m able to. I try to reach for simple books with fewer words; some of them I know by heart, so that makes it easier. I will continue to add to this list as I find out about activities that I could do with him. I’m so grateful my husband is at home, so maybe we could continue to do exciting things so we’re not trapped in our living room forever.

I still put a Band-Aid around my surgical site so he knows where she is and that it reflects the toy bear I was given from child life. We have tried to read the shared story book. I think this still causes him stress, but he has read it from time to time.

We were a limited TV family mostly because we both have ADHD and I’m sure my son has that too, but I think during the next few weeks we’re going to increase that a little bit to see how it goes. But to be honest, he probably has a 10-minute attention span and is not good at following story shows. So I’m not sure if this will really be helpful.

I do not have a new painting post today, but I hope to paint later if possible, maybe during his nap. Painting and drying is still mostly soothing to my brain; reading and writing is not. Help, my lack of coordination, poor vision, and poor perception are signs of swelling and do not cause permanent brain damage.

It’s only been three days, but so far I have not had a seizure, so that’s a big win.

TLDR:

I enjoy having my son around, but I can do very little play with him.

My current pain symptoms are pain in my jaw, pain at my surgical incision, and pain behind my eye

Other symptoms include vertigo, unsteadiness, nausea, lack of fine motor coordination, and depth perception. I will always spill while pouring something into a cup. I cannot reach the right letters to type and need to do voice-to-text. I cannot focus my eyes to read.

It is very hard not to bend over, but I do feel the ICP, which is a good warning to calm down and sit back up. Same with lifting household items

I am not too sensitive to light or sounds, thankfully

I cannot smell much out of my right nostril

The sensation on my left side is slightly less, but I can still feel pressure and pain.

I cannot open my mouth more than 1-2 finger widths, and chewing is very painful. Popping years and. Yawning is also painful