anomalous adventures

I needed to come up with some kind of system to plug old writings in. Just for the fun of it, and then to get some of the more authentic/raw reactions while I was at various stages, rather than slightly tinted glasses I now employ as a matter of survival.  Original text will always be in italics, with any comments or supplementary material I have to add from a more contemporaneous perspective, in regular text. (subject to change if/when I start dabbling more in style sheets)

Wild child

This category will contain entries from my very first diary (a Christmas present from 1983). Several of the entries are funny (or at least cute for the age-appropriate spellings), and some are highly informative. It’s a FIVE-YEAR DIARY, but many pages were wasted.

Also, eventually, insight into how crucial and formative experiences were from when I was very young in order to happily handle health surprises at older ages.

Diagnosis to float

This would be the interval including the hearing fluctuations, losses, adjustments, changes in direction, and then discovering what I needed–for a time–after experiencing a surgery that actually left me in better shape than what I’d been before it.

The in-between time was wild, but worth the price of admission.  I should elaborate on those for the sake of others enduring the downward spiral of functions NF2 can cause. The lows make the highs seem even higher!

This side of the hedge

This goes from my change-of-major, through May, 2006, I guess, but probably more heavily weighted by stuff that’s older. For various reasons.  (Obvious reasons being I did not know what my body was doing, or have a firm grasp of the level

Caveat: There were probably times when I wrote as a release, focusing more on getting stuff bothering me out there, on paper and such. That was a long time ago, relatively speaking. My coping mechanisms are numerous. A very large component of living a life that’s riddled with unpredictability is trying to maintain an orientation to problem-solving. When you’re focused on fully experiencing a situation and being receptive to what it has to offer in human/meaning terms, then life’s less about obstacles and more about experiences. Anyhow, my writings tend to be more positive-leaning. (I do remain both practical and realistic in everyday life, but part of the battle is framing situations in a way that makes them amenable to simple changes. And those everyday things add-up at the social level!) The mental struggles will largely remain mine, in my mind. I’m cool with that because when it comes down to it, I’m the only one who can put my pieces together and convince myself the outcome is satisfactory. It’s just the way I am.

Additionally, I’m not currently a great synthesizer or condenser/summarizarian. It’s up to you to take and leave what may/not suit you. I don’t take myself too seriously, and got a lot of laughs out of a lot of stuff, so feel free to do the same!

And finally, it was never about ME, ME, ME. Never. I guess this will come out in the posts, inevitably, but I just want to make it clear from the start: I’m writing what I know, but it’s only a very small slice of my experiences, and the experiences I’ve shared with others, and the totality of human experiences in the world. Timing still blows my mind, but I’ll do what I can with what I have to work with, and hopefully it’ll alleviate some suffering, and serve to honor the lives of many others who don’t have the same opportunity right now.

And yes, in case there’s any doubt: I am a nut.

So that’s operating on multiple levels. I’m all over, most of the time. Unapologetically. Because this is my blog. (yes, there’s a cue to smile here…) Creative license is grand!

PARTIAL SURGICAL HISTORY

(RELATED TO NEUROFIBROMATOSIS II)

DATE DESCRIPTION

03/09  Right temporal lobe craniotomy and tumor removal; Dr. Thomas C. Witt, Dr. Richard T. Miyamoto; Indiana University Hospitals (IUH), Indianapolis

03/07 Right posterior frontal-anterior parietal meningioma; Dr. Michael B. Pritz, IUH, Indianapolis

05/04 Left parietal craniotomy and tumor removal (approximately 5cm convexity meningioma attached to the dura); Dr. Michael B. Pritz; IUH, Indianapolis

01/04 Left upper eyelid gold weight placement (1.2 gram), Left lower eyelid retraction repair with Gore-Tex interpositional graft, Left suborbicularis oculi fascia lift; Dr. Richard Burgett; IUH, Indianapolis

06/03 Brachial plexus; Dr. Robert L. Campbell; IUH, Indianapolis

07/98 Suboccipital removal of left, recurrent, cerebellar pontine angle tumor compressing the brain stem; Dr. Richard T. Miyamoto, Dr. Robert L. Campbell; IUH, Indianapolis

08/96 Diagnostic laparoscopy; Dr. Thomas J. Howard; IUH, Indianapolis

08/96 Ventriculoperitoneal shunt; Dr. Robert L. Campbell; IUH, Indianapolis

08/96 Decompression of the internal auditory canal; Dr. Richard T. Miyamoto, Dr. Robert L. Campbell; IUH, Indianapolis

08/96 Left suboccipital craniectomy with subtotal removal of acoustic tumor and unroofing of internal auditory meatus; Dr. Robert L. Campbell; IUH, Indianapolis

12/95 Translabyrinthine removal of acoustic neuroma, microdissection, abdominal fat graft, insertion of auditory brain stem implant; Dr. Richard T. Miyamoto, Dr. Robert L. Campbell; IUH, Indianapolis

06/95 Excision of schwannoma, grossly complete, right tibial nerve; Dr. Robert L. Campbell; IHU, Indianapolis

11/91 Suboccipital removal of right acoustic neuroma and jugular foramen neuroma; Dr. Richard T. Miyamoto, Dr. Robert L. Campbell; IUH, Indianapolis

11/91 Right suboccipital craniectomy with gross total removal of the right 11^th nerve neurinoma and gross total removal of right acoustic neurinoma with preservation of facial and cochlear nerves anatomically; Dr. Robert L. Campbell, Dr. Richard T. Miyamoto; IUH, Indianapolis

The concurrent CV hasn’t been updated for a few years due to the parts of NF2 surgeries can’t fix, but adds interest and context. (as do my MRI scans and reports… but I’ll spare you those) Lots of variety, and pretty amazing what one can accomplish when just surviving. But I’m not done yet! Perseverance and determination endure, but I’ve had to moderate ambitions, make a few unexpected meanders. Smart compromises for the most part. Still, it’s all about the people and interactions, always!