Sunday...Ugh!

Another Sunday, another attack.  Woke up Sunday with brutal head pain, again!  I so wanted to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed, but my desire to go to church won out so I dragged myself out of bed using my best combination of adult language and tried to act like everything was cool.

What is it with Sunday’s lately?  Maybe it was payback for having a really great Saturday.  For the bulk of Saturday I felt great, barely any head pain and my neck felt really good.  Saturday afternoon we went to Sports Authority, Lowes, and a few other places and not once did I have to think about Chiari.  I had some brief pain when I played Nerf guns with our son but that went away after I lay down for a few minutes.  I even fell asleep without any neck pain.

Chiari had other plans for me on Sunday!  After church I spent most of Sunday lying down, either in bed or on the couch.  I did manage to get a few rounds of Nerf gun wars in during the evening but the end result was me on the couch in pain and questioning my sanity.  Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, so that’s pretty much what I did.  All that lying around allowed me to think about my journey through life with Chiari.  Allow me to present some of my thoughts... 

I’m a lucky Man…I may have good days, bad days, and even horrible days, but there is a light at the end of this tunnel for me.  I was lucky enough to have doctors that found the cause and presented a solution.  Sure the solution is brain surgery, but that is still a solution if not an outright cure.  I think that makes me a very lucky man, I couldn’t imagine enduring this without knowing that there is way to try and alleviate most if not all of the pain. 

I’m not alone in this…I may be the one in pain but I have a great support system surrounding me.  I have a beautiful, wonderful, and understanding wife, and two great kids.  The kids always make sure to ask me how my head is feeling and they are quick with a hug and a kiss to try and make me feel better.  My wife Joyce is an unending source of strength for me – she doesn’t think so, but she’s my rock!  I also have a great group of family members and friends that have been and continue to help us out and I am so very grateful to each and every one of you.  Thanks to all of you I don’t have to worry about the kids, the dog, or the house while I’m recovering.  I can’t say thank you enough for the peace of mind you are providing me with.

It’s not always about me…One thing that I don’t want people to do is keep problems to themselves because they think I have other things to worry about.  If you are with me or talking to me and you feel like crap, or your back or knees or other body parts feel like ass, please, please, please feel free to vent to me about it.  I want to hear about your issues or problems; it helps keep my mind off of the Chiari.  So feel free to vent or bitch around me.  I promise never to think this…”hey at least you don’t need brain surgery”, I’ll probably think this instead…”ha, I may be older than you but at least my back and knees work”.

I saw that…I can always tell by the way you look at me that you have just heard about my condition from someone and have no idea how to bring it up.  You have this look that is a combination of sympathy and a quizzical “You don’t look sick”, mixed with a bit of “what if I’m not supposed to know”.   I don’t care who knows about it, so if you heard about my condition feel free to approach me and ask me about it, I’m not contagious and I won’t bite you for asking.  That goes for everyone reading this blog, feel free to ask me questions in the comment section, I’ll do my best to answer you.  If you comment under “Anonymous” make sure to leave your name in the comment so I know who you are.  I only have anonymous turned on so you don’t need a Google account to comment, I still want to know who you are.

The wait is killing me…Our nephew is due any minute now.  One of Joyce’s sisters is in labor and we can’t wait to meet the little guy.  Note to our new nephew…Hurry up and get out here!