I think a good sign that things are going well is that it’s been almost a week since I’ve written anything in this blog. I’m not a fan of blogging in general, and my goal the entire time has been to keep this focussed on the whole tumor issue. So, now that things are coasting along in the recovery lane, and there aren’t too many new developments or any deep psychological soul searchings, it just hasn’t crossed my mind to write about anything.

I’ve been pretending to be normal, essentially. I’ve been working and interacting with people on a pretty normal level, it seems. I’m going to improv practices and an occasional special event. I’ve been to church. On the surface, I think I’m passing off this normal thing pretty well.

And the fallout hasn’t been too bad. I’m still pretty tired from a normal day, but really not all that much worse than I was pre-surgery. Of course, the improv practices have exhausted me about twice as quickly as I expected. And I went camping this weekend with Jasper and the Cub Scouts (which sounds like an old ’60’s band) and then came home and did a little bit of yard work, so all of that activity has taken a huge toll on the energy supplies. But it didn’t really set me back much, if at all, today. Maybe a little in the morning, but otherwise not too bad.
But my theory is that if I don’t push myself, I’ll never really know exactly how far along I am in this whole recovery thing. As long as I pay attention when my body tells me I’m worn out, then I’m not doing any harm, right? Although some may wish to debate me, my opinion is if you’re not pretending to be normal by 5 weeks after your surgery, then you’re either suffering from pituitary side effects that I have been blessed enough to avoid, or you’ve grown very accustomed to your soap operas and La-Z-Boy.

The only thing I haven’t yet done is gone back to the gym. I hope to start that this week, and there’s really no reason why I couldn’t, as I was given permission to do a reduced regimen at least a couple of weeks ago. All of the wonderful food that was sent our way throughout this ordeal is settling quite naturally right in my middle, and that’s the only way to get it to not take root. I think I’m just fighting the standard human gym-avoidance on this one.

Speaking of guts, I think my bruised gut issue is on the way out. I can still feel it a bit, so I won’t say it’s gone. But it’s not so all encompassing as it was before, which means I’m not bitching about it to Terry every five minutes any more. Maybe another week to go?

There is improvement in the numb lip/teeth/palette area. In fact, my palette almost feels back to normal. My upper teeth still have a ways to go, and laughing and smiling a lot still makes my upper lip scream obscenities. But comparatively, it’s all come a long way. And I still can’t rub my nose without it feeling like there is a prosthetic version of my nose implanted just under the surface. Again, it’s better, but I think that’s going to take at least another month or more to return to the world of normal noses.

Sleep has proven uneven. I’ve had nights on Ambien where I STILL woke up at 4 am, and I’ve had nights without any sleep aid that I made it all the way through the night. Or not. But my intent is to disprove Woody’s theory  that it has nothing to do with surgery and everything to do with simply getting old. I’m holding on to the “thirty-” part of my 39 years as long as it’s there, and that is wayyyyy to young to be “getting old.” Although my 20-something friends laugh at that concept and pat me on the back, my 40- and 50-something friends are sending up some serious “a-men!”s.

So expect these entries to be less frequent in the weeks to come. I’ll post more as I learn or discover new things in the process, like after my follow up with the endocrinologist on April 17, or after the next MRI on April 11. In the meantime, thanks again to all of you who have been reading this blog! It has helped a lot to write it, but it’s been very reassuring to know that some people have actually wanted to READ it!