Greetings from the exploding head

A week makes a huge difference when it comes to a head injury-well, it's made somewhat of a difference, anyway. Last week I was in excruciating, screaming, head-exploding pain-enough to make me sit and hold my head in my hands and sob uncontrollably. Anyone walking past my door probably thought I was being murdered.

Did I remember my homeopathic remedy of choice-arnica, which I've been using for bruising and any other injuries for years and years? No, I did not. I think that when you are suffering from any kind of injury, those things just disappear from your consciousness. Perhaps it's then okay to have a couple of days of dripping with self-pity. Drip, drip, drip-I did that, then got so bored, I got up and risked another fall by going outside and walking. Carefully.

One neighbour saw me clearly in distress-so I just said I fell and concussed myself. She went on to remind me that some actress had a bad fall while skiing, and died of a brain haemorrhage. Then she went on to say-as if that wasn't quite enough-that a couple of years ago, her neighbour fell and broke her hip, and that triggered Alzheimer's Disease, so she soon had to be carted off, never to be seen or heard from again.

That's what I really treasure: dynamic, positive thinking from neighbors who are determined to scare the living crap out of you. Wow-whatever floats their boat, I guess. Did I let it all scare me (which was clearly my neighbor's intention)? Of course not. I just rolled my eyes-which nearly made me fall over-and started walking along my usual route. You're doing too much with a head injury, she called after me. Thanks for the concern, I said, and just kept going.

I'm supposed to be laid back for a couple of weeks, checking that the symptoms don't get worse. If I get any more laid back, it's very possible that I will ripen and rot.

I'm like the Energizer bunny: I'll keep going until I run out of batteries. I've sat on my ass for over a week. That's enough. But I must be getting better, even though it's very slow going. I've been back to Starbucks today (I did miss my Starbucks), and I've hit the Kettle Chips really hard. Food? Who needs food when you've got Kettle Chips and Starbucks? I'm pretty sure that there will be one from several food groups in both. Or-I'll just make it up, and blame it all on the concussion.

I could be blaming anything and everything on the concussion for-years. What a great excuse...