After I answered “yes” to the nurse (see Decision chapter), the neurosurgeon and his office got the ball rolling. Sophia, the nurse who worked closely with the neurosurgeon, called us and asked if Eric could drive me to the hospital so that I could have a CAT-Scan. Then, we would both see him. The neurosurgeon checked my scalp and told Eric that it needed to be shaved and washed daily to take off all the dirt and dandruff. That way, it could be checked for any sign of infection. This will be the last surgery, he said. And he was right; there were traces of the many surgeries that had been performed on my head to take out the hemangioma, to take out the temporal bone, to put in the prosthesis, and to take out the infected scalp, as well as the bone plate, as a precaution. That meant a lot of incisions and sutures. Performing yet another surgery was a big risk to take. When we asked him if he had set a date, he said that it would be within four weeks. I did the numbers and came up with April 12th.
From then on, Eric started to shave and wash my head thoroughly, treating my exposed brain with great care. After a week, he emailed pictures of every angle of my scalp to Sophia. She was very happy with the result and said she would show them to the neurosurgeon. She ended the email asking Eric to send her pictures the next week. Eric continued to shave and wash my head and emailed pictures to her again. But this time he got a different reply: the neurosurgeon wanted to show them to the plastic surgeon. Then, Eric got a call from the plastic surgeon’s nurse.She said that he wanted to examine my scalp because he’d seen a red spot. The nurse suggested an online appointment. Guess for what date. Yes, you’re right. For April 12th! I was very disappointed. I had such hopes of throwing away the helmet and sitting up to read and write.
And there’s still another consequence of this delay. When I look at myself in the mirror, I’m faced with a foreigner. My mind stored pictures of my wedding, my trips with Eric and with Eric and Nathan across Argentina, and our family walks on the beach in Newbury Port. The face in my mind has nothing to do with the face I see in the mirror. Now Eric and I will have to wait for the surgeons to approve of the state of my scalp and, based on their approval, decide on the right date of the surgery – provided that there are an operation room and a recovery room available. So, as always, I’ll have to wait patiently. And never brush my teeth…
From then on, Eric started to shave and wash my head thoroughly, treating my exposed brain with great care. After a week, he emailed pictures of every angle of my scalp to Sophia. She was very happy with the result and said she would show them to the neurosurgeon. She ended the email asking Eric to send her pictures the next week. Eric continued to shave and wash my head and emailed pictures to her again. But this time he got a different reply: the neurosurgeon wanted to show them to the plastic surgeon. Then, Eric got a call from the plastic surgeon’s nurse.She said that he wanted to examine my scalp because he’d seen a red spot. The nurse suggested an online appointment. Guess for what date. Yes, you’re right. For April 12th! I was very disappointed. I had such hopes of throwing away the helmet and sitting up to read and write.
And there’s still another consequence of this delay. When I look at myself in the mirror, I’m faced with a foreigner. My mind stored pictures of my wedding, my trips with Eric and with Eric and Nathan across Argentina, and our family walks on the beach in Newbury Port. The face in my mind has nothing to do with the face I see in the mirror. Now Eric and I will have to wait for the surgeons to approve of the state of my scalp and, based on their approval, decide on the right date of the surgery – provided that there are an operation room and a recovery room available. So, as always, I’ll have to wait patiently. And never brush my teeth…
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