Boring? Depends on your perspective.

These last few weeks I've been finding it difficult to find anything interesting to say on this blog. It feels like nothing really interesting is happening. I asked Jeff to help me come up with things to write about, and I realized that although life is just going along as usual here, that doesn't necessarily mean you all will be bored by my updates. So, in no particular order here are some things that have happened in the past few weeks:

1. Ice cream updates: The cinnamon almond ice cream was delicious. We will definitely be using that recipe for ice cream base again, and I think it will be able to be adapted to make many wonderful flavors. I tried to make maple ice cream, following a recipe using maple syrup, and it turned out a little too eggy, and a bit icy despite having a very high fat content. I decided that instead of just maple, it tastes a bit like French toast with syrup, which is not bad but is not what I was going for. I think I will have to try making it a different way next time.

2. After much waiting, I had an appointment with my neurosurgeon here to go over a follow-up MRI from February. It was completely unremarkable – no change from a year ago, which is good because it means that there is no new abnormal tissue. Exactly as expected, but still reassuring. Around 7% of people who have surgery to remove a brain stem cavernous malformation do end up having regrowth, and while I am not at high risk of having this happen, there is always a chance. So even though the doctor was running quite late and I ended up spending about two and half hours in the waiting room for a ridiculously short appointment (we didn't even go into an exam room, we met in a back hallway where there is a computer to look at images), I didn't mind too much getting the news that everything still looks good.

3. Last week I went for a walk from my office to the University bookstore completely unassisted (not even a cane) other than having Jeff act as a bodyguard (making sure I had space and making sure that students staring down at their phones didn't run into me). This is the first time I have gone out anywhere public without a walking aid (besides times when I am using Jeff as a walking aid). I walked very slowly and deliberately, and it took a great deal of concentration, but it is a milestone nonetheless. The whole distance there and back was probably about half a mile, and total walking time was probably about thirty minutes, with a rest in between to look at merchandise at the bookstore.

4. I have a couple of new tricks that I can do: I can now get up from the floor without using my hands for support, and can similarly go down to the floor  from standing without using my hands. Also, I can walk up and down one step without a handrail or other support. I am not especially consistent with any of these things yet, and lose my balance about half the time, but it is still progress. As I get better at them, these skills will be very useful for navigating curbs and enjoying picnic blankets :-)

5. Jeff has a cold for the second time in about three weeks. I feel bad for him, getting hit back-to-back. I also feel a bit pleased with myself for managing to avoid getting sick all winter – the obsessive hand hygiene that I learned while working at the VA and at Harborview has become a habit, and seems to be paying off. Now by publicly saying something about managing to stay healthy I've probably jinxed myself, and will come down with a cold in the next week. I will continue my hand hygiene routine and let you know whether it is powerful enough to stave off jinxes :-)