6-MONTHS SEIZURE-FREE!!

FIRST BIG NEWS!!! IT'S BEEN 6 MONTHS!!!! I CAN DRIVE, I HAVEN'T HAD ANY SEIZURES!!!!!!

The stages of your license renewal:

1. OMG It's real 
2. It's a wheel...so beautiful....
3. EEEP YAYYYY
4. It's been far too long. 

I can say with confidence that I have felt nothing better than ripping up a form from the DMV about my medical restriction-1 tear per year of these seizures. It's over. 

I'm healed. I can drive. And I won the battle. 

This is incredible. When this all started 4 years ago, I never thought there could be an end. My parents have been helping me every step of the way, and my medical team were angels. And now, something has CLEARLY worked. It's been quite a journey, but having something as simple as the ABILITY TO DRIVE A CAR!!!!! makes it all seem surreal. Because that means it's ALMOST over. What's left? A few follow-up tests. And I'm neuro-PSYCHED! 

But actually...that's part of the post-op. Ok...well for those of you who haven't gone through any brain surgeries (which I hope is most), a  Neuropsychology Evaluation (EVA) is a follow-up test to ensure that the function of the brain is intact and that all the neurons are firing down the right pathways. When I was having seizures, I would forget EVERYTHING. My mom tried to ask me if I was having a blackout, and I called a deck of cards "cookers". So yeah, this test was probably a good call on the doctor's part.

Don't use cell phones they say...PLEASE.

This is basically the SAT for brain surgery, and I took the same test during my summer of Pre-Ops, which will be the comparison to the one I just took! So basically I'm competing against myself...instead of my brothers or thousands of other high schoolers. Once they get these results back, I should get a good sense of whether or not I'm still normal...relatively speaking. And I'll get these back in...a month. It was a 3-hour test, so I'll give the doctor some extra leeway on that far-off due date. The mind is a complex beast to tame, even 95% of one like mine.

So most people don't even know what a neuro-psych evaluation is, and it sounds pretty intense considering the 3 hours and the 11 syllables that make up the test. But personally, I found it to be a pretty enjoyable experience! What did I do? ....Try it yourself 😉

Now, pay attention to this first test! They use this for overall memory function, especially DETAILS. That was a big hint to what you need to focus on to pass this if you didn't catch my drift...

Next up: The Boston Naming Test!! It's exactly what it sounds like, you literally just name things from the picture they show you. It sounds so much easier than it is, especially when you're put on the spot. I have never been so aware of my lack of math classes since high school...I SWEAR I know what a protractor is...please do better than me on this...😧

Speaking of math, numbers are fun, right? Yes. Mostly. Until you have to remember them. Anyone who knows me knows that my memory is pretty bad. And it's kinda inconvenient because now that these seizures have stopped, I don't even have an excuse! Well, all you gotta do is say them back in order...and then do it BACKWARDS!! #ChallengeAccepted

Well, that's just a taste of the 4-hour test. It's quite a long haul, and it involved some fun stuff that played right into my 80-year-old raisin-eating puzzle lover side. There is block matching, a pin board, some word listing (turkey, moon, house, river, parent, school, hat....ok you get it), and it ends with more personal questions in a traditional format.

My test-giver lady :) 

 Aside from a few questions about basic US History, this personal portion of the test was probably the most difficult part. Even though it took me until a bathroom break to remember that Sacagawea was not married to John Smith while she sang to the colors of the wind, the breakdown of my own habits and feelings took more thought than I guessed it might. I was asked more obvious questions that I could quickly write off as obvious "Never"...mostly stuff about drugs and alcohol addictions, but ranking my level of stress and habits from stress was just HARD! I mean, that's kinda the reason you have a habit, isn't it? It's so ingrained in your mind that you don't even realize it.

But it was most difficult to choose answers because I so badly wanted to know what my parents and friends would write in. What were THEY seeing? Ah, well. As soon as I turned in that scantron test...I was reminded of my true biggest life struggle:

 Using a pencil as a leftie. 

The graphite hand syndrome is real. 

My follow-up appointment is scheduled in a month, and she's gonna break down my entire mental state...yay? Well, I hope yay. Because things are looking up, and with no seizures in 6 months, a VALID LICENSE, and only a few tests left...I'm feeling pretty brain UN-dead.