My brain is normal

Hello interwebs, did you miss me??

We were away with no internet/cell phone/crackberry access for a whole five days. And before that we were kid-free for a whole five days. And since then we've been doing the oh-so-lovely gradual entry thing for the next level of daycare (for five days...what is it about five days?). I had a great list of posts that I was going to schedule over the past two weeks, but, well, none of them got written (some were partly complete) and then, well, I couldn't be bothered.

So, in the next few weeks, expect a recap of the family get together back in August, the excitement of turning three, some restaurants I visited for the first time and some more recipes I tried, a wedding with canoes and life in general.

I don't know about you, but we're looking forward to life returning to normal. It's time for a new year to start because for me (and Heddy) the new year starts in September.

Whatever. Life will return to normal one day. I know. I've said that before. And there is no such thing as normal.

Unless of course we're talking about my brain.

Today marked the end of the parade of doctors and anxiety of tests. I have had an entire lab's worth of tests done in the last five weeks, including (but not limited to) a non-contrast CT scan, a contrast CT scan (which makes you feel like you've peed your pants, even though you haven't), enough blood work to regenerate all my blood at least once over (okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but there was lots of blood), a lumbar puncture, an abdominal ultrasound, a cardiac ultrasound and a stroke-protocol MRI.

Guess what, everything is normal! {I'm doing a happy dance}

The spot that set this ball rolling is still there. It's 4 mm in diameter and all of the tests around it are inconclusive. I might have had a small stroke. It might have been in a vein, not an artery. If it happened at all, it was a long time ago. If it happened at all, it might have been when J was born. I might not have had a stroke and that spot may have been there since I was born. So really, who knows. All of my arteries are clear and show no signs of previous blockage or signs that they might decided they want to be blocked in the future.

The amazing and wonderful thing is that I've been cleared to do anything and everything that I was doing before or that I might want to do in the future. You know, stuff like parachuting (ACK, afraid of heights and falling quickly), Ironman (that's my sister's job) and back country camping for six weeks with no cell service.

The frustrating thing is that because there is nothing "wrong" with me, they weren't able to give me any advice on how to prevent a similar painful event from happening again.

But I'm happy to take the frustrating since it came with a generous side of "you're fine."

Thanks everyone for your emails, messages and phone calls checking up on me the last few weeks...I really appreciate them!