brain surgery, i guess i am gluten-free now, mark ruffalo, cabbage juice

 

woof. what a week! or has it been two? and if you can believe it, stuff just keeps happening. gonna start off with some bullet points here and see where that takes me. 

- surprise brain surgery! my apologies if i haven't yet shared  with you-- it's not good small talk! at the beginning of march, my mom was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, which is a kind of benign brain tumor. the most important thing anyone will tell you about acoustic neuromas is that mark ruffalo once had one. anyway, she had a surgery scheduled for mid-may, but due to some weird symptoms it got moved at very short notice to last wednesday. i got wind of the possibility monday evening, it was confirmed the next morning, and i hopped right in my prius v and drove down to the fine city of philadelphia. not a particularly fun or easy week, with lots of ups and downs you can explore on the tumor blog, but she was discharged in surprisingly good shape just one week after my arrival, and i was able to return to my temporary little home here in vermont with lots of peace of mind about her recovery. unfortunately, if you check the blog, you will find some recent setbacks that have just transpired at the time of writing. i am trying to stay relaxed, and to trust the doctors at penn who have done such a bang up job so far. also very excited that my mom gets to ride in a helicopter! i will let you know her reviews upon my next post. 

- brain surgery aside, being in philadelphia was nice and weird. i was reminded of the very real climate differences between my home in vermont (44.4 degrees latitude) and all the other wonderful towns and cities where i have spent much of my life (40.0 - 40.8 degrees latitude) when i effectively drove into springtime-- from relatively barren, budless trees and shrubs to an explosion of greens and yellows and pinks and sun. it was nice too, to be back in a city again, surrounded by lots of strangers, and able to walk at a moderate clip on the sidewalk, one of my favorite activities. i also got to see my best friend lauren, a wonderful comfort during such a difficult week. highlights included soft-serve from a truck by the museum of art, a pleasant and perplexing interaction with a stranger in rittenhouse square park, forcing my recovering mother to watch top gun: maverick on her enormous hospital tv, and accidentally oversharing with an apple store employee -- sorry chelsea! lowlights, besides fear for my mother's life and general hospital ambiance, included a devastating muscle spasm in my neck-- something that used to happen to me quite often, but hasn't been experienced with such severity in years, and certainly not in the presence of any wheeling friends. i did dabble with the kind of medical marijuana bred expressly for pain relief for the first time as a result. no silver bullet, but helpful!

- i would say it's been great to be back in vermont again, but-- perhaps predictably, considering all the stress-- my body crashed virtually immediately, and i've been bedridden with an ugly head cold the last few days, unable to return to my very diverting and invigorating work, or enjoy my beautiful surroundings** as much as i'd like. what i AM able to do, however, is ruminate on the ~protocol~ that my new gerd nutritionist has designed for me. i regret to report that i have been recommended to adopt a gluten free diet. a devastating blow to someone for whom 80% of all ingestible earthly pleasures are already off the table, but manageable when framed as a temporary measure i must take in order to hopefully gain back many of those aforementioned earthly pleasures. other fun features of my new diet include cabbage juice (homemade, about as bad as you'd imagine,) an outrageous quantity of beets, bone broth (i made mine with chicken feet!) and a whopping 100g of protein every day, which-- that's a LOT!!!!!!!!!!!! still, it feels nice to be able to work on it, no matter how unpleasant the actual work is.

i have to say i'm feeling excited for a life where all this (mom brain stuff, my cold, gerd, etc) is stuff of the past, but in the meantime holding on tightly to the good stuff, silver linings, yada yada. looking very much forward to a certain working meeting in my near future!

oh so sincerely,

isabel

 

the hospital (right) and a view from one of our many rooms inside (left)

                                 

                       some googles i did this week, with mixed AI results (new phone)

mom not sold on top gun: maverick, 5 days post op

*obligatory plug of his greatest work, and one of the most underrated films of all time: in the cut (2002)

** meager buds and flowers have begun to show themselves here in my absence!!