An Unwelcome Appearance

I went to the Mall of America last week to do some laps on a rainy afternoon. There's a new yarn art display on the north end that's quite cool to see. Walking laps gave me a chance to try out the Garmin foot pod Tammy got me that more accurately keeps track of my indoor distance when I can't get a GPS signal. It worked well.

My Cluster Headaches made a return 3 weeks ago after having left me alone for the past 30 months. That's the longest reprieve I've had from them since they first began to afflict me when I was a senior in high school. I wrote several entries for my blog during my last phase of the headaches but I've been reluctant to publish those writings. They're a little too personal (even for me) in places. I do intend to publish them all at some point. Here's the first of those entries written in January, 2015. I was at a very dark place then, trying to remain hopeful that the headaches would cease any day but faced with the reality that that wasn't happening.

I went from months of daily and nightly beatings from cluster headaches to the near loss of my left leg due to blood clots and then Sudden Sensorineural hearing loss in my left ear. All the while my mother was living out her last months and the difficulties that presented. That period of my life was easily my most trying ever as I did my best to put one foot in front of the other and press on.

The storms would eventually clear and I was able to resume my normal life again. When the headaches are gone I don't typically think about them, or want to think about them but they're never far from my thinking when I get to the point where they're due to make an appearance again. And now they have. I'm not much for social interaction when I'm dealing with them but I do plan to be at the Redeye Open—a golf tournament next week for retired controllers. It promises to be a fun time!

Tammy and I have been working overtime trying to get our home put back together. We're making good progress. Tim comes tomorrow to do our tile work for us in our kitchen. That should make quite a change in the look as well. Chairs for the kitchen island are on order from Peter's Billards and a small table and chairs are on order from Schneiderman's. Neither will be here for more than another month but in a summer that's flashed by as this one has, another month is nothing.

Time to hit the driving range and see if my swing is still where I left it two weeks ago. I've got a tournament to get ready for.

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