To Find Happy [ADVENTure Nineteen]

I've been having a rough few days. Wednesday night I ended up in the emergency room with left side weakness, suddenly intense head and neck pain, slowed speech, and difficulty with word retrieval, among other symptoms. I was in too much pain to be petrified of the possibilities. Skipping triage, I was wheeled directly to a room, evaluated, and sent for a CT scan of my brain and neck. 

The pain so intense I couldn't speak, I lay in the hospital bed simply trying to breathe and not scream. Finally giving in and accepting the pain medication offered, I eventually got to the point where I could speak again. CT scan results showed that it was not a stroke or a broken neck. The doctor chose to blame a migraine and recommended I speak with my primary care doctor the following day. I asked if inflammation could be the cause, and was brushed off. Getting to the point of frustration and exhaustion - it was 2:30AM, after all - we finally asked if we could go home, as they had nothing else to offer. 

I continue to be in pain and have weakness on my left side, although not as much. The higher doses of prednisone I've been taking since getting home from the hospital seem to be helping. Needless to say, I'm not able to accomplish many of the things I'd planned to do in preparation for Christmas. 

The following day, as I was doing my best to rest and let my body figure itself out, I had increasing frustration at my ever-growing to-do list and my inability to do much of anything useful. Needing to get something off the shelf of my closet, I discovered something I'd put there months before for days just like today - days when my children needed something "new" to entertain them so that I could rest.

A little later, I ventured into the dining room to see how things were progressing. My day and my attitude vastly improved in an instant as I was transported back to the coziest, simplest, happiest moments of childhood.

Happy: two children discovering the joys of Lite Brite.