A heartfelt shout-out to the Canadian medical system. This has been a week of appointments, unexpectedly, and a week of waiting in waiting rooms while trying to meditate (I always choose the word PEACE on which to focus, and inevitably wander off topic; the ubiquitous holiday music piped through various office settings does not, somehow, bring about the most PEACE-FILLED reflections).

On Sunday evening, in my soccer game, I got hit in the head with the ball. Why were you playing soccer, of ye of formerly-injured brain, you might ask? To which I would reply in a querying tone, I don’t know, it was fun while it lasted? I even had a fan along — my eleven-year-old, who was coming to take notes and offer coaching advice (she had lots, although she was wise enough to keep these tips to herself after the ball-to-head incident). I was having a pretty nice game, in fact; I feel compelled to tell you that I’d scored a goal and set up two others, and that we did go on to win.

But it might be my last game, in truth.

It turns out that this weird shadow in my vision, which burst out the instant the ball hit the head, and did not go away, could have been a retinal tear, a quite serious condition, apparently. But I have good news! All of these appointments culminated in yesterday afternoon’s, when I was told that the injury was a bruise on my retina and not a tear, and I will not need surgery (nor the weeks of bed rest that surgery might have required). It was a good thing I knew almost no details about the surgery option in advance. Kevin did all of the medical googling and kept me blissfully ignorant about the worst-case scenarios.
I do have some mild concussion symptoms, and yes, I am taking it easy, and yes, I do need to (and will) lay low for the next week or two as my eye and brain recover … I promise … (as I try not to think about the stack of marking, the dog-hair-infested house ahead of the weekend of hosting, the child’s debut as Puck in her play, the impending season of gift-giving … deep breath, meditate, PEACE …)

xo, Carrie