Today, I wanted to share with you a little bit about how I spent my time waiting for my 4th neurosurgery. As I have mentioned in previous posts, my doctors would not go ahead with my surgery until my incision line healed. When after months and months and months, it still wouldn’t heal they decided that maybe it was time to move forward. I described how I picked my prosthesis, but there was a fair bit of time between when they FINALLY decided to move forward, I picked the prosthesis and I was scheduled for surgery.
In order to make the prosthesis, I needed to have another CT scan so that Stryker would have the correct dimensions to make the custom implant. It was then sent to the US where it was built and shipped to my neurosurgeon here in Toronto. While all of this was going on I decided that it was time to start moving forward with my life so I started two projects which have had a huge impact on me and my life – Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and getting my Masters.
Before the 4th Surgery
My treatment team thought that it would be good for me to study something else in case I can never go back to being a Child and Youth Worker. In my line of work, I can be at risk of being injured if a child/youth/teen becomes aggressive so learning another skill was a good idea. Seeing if I can learn another skill would also be a form of rehab for the brain.
After a LOT of research, I decided to apply to Yorkville University for their online Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology program. To my surprise and delight I was accepted (!!) and I started April 28, 2014. I’m not going to lie, I totally burst into tears when I found out that I got in!!
Starting this program was good for me. It gave me something to focus on. It was also very hard for me. This program is designed for people who are working full-time and they expect you to put in about 30+ hours per week. Well for me, everything takes longer so I was putting in about triple the amount of work!! I also have a hard time sitting in front of the computer so I needed a lot of breaks throughout the day which accounts for part of the reason why it takes me so long.
It was also during this time that I first started learning and practicing Mindfulness. The combination of the two really helped me to stay calm and focused on the present situation and to not dwell on the surgery.
Towards the end of the first term I was contacted by the hospital to say that my surgery had been scheduled. July 25, 2014, I was going to go in and finally have my 4th surgery to have the prosthesis put in.
Since this was my 4th time having a surgery (well third as far as I can remember) I knew exactly what to expect. Your time in the hospital is fairly brief and with my history of infection they were definitely not going to keep me there long to ensure that I didn’t pick up anything.
I went in on a Friday and I was back home by Monday (maybe Tuesday) morning. I had a paper due around that time so I made sure to get as much work done pre-surgery as I could. My professor also gave me an extension on the final assignment and told me to take some time off. Me being me, I was back to work 2 days after getting out of the hospital!! What can I say? I’m a goodie goodie and a nerd!! š
At the end of December 2015, I finished my final course for this program. I was expected to start my practicum in January but I deferred it until September 2016. This way I can focus on my recovery and getting stronger. It also gave me the opportunity to start my training to become certified to teach Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. It is hard to believe how far I have come in this program!! There were definitely many times along the way that I wasn’t sure if I would be able to finish but now the finish line is in sight!!
Charlene xoxo