Brain Surgery

Why brain surgery?

Yes, because it's mine and it's happening on Wednesday the 22.

So if you have anything to say, get right to it so I can read it now while I'm compos mentis.

And if you have anything to ask me, ask it now while I have my memory.

But seriously, I am expected to make a full recovery. Three weeks ago I was diagnosed as having a 5 cm melingioma in the left side of my brain. A benign tumor the size of a tennisball.

A month or so ago I noticed that I was dragging my right foot, not walking up or down stairs quite right, that I couldn't wiggle my right toes and that my ankle wasn't moving as well as it should. Went to my internest who said it looked like a condition called"drop foot" but she sent me to a neurologist. The neurologist did lots of tests,looked worried and changed the schedule for the MRI room to get me a STAT MRI. Afterthe MRI he calledmeback tohis office. I thought I had MS. The MDburst into the room. "We found out h\what's wrong with you! Good news! I said,,, A benign brain tumor is good news? He said that he had feared I had brain cancer. I met with the surgeon and she is smart and experienced.

I'll be in the hospital two or three days. My sister is coming from Nevada to stay a week. And I shouldbe well by the time school starts.

Oh yes the surgeon says she doesn't have to shave part of my head. She willjust pull and hold the scalp to the sides and then stitch up later.

The MD said that the tumor has been there for a llong time. Tom says it explains why (he thinks) I am so vague.
What if the tumor has been stifling the language proccessing portion ofmy brain?Maybe now I can learnChinese properly!

Iwasn't going to mention it but well things are slowing down in our nice forum and I thought I'd spice it up.

Constance wrote:I wasn't going to mention it but well things are slowing down in our nice forum and I thought I'd spice it up.
And if you have anything to ask me, ask it now.

Well Constance...I'd say you've outshone old eggo-of-the-many names in the shock department



So then, I'm starting a thread for your questions and I'm sure the skeletons that still haunt this ghost ship will do everything in their power to rattle, just for you.

wow constance
wishing you the absolute best during your operation and recovery

with stacks of love from lyn

Constance wrote:Maybe now I can learnChinese properly!

haha
wish you a quick recovery, Constance
we'll be here to hear from you
所有的最好的

Thank you folks! I knew that my post would generate some interest!

Perhaps oddly, I am serene as I wait for the procedure. Mostly I'm looking forward to my sister being here. We have become close over the years. I am hugely relieved that this isn't taking place during the school year. I should be absolutely fine when it's the first day of school and when Chinese school starts.

otro nombre you must tell me how you know Chinese. I can make out the words have and good. What are the other characters?

I chose simplified chinese hehe http://translate.google.es/#en/zh-CN/all%20the%20best
should I have chosen it traditional?

Oh I thought you knew Chinese!

For the vast number of Chinese and overseas Chinese you would want simplified characters. So from their perspective you chose the right thing.

But for my family you would want the traditional characters which are still used in Taiwan. Up until recently-- I would stay up until the late 80s (my idea of recently)-- almost all the Chinese schools outside of China were started by Taiwanese parents and their children, people who had fled from Communist China to Taiwan. When they fled they took the traditional characters with them, the only characters that existed. These Taiwanese Chinese are insanely ambitious for their children and make them to go the good schools they have created. We are there mostly by default as it was the only school around when we started in the mid-90s.The communists developed a simplified version of written Chinense. Many complex characters were whittled down, simplififed. This is the Chinese taught in China and the Chinese of those who have emigrated and started schools outside of China.
In Taiwan the traditional characters are still used. The Chinese in China can't read traditional characters but the Chinese who write traditional characters can mostly figure out what the simplified characters are saying. There have been many critics of the simplified Chinese. Studies show that they don't improve literacy which was the whole point of inventing them. Children can learn the traditional characters just as readily as the simplified ones. And the simplifed characters are ugly for the most part. They take major important components which are clues to what the character means and leave the character looking awkward and unbalanced. If I knew how to do it I would include that here.

To my immense chagrin, my avatar is the simplified version of the word Love. I couldn't find any traditional characters at all.The traditional character has the character for heart inside the character. So critics say that the communists took the heart out of love. I'll see if my daughters know how to ppost Chinese characters and I can post it here to show the difference.

That's interesting constance.
Is this correct?

Heart:



"Ai," the traditional Chinese character for love consists of a heart (middle) inside of "accept," "feel," or "perceive," which shows a graceful emotion. It can also be interpreted as a hand offering ones heart to another hand.

Love:

Sorry to hear you need an op Constance, but also am glad they have found what is wrong. I wish you a speedy recovery.

Thank you, Nash!

Yes, Moonie you found the perfect thing. You can compare my simplified avatar with the traditional character love you found where each componet contributes to to the structure of the character with multiple meanings. In some characters the way the elements are aligned can be contrary or simply unusual so that a character standing alone can express irony, skepticism. The poor horse has had his four dots represeting his legs chopped off, The water element within the character for fish has been removed.

Moonie, you've motivated me to find a traditional love for my avatar, Off now to hunt.

This is a stylized traditioinal but to big for an avatar:

There! I found a small image of the traditional character forLove. Not as showy as the last one but it's more honest.

Hi Constance, I like the simplicity of your new avatar.

I'm glad you have some knowledge about the characters, and that you find the interpretation of them fascinating. I have an analytical mind and love unravelling nuances in words and symbols, so I really appreciate your post.

I hadn't realised the possibilites for irony: the dots representing the horse's legs missing; the fish out of water. Awesome.

.

Hope all goes well today, thinking of you Constance and sending a big hug across the pond.

^ yes, Constance

Hey there constance,

Hello Constance. I've been thinking about you.

blue moon wrote:

Hello Constance.
I just realised that this character for 'healing' contains the characters:
'ren' (man/woman...person)
the moon or sun...don't remember which ( means 'bright and shining'?)
and .....I recognise the 'heart' below now because of your earlier post.

I can't make out the fourth character.

Wow! Thank you all for being so warmth and welcoming! It makes me very happy. I've been home since Friday morning--and it's Sundy now. My sister has been here so I would have written sooner if I hadn't been away and being social.

It's all made me humble. My husband looked so worried going in and was so very relieved and happy when I came to and was fine. My sister is a clown and always funny. And on Thrs afternoon she brought the whole crowd down including my my frail 86 year old mother.

I was so touched that the nurses were all so professional and great. I particularly loved my first night nurse who had to wake me every two hours to check my neurological signs.

after the surgeon cleaned up my surgery she even wsned my hair!

My slight limp/foot dragging has disappeared and I can wiggle my toes on the right foot now. How amazing is the human body!.

Vicky and Ginsing and I walked to the waterfall once on Friday and twice yesterday.

Can't drive for two weeks, bummer.

But the real event in our lives has been the fallout since my 93 year old mother in law had been taken to a hospital and is now in a nursing home. he steps ahead will be difficult and will have to e taken easily.

Moonie, thank you for the remarks on the Chinese and the chartacter, That was very thoughtful and appreciated! the top of the character is one of the words for roof. Isn't Chinese a wonderful language?You can feel the languague viscerally and beome imbued with the sense of the words as you write or paint them. Master calligrpraphers must have the most wonderful experiences.
[left]

Off to piano lesson with Elisabeth and Vicky and then onto Starr's for a nursing home visit with us all.

Constance great to hear all went well



here're some avatars (from that pink one you posted)








or this one

though there's nothing as the elephant of love



or the love of alien



dylan motives?