Chapter 36 : Standing on one leg

Dark Mofo occurs on a cold evening in Hobart in the middle of winter. That is reality. Dark Mofo finishes, on the winter solstice, with a naked open water swim. You could say that the winter solstice and the middle of winter are the same time of year.

 

We wander around Dark Mofo. Many people standing, walking or milling. Food stalls try and temp us. We succumb and walk around the stalls looking. We are looking for the wow factor. Some food to excite us. Some food to say, “I am new and different. I am celebrating the middle of winter. I am warm. I am scrumptious. I am proud to be Tasmanian. I am tasty.”

We wait in queues and order food without any excitement. We eat as it starts to rain. Nobody wants to criticize the rain. Everybody is inclined to say, “You have to expect this sort of weather in winter. It’s an outdoor event. It’s adding to the atmosphere.”

We take another bite and shuffle towards the open fires. The open fires add ever-changing lights, flickering shadows and smoke to the vista. You could even say they add atmosphere. We were never close enough to say they add heat.

A few days later I have my appointment with the neuropsychologist. Almost the perfect appointment. Not anxious or stressed about any possible results.  No taking of blood. I can summarize what I think she said.

Everything I see is consistent with the injuries that you have suffered. In general there has been significant improvement since your injury occurred. Different areas do different things and in your case the damage was confined to certain areas. Areas such as memory and attention. At the moment your brain is still healing. It takes about twelve months for the brain tissue to heal itself and recover. After that you will get more adaption than healing.  The best way to improve the brain is to practice doing what you want it to do.

What can I say about the results? I am surprised how long after the injury the brain is still healing itself. Though it fits in with the way I feel. I feel like I am still getting better and better. Now I at least know. I will continue to improve for a few more months.  Some areas are more damaged than other areas. I suppose I knew that. It has highlighted to me that the brain is not a homogenous entity performing the same things everywhere.  The whole process has made the brain seem like the most amazing organ. I love her attitude towards practice. Everybody should practice what they enjoy doing or want to do. They will get better at it. 

There is one thing I have got better at. I can now put my underpants or bathers on when standing up. I no longer have to sit on the bed or chair or bench in order to put my underpants on. I can stand on one leg and raise the other leg. This is a major achievement which I have kept to myself. A private little victory.  A victory without a name but it feels good. It feels good to go the pool, have a swim, and then take your bathers off while standing up. Avoiding sitting down on the benches. Ahh life is good and getting better.