Yesterday I had a conversation with my neurosurgeon and he said that my brain is healing nicely. It is not back to normal yet, but the progress is looking good and much better than it was when I was released from the hospital. I have had less headaches and things are starting to get back to normal. I am starting to do more around the house. Whenever it is just Xavier and me in the vehicle going to some hockey event he makes comments about how I am much better now. I am not sure if he was worried or his thoughts about it. The two of them have been great about it though, but I am not sure how well they have coped with it all. I like to think that they have been handling it well, but it is hard to say. They have gotten use to me being in the hospital and being weaker. Olivier has made comments about me not being as strong as I use to be. He is still really gentle with me compared to how he was in the past. They have had to adjust from two years ago where they would tackle me and rough house with me a lot. I think he misses me picking the two of them up and tossing them around. I am able to pick up Xavier’s hockey bag and put it in the truck. Completely empty the goalie bag is around 20lbs, so with all of his equipment it is not light, but it does not seem too heavy.
I had a periodontist appointment scheduled tomorrow, but they accidentally booked me with the wrong person and I prefer my usual one. I would rather wait and have her then a new person. She is awesome and is probably one of the best hygienists that I have had. She manages to be quite gentle and is skilled. They were concerned about whether I should get a cleaning because of infections from my latest surgery so they offered to call my doctor and neurosurgeon. The care that I receive from them is fantastic. I ended up chatting with the receptionist for a bit and she was quite surprised with my brain surgery.
One of Olivier’s favorite things to eat are pancakes. He has been asking for them a lot lately, and Mel made some, but they were not like the usual ones she makes. She used a different flour type. I was not fond of it. It just reminded me of a texture from when I was going through chemo and I have an aversion to it still. Olivier knows though that if he sleeps over at my parents he can get whatever he wants as a meal. Every time he sleeps over he asks for pancakes and he gets them every morning. He asked for a sleepover and he went over and is spending the night there. He will go have sleep overs at the grandparents and enjoys it. Xavier does not and will always choose to sleep in his own bed at home. It is fantastic that we have so much support from our parents. The amusing thing is if they find out that the kids had a sleepover at one set, the other set of grandparents ask for a sleepover as well. It is nice that the grandparents like to spend so much time with our kids.
My plan now is to spend time with Xavier tomorrow and go do some Christmas shopping with him and let him choose things he wants to buy. I have not decided whether I am going to pay for it or get them to pay out of their own pockets. If they do not want to spend much I will let them pay if they want and if it is going to be pricier than I will pay. Xavier is pretty good and thoughtful. I think it is going to be quite amusing what Olivier decided to buy.
The location where Xavier goes for his private lessons is moving and he will not be able to attend again until Feb. The new location is a bit further away from where we are, so that is a little bit disappointing. His regular coach will be away however for a while longer and watching some other coaches work with goalies makes me appreciate his current coach and the relationship that they have built. I spoke with some other parents who have this coach and their kids enjoy working with him as well. When the kids have some other people, some of the things they are taught are not in line with their regular coach. Xavier will listen to all the coaches and get what he can from them as he is quite respectful to authority figures. I know he prefers his regular coach though. He will be without a personal goalie coach for about 6 weeks now. Luckily though there does not seem to be much in the way of games for a while. Xavier knows what he needs to work on and we can practice a bit outdoors. I use to love going to the outdoor rinks and playing hockey and would spend all of my time there with my friends. Things are different now and kids do not seem to go do things like that unsupervised anymore.
Q