“Plus a lot on the sides and in the back, too.”
Connie works at a hair salon and she’s been cutting my hair for over 20 years. Well, had been cutting my hair for over 20 years. Prior to Tuesday (two days ago), the last time I saw her was in mid-May. Between then and my recent visit, I paid for ONE haircut. Because that’s what happens when the neurosurgeon buzzes everything on my head down to nearly stubble.
But it was time. No, it was past time. The sides of my head were getting poofy, I was tugging on my hair whenever I reached for the stems of my glasses, and the back of my neck was working on trying to grow its own tiny little ponytail.
The first thing I did was explain that I’d had brain surgery because she was going to be able to see the scars on my head as soon as she moved the hairs around to start cutting them. (As a side note, I was surprised that after she finished, even my wife couldn’t see any gaps to indicate where the scars were. It might also be in part because I have really thick hair… probably a combination of the two. Either way, I’m happy.)
Connie asked if the RNS device was preventing all of my seizures, so I explained that wasn’t the case, then told her about the magnet on the carabiner that’s clipped to my belt loop whenever I realize that I’m having one.
Well, we both realized that I was having one. I can feel when my head starts jerking around a little bit—it would have continued getting progressively worse if I was still relying on medications to prevent seizures—and she could feel it jerking around because she was holding onto my hair while cutting it.
I’d told her about the magnet, but now she got to see me take it off my belt loop, then slowly slide it over my head where the RNS device was. (I told her that I was thinking about attaching the magnet to a comb instead so that I could look cool while doing it…) And that was it. I clipped the carabiner back onto my belt loop and she went back to cutting my hair.
But as I thought about it afterward, I don’t think this seizure affected my ability to process language. She told me the head jerking wasn’t bad, I told her when I was reaching for the magnet and explained my willingness to go to desperate measures to look cool… it seemed like the only obvious indicator that was I was having a seizure was the physical effect it had.
Does that mean the RNS device is becoming more effective? Probably not. I think it’s a sign that it’s continuing to be effective. My seizures were pretty consistent before: 30 seconds of words not making sense plus the head jerking that was slowly getting worse. I think it’s also a sign that I can’t rely on the neurosurgeon cutting my hair anymore, so I’ll need to start visiting Connie at the salon every six weeks again.