Regarding earplugs..................
Attended Christmas Eve Mass (another Italian here) the other night. Some of those high notes were a bit too screechy for me, so I stuck in an ear plug that I had bought in a sporting goods store for hunters. (So glad I inserted the earplug from my right pocket and not the dog biscuit from the other pocket.) It filtered out the screeching but allowed me to hear the music and softer voices.
Sometimes I wear an earplug in noisey restaurants, too. And, as I've mentioned before, in restaurants we request a corner table or one against a wall. Then I position myself with my back to the wall (like an outlaw) so the noise isn't coming from behind me (and I won't get shot by a rival outlaw).
Looking normal is an issue.......when you do not feel normal. My husband, who has been a great support to me, admits he forgets sometimes because "you look so normal"
No one really knows how any one else feels at any given time.
My kids (23, 19 and 15) recently revealed their true fears about my surgery, which was in August 2005.
"Mom, they drilled into your head! That's pretty bad," my youngest said. And all along I thought they thought I was loafing!
As for the emotional aspect of it.....................cry if you feel like it. But laugh, too. I do quite a bit of both.
If people don't like it, hey, I had a brain tumor.
