The skies in Southern Ontario have been unsettled all spring and summer. I don't recall two days in succession of sunshine and clear skies and consistently seasonal weather. I don't claim that there is a connection between our human moods and the weather. I'll leave this conversation to literary critics analyzing Macbeth and Hamlet. However, there seems to be a connection this season between the turmoil in the skies around Toronto and the turmoil in my own personal life experiences.

When I last wrote a post, I was about to experience major surgery for a brain tumour. Those who have regularly read my Sunday posts for the last several months know about my health struggles and the need for the surgical removal of a tumour. This was my second experience of a brain tumour. The editor of igNation thought it would be good for me to say a few things about the aftermath. Basically, I've had the surgery and I'm still alive! 

I had surgery on the first Monday of June. Things have changed a lot in the fifteen years since my first experience. I spent just a few days in the hospital this time. There were no complications and relatively minimal need for occupational therapy. The tumour didn't have the same impact as the one fifteen years ago. It did not further effect my speech (there is actually a slight improvement). And there were no additional complications for eating or eyesight.

On my third day in hospital, I posted on Facebook and Instagram. Two weeks after the surgery, I returned to the hospital for a check up and to have the staples removed. Fifteen years ago I faced several months of intensive therapy and hard work, just to achieve the basics. This experience felt like a piece of cake. Kind of! 

What are the positives?

I have no more headaches or confusion. What I also hoped for was the restoration of my balance. That is mostly restored, but I continue to have difficulties walking around without the assistance of a walker. I've started physiotherapy. I don't think that I'll be able to resume running. However, I have to remember that I was dependent upon a walker for two months after the earlier tumour. Whatever happens, I feel peaceful about possibly being reliant on the walker.

One of my goals for the summer is pondering what comes next in my life. I feel the need for a change in ministry. I considered possibilities while I was lying in my hospital bed. Now I'll have the time to further explore things. 

Now that I've had the surgery and have emerged on this side of it, I'm hopeful that things will settle down – both in my own soul and in the skies around here. Don't blame me if things don't settle down. However, I'm willing to take credit if things do settle.