More about my bike fall since I wrote about it two weeks ago.

• I saw a neurosurgeon. He explained that I have a cavernoma, which is an anomalous collection of blood vessels with thin walls, which can lead to bleeding. The bleeding leaves behind iron deposits, which can cause a seizure. My cavernoma is located in a spot especially prone to seizures.
• The neurosurgeon thought it would be a simple operation to remove the cavernoma, despite literally being brain surgery. He actually used the phrase “easy-peasy.” Also, his perspective was that this wasn’t a serious incident, since it wasn’t a stroke or death. I guess in his line of work, a seizure is on the small side.
• Another perspective on severity: I took my bike to the shop to get it checked out. I was telling the bike dude about the crash. He said, “You didn’t need dental work? Then no big deal!”
• I had an electroencephalogram (EEG). This involved having 27 wires pasted to my head and chest, then lying in a dark room with my eyes closed while they measured my brain activity. Toward the end, they placed a strobe light over my closed eyes, and flashed it at various frequencies. I realized, this is a black box unit test, and my brain is the system under test: provide some inputs, check the outputs, without being able to see the implementation. The initial report seemed to be, “nothing unusual,” but I have to check in with the neurologist.
• After a few failed attempts, I managed to get the name of the person who called the police for me after my crash. I wrote to him, and he was very friendly, but didn’t have any more details about what happened. When he first saw me I was already on the ground, so he can’t explain the cause of the crash. Still, it felt good to connect with him and find out what he knew.

My energy level is not what it used to be, probably because of the Keppra (anti-seizure medication). Psychologically, I am not used to the idea that my brain can just shut off with no notice. I guess over time, I’ll just ignore that possibility?