Hi. I’m back.

Well, well, well.

I apologize for my rather long and unexplained absence, but I do have a pretty good reason.

I ended up having some brain surgery on December 14, and oh my goodness – my recovery has been quite the journey so far. I’m doing great, according to the doctors, and so far, I only have to contend with a pretty bad haircut, a bit of a headache and a rather raggedy big scar behind my right ear.

(I’m going to give the backstory here, but only to spread more information about the disorder I had. It’s quite rare, so wanted to see if I might help someone else who may be out there and having it. If you’re not interested, no worries. Just skip over the next few paragraphs.)

It all started two years ago with what I thought was a toothache. Three root canals and two dentists later, I had one fewer (or less?) teeth but the toothache was still there.

Traveling through the world of medical referrals, I ended up with a diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia which is basically a painful nerve injury in your face that never lets up. Yikes.

After trying several other procedures, the brain surgery called microvascular compression seemed to have the best odds, and it seems to have ended the face pain. (Yippee.) For reasons unknown, I had gone into this surgery thinking that it wasn’t going to be that big of a deal, but think again, my friend. I now have an eight inch scar, a partially shaved head, and a piece of metal in my skull.

It’s also meant three weeks of getting tired doing the slightest thing, so there’s been lots of snoozing. The surgery also has affected my ability to read (just temporarily), but I think that this is a common side effect of major surgery in a lot of people so not too worried about it as I expect this ability to return soon.

Right now, I have the attention of a flea and some memory problems, both of which have meant it’s been difficult to concentrate on novels and their plots. However, not to be outdone by this, I have picked up some lighter and/or shorter literary fare which has been rather fun.

I regret to report that TV watching has skyrocketed during this experience, but needs must. We’ve been watching the PBS series “Indian Summer” (drama) and balancing this with episodes of the British comedy, “Couplings” (which is like “Friends” but a bit ruder in places) and some Datelines so at least it’s been enjoyable binge-watching. 🙂

And I must give a public round of applause and appreciation for Superhero who has been utterly fantastic and deserves a fanfare for his patience and care. His life also has been put on hold for the last few weeks, and he’s been fabbo looking after me. (As have my friends who have all been wonderful and supportive.)

I had been spectacularly grumpy with regard to the human race just before my surgery but with all the kindness and generosity post-surgery, I have much more appreciation for the humans now. 🙂

Thank you to everyone.

I must admit that I’m a bit of a slacker with the end of year Top Ten (or Twelve as seems to be the book blogger fashion in 2015/16), but I’ll bet that they get completed soon.

So, anyway, that’s the state of the union for Just One More Page at the start of 2016. Not the most fabulous start, I must admit, but as I frequently remind Superhero: everything is temporary.

Onward, ever onward. Happy New Year to everyone, and many thanks for popping by the blog. I do appreciate your time and energy.

Here’s to a new year of great reading to all!