Whack-A-Mole

I don't know who invented that game...Whack-A-Mole. Had to be some Redneck Man. Had to be. Whack-A-Mole. Name says it all. The mole pops up and you are suppose to whack it. If you play the yummy, fun version at an arcade, the moles have funny things to say "Oops...you missed" if you whacked too late or "OUCH! THAT hurt!" if you whacked that mole good. Nothing like a good game of Whack-A-Mole to get the blood pumping. The anticipation. Grab the mallet. Eyes looking at the moles in their holes just waiting, waiting, waiting for you to drop your token in the slot. The little mechanical giggling the machine is making while the lights are blinking. Whack-A-Mole! Whack-A-Mole! Whack-A-Mole! Your heart starts pumping faster. You know you are going to get all the moles. Your friends are chanting your name and screaming "Whack those suckers!"  You tense over the machine. You are ready. You slip the token in. GOOOOOOOOOO!!! The moles start popping in and out. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Your heart is racing. The moles are winning! JERKS! They are taunting you! Giggling at you! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Your friends are screaming at you! The lights are blinking but you are not paying any attention to the lights. The machine is spewing out mechanical things and words but you are not paying any attention to the words and sounds. Just the little moles. POP! POP! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! Sweat starts pouring down the sides of your face. Then, without warning, the moles stop coming up. The lights stop. The sounds stop. BUT you don't stop. You are in a frenzy by that time. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! It takes at least 10-15 seconds for you to realize...the game is over. The moles are done. You have your points. You have either won or lost depending on how you look at it. Admit it. If you have played this game, you never stop WHACKING when the game stops. You keep hitting those silly little moles, but they have stopped. It might even take one of your friends yelling "DUDE! The game is oooovvveeerrr!!!" for you to realize the game is over...done...your time is up...over...moles are no longer taunting you. There is still that erratic part of you that thinks for a brief moment that one of those silly mechanical moles is going to pop up and taunt you just for you to WHACK it. But it is JUST a game and the moles are not real and they don't really taunt you and they don't really care. They go up and down whether you whack them or not. Yet, there is something about that game that makes you want to put another token in just to WHACK that mole ONE MORE stinkin' time. One more chance. One more moment to prove that you do have the hand/eye coordination to whack every single mole that comes up. Just one more chance. Yet, the game is set up for you to lose. It is impossible to whack all the moles because there are too many and they pop up too fast and you are only human, or is it? (Yes, it is. I really did read a study done on that silly game. Silly Redneck Man Inventor. What where you thinking causing your friends such grief in the arcades? Causing children such giggling misery? OK...WHACKING moles is great fun! I get it!!)

Today starts Intra Cranial Hypertension Awareness Month. That is the disease I have. I was diagnosed with it on July 23, 2010 following eye problems after a gallbladder surgery. I walked out of the Neuro Opthamologist office with a prescription for Diamox and the naivete/ignorance that I would be cured in a few short weeks or at the very most 6 months. Here it is September 1, 2011 and I can proudly tell you that I am no better BUT no worse than that day that I walked out of that office. I can also tell you that there is no "cure" for IH. I set out trying to "win" at the game of IH but there is no "winner". It has affected not only my immediate family but my extended family as well. Today does not start Intra Cranial Hypertension "Sympathy" Month. Today starts Intra Cranial Hypertension Awareness month. There is a difference. Just like you don't "get" all the moles when you play Whack-A-Mole, I will never "get" rid of IH. I can "hit" it with drugs. I am trying to "hit" it by losing weight. Some even try and "hit" it with shunts. While the "mole" or IH may go away and stay away sometimes "it" pops back up and like the game, the "mole" stays up and doesn't go back down. Sometimes, saying "DUDE! Stop doing what you are doing." just doesn't help. If only I knew walking into that office that I would be playing the IH "game" for the rest of my life, well...lets just say...I would have taken the time some September to become more AWARE. Love to you all!!