8 best things about my head injury

One minute I was happily riding my bike down a wet Gold Camp Road. Well, perhaps not happily. Contemplatively. Carefully. Composing a snappy email to an old flame who'd just married, in my head -ly. The next moment I was looking up at a beautiful EMT with long dark hair who was feeling my limbs for possible fractures.
"I've a marathon in 8 days - can I still run it?" was literally the first thing out of my mouth. After that, it was a dreamy in-out rush to the hospital, and hours of lying on a backboard whilst getting poked and scoped, all to find out that I'd had a brain concussion, accompanied by orbital and sinus bone fractures, as well as some fierce vertigo that stalked me and threatened to overwhelm me whenever I moved my head.
So what's good about that.
Something has to be, I thought, and as I pondered, it occurred to me that most of the good things came down to appreciation, of all the stuff that I, that we, take for granted, but that can disappear in a seconds-long loss of control followed by a minutes-long loss of consciousness.
Here it is, that appreciative list:
1. That my doctor parents, who so often drive me crazy with their concerns for my well-being, can close together in a long-distance, effective rant about the difference between concussion and contusion, and how I WILL recover, I WILL be fine.
2. That my older son can drop everything and rush to my side - even though, and perhaps because, once he's satisfied that mom is fine, is happy to spend his time with his friends instead.
3. That my man Tim can be at Penrose Main roughly 3 minutes after they call him, can make me form a misshapen smile with his wry face at the shape I'm in, and ask the one question that's guaranteed to cause another smile, and ascertain that I still have a brain at the same time - "What kind of bike do you have?"
And then take me out even though I look like hell.
4. That, having had my own brush with brain injury, I now come a little bit closer to understanding all the adults with TBI that I'd tried to help all those years ago - and to being completely astounded at their flat-out courage.
5. That my doctor, whose competence at dealing with my complicated medical history I sometimes question, but whom I keep because he's just so darn nice and besides we've gone gray together, said to me yesterday, when I despaired about my vertigo, "you know, it's your inner ear that's causing it... not your brain."
My ear? Heck, I can deal with a stupid ear problem!
6. That the ADT marathon people changed my registration to a half-marathon in the time it took to type this sentence, once I'd notified them that I got hurt. I'll be walking it..mostly.
7. That the above-mentioned, beautiful EMT ended her report to the Penrose Main Trauma people with "She's an athlete!"
8. That my friends.... were simply there. Being friends.