Parietal lobe damage: One side feels different from the other

Due to surgery, part of the motor strip in my brain is damaged. After surgery I went through physical and occupational therapy for a few months to regain my balance and gait. But I still experience odd sensations that will never make me feel the same as I once was.

In a previous post I wrote about how it feels to run, but tonight I tried something new: I used an exercise bike. And like many other exercises involving the shifting of weight from the left to the right, I could feel numbness in the right side of my body. It was so weird I could barely concentrate on other things going on around me.

I was watching television while using the exercise bike and I barely understood what the broadcaster was saying. I was so wrapped up in the physical sensation of “numb foot” that I mulled over the word "eureka" for a full 30 seconds before I could grasp what the broadcaster was saying.

I pondered the possibility I was having a stroke. Fortunately, other words were making sense and the sensation passed.

I hate that with every odd thing that happens I immediately trace it back to being an issue with my brain tumor.

"What? I don't know why I am walking across the room? There must be something wrong with the tumor."

"Why can't I pay attention to this meeting? It must be the tumor."

"I just ran into that bookcase--again. It must be the brain damage."

"I have no idea what I was about to say. Stupid brain cancer."

"What does 'eureka' mean? I must be having a stroke."

Stupid brain.