Surgery and follow up

To say, "out of sight, out of mind" is not quite right..."out of brain, out of mind" isn't quite right either. I'm sure there is some witty something about why I haven't posted...probably simply because I don't want to put too much energy into what was, and I would like to put the whole darn thing behind me. In case you are interested...

The awake surgery procedure was fascinating. I was locked into some head cage (I didn't actually see it.) Then, positioned just right for my surgeon to get in through my skull to the right spot. They took me into the OR and explained the procedure, asked me what kind of music I wanted to listen to (The Avett Brothers), and put me to sleep while they positioned me and sliced my scalp and skull removing a piece of bone called a bone flap which was put back into place after the procedure. Apparently, they put me to sleep for the prep and then woke me up for the "resection" (the slice and dice part,) and then put me back to sleep to staple me back together. The most interesting thing that I remember from the surgery part was when they were asking me to open and close my eyes, and I could not close my left eye completely. When I told them, they looked more closely (that was the side that was downish,) asked me to open and close a bunch, and then they must of turned up the gas. I also remember them asking me to shake my right arm and then saying to shake it as hard as I could. (That makes me wonder how much I was even moving my arm initially.) I remember talking to the assistants during the procedure, and I remember trying to chit chat, asking to hear about them, and finally they flat out said, "We want you to talk to us." Well yeah, I guess that makes sense.

So, The Neuro ICU has been redone or added since my first surgery. It was really nice. Last time I was in a big room with a bunch of noisy people. This time I had a private room with one nurse for another patient and myself. It was so nice, that when they told me I could move to the regular floor, I got my doc to order another day there. I was able to have peace and quiet, listen to my guided meditation CD (from a program called "Beyond Surgery"), and not have too many random interruptions because I was still hooked up to various machines that they typically move from room to room on the regular floor. It was a good space with positive energy. TGH has a great Integrative Medicine program that works with Mind-Body and Energy healing along with traditional Western medicine. I had a "Healing Touch" Practitioner come in at least two times to work with me while I was there. I am psyched to have had that available to me.

It takes a while for the swelling to go down after brain surgery, so after I left the hospital, I didn't have another MRI until December. Once again, at this point, the decision needed to made about what type of follow up I wanted to do. Surveillance only, radiation and/or chemotherapy. In addition to talking it over with my Neuro-oncologist I met with a radiologist oncologist. Together, they helped my decide that the best path at this point is chemo only. If there should be regrowth (which there won't be), my new path might be to go back to see my surgeon and clean it. Then follow that with radiation and chemo together. Can't hurt to have a back-up plan, right?