Four Days Till Surgery

[becknell]

My  husband asked his doctor if he would "save" him a piece of the tumor so he could take it home with him in a jar and was told by the surgeon that it was against hospital policy to do that because of hygene standards, etc. I thought that was so weird that he wanted to keep it! lol

[jw]

I think it would be considered a biological hazard.  If the patient had hepatitis, it could spread it.

What about asking them to take a picture of it during surgery?

[jamie]

I didn't want to start with radiation then have my tumor grow in leaps and bounds and need to be surgically removed anyway.  I don't want to do surgery on a "sticky" tumor.

Just curious, did somebody lead you to believe that radiosurgery would cause your tumor to grow in leaps and bounds?

[BostonJake]

Hi Gang,
I thought I would send you all an update.  I had my surgery oct 18th, it was scary as hell.  Here I am, not even three weeks later and I feel great and am starting parttime back at work today.  I can't belive it!

So I guess they had to leave part of the tumor behind, anyone have any exprience with this.  I have the utmost confidence in  my surgical folks, my Doc is great.  But I guess my tumor was partially around a major blood vessel in my brain and removing it would have caused me a big risk of stroke.  So now I'm waiting to have an MRI at the end of the month and going to take things from there.  Ah, the next chapter begins, I guess its the fear of the unknown that frightens me the most.

Jake

[jw]

Wow!  Well, it's great to hear from you, Jake!  And that's tremendous news about 3-weeks later going back to work part-time.  Don't forget to take time out to rest.  Remember, you've had brain surgery!  I wish you all the best in your continued recovery!  The unknown is always the worst part.  But at least the majority of the tumor is gone and you can breathe a lost easier.  Of course, you've now set the benchmark for recovery that everyone else has to try to meet.  After Josh is through surgery today, we'll have to tell him that we expect him to be back to work in 2 weeks!

[Shawna]

Larry - no, no one told me it would grow in "leaps and bounds" but I'm feeling lucky enough to be the first patient that would happen to!!  :)   

Well, I wish I were Josh right now... he's done with surgery.  I still have 40 hours of anticipation!!  Hope all is well in Vegas.

And on taking the tumor home with me... yeah it's pretty gross, but I'm not afraid of catching any diseases from myself (ha-ha).  They usually throw it in some formalin, which is carcinogenic, so unless they sent it "officially" to the pathologists I work with, I probably won't be seeing it. :(   

I probably won't be getting back here til after my surgery... keep your fingers crossed for me, and thanks for the support

Shawna

[BostonJake]

Good Luck, and we'll be thinking of you.  Drop us a note when your feeling up for it!

Jake

[BostonJake]

Yeah, I wanted to take the tumor home too and made a half hearted comment to that respect to my neurosugeon.  Needless to say, I didn't get a humerous response.  The way I figure, all that insurance money I'm sorta paying for, I should get a soveneir other than a deaf ear!  Maybe a bronze scalpal above my desk?!

On another note, I started work today on monday.  I went into the office from 9-12, it was great to be back.  Its amazing to think that three weeks ago this minute, I was 12 1/2 hours into surgery and had several hours to go.  Work has been going well, but like my usual self, I'm probably triing to undertake too much at once.  I;m 28, and just really want my career to take off in the right direction, it's hard to manage how I'm going to change careers, do a good job at my current one, and recover from surgery.  You know what I mean?  So I'm stressing out, even now I'm writing this after taking a break filling out an application for a very cool job.  So today I worked from 7:30-12:00, got some lunch, came home and slept till 3:00 and have been working on my application since. (its not almost 7:00pm)  I guess I just want to move on, immerse myself and hope for better things.  Not too mention I don't want to run the clock out on my vacation time.  Working for the government can be a real pain when it comes to sick leave.

  Otherwise, I'm feeling great! My night vision and balance in the dark is a little weird.  Anyone else ever have that problem? I'm just a little tired otherwise.

ok, I'm done ranting for the night, I need to finish this job application.

Everyone whose having surgery today and in the coming few days, good luck, my thoughts are with you.  It's scary, but it will be ok.

Jake

[jcinma]

Hi Jake,
I also had my surgery at Mass General back in Feb. 2005.  Drs. Barker and Poe were my team and I was very pleased with them as well as the outcome.  My tumor was approx. 3.2 cm and facial nerve preservation was for me very important- I had already lost the hearing in that ear from surgery done in 1996, my AN was a reccurrence. A portion of the tumor that had adhered itself to the facial nerve was left and I followed up with FSR at Mass General.  Dr Loeffler was my Dr. for that.  In December I have my first MRI since treatment and I am hoping that the tumor has remained unchanged.  I thought the hospital staff at MGH was exceptional. It is great to hear that you are back at work already! Keep it up-
Jane

[kristin]

hey jake...i was just barely driving after 3 weeks! please don't overdue it, ok?

i still have trouble w/ night vision and balance in darkness. i did a bike ride this summer on the Hiawatha Trail in Idaho. it's on an old train track and you go through like 11 tunnels and over 6 tressels or something. the tunnels were complete and total darkness....the first one is 2 miles long...the darkest dark i'd ever been in. i had a crappy head light and fell twice and was scared out of my wits! i had no idea what was up or down, left or right.

[thecakes]

  I remember the week before my surgery.  I made sure the kids had enough lunch money for school for 2weeks. Wash was finished .  My son had a ride to ball practice every nite,  suppers were made ahead and froze.  All my unfinished business was tended to, and the house was cleaned to perfection.  thecakes

[ken]

I,m shure you have done your research.It is scarry reading the post ops. I dont know if I could go through with it. Im a coward and electing for proton radiation. It may prove over time to be a mistake ,taking the easy way out.hope not.Best of luck to you. keep everyone informed. Ken

[okiesandy]

Ken,

Don't be hard on yourself. I a the biggest Chicken Woman out there and I know I am not alone. Surgery scared me so bad I cannot even tell you how bad. I read all of the posts and know not all are a cake walk. I opted for CK and feel very comfortable with my decision. Even surgery is not a 100% sure thing. Be confident in your decision. My neuosurgeon thinks surgery was be reserved for only large tumors in the near future. She does less and less of them.

Good luck with your treatment.

Sandy

[Kathleen_Mc]

Ken: I don't know about you being a coward, I see it rather that you just doing what you feel more comfortable with....I was not comfortable with a proton beam being shot at my head to treat my regrowth and instead preferred to stick with what I know and have my head cracked the second time! You have just made the right choice for you!
Kathleen

[katmumof3]

hi guys, i'm kat from Australia  G;day from down under

I'm 28 and have an AN 2cm's on the left side.

I would have loved to gone with the radiotherapy, 'cept for the tumor pushing on my brain stem, Bummer!  a year ago i could have avoided surgery, lol.

I'm going in in 6 weeks, and i'm nervous as hell.  I've read all the post-op symptoms, and i'm hoping i won't be too bad, i've no hearing loss, a little tennitus, and a little vertigo, no facial paralysis, but the fear of the unknown is ever present! lol

I'm so glad to hear that you are recovering so well guys!  It's inspirational!

i'm an optimist, i believe it will help me a lot

To be quite honest, i'm more worried about my hubby and 3 little boys coping without me for weeks, possible months, they are all very dependant on me, and i hate to leave them alone. It's amazing how perceptive they are to my emotions, they know something's up...It breaks my heart that they are going to ahve to see my head, i may have to invest in a beanie,   

well take care, i'll try and come on again in a few days

It's really nice to have somewhere to vent... really nice