Come to Jesus day

I've been saying we'll know a lot more after today, Wednesday the 15th. It's Wednesday evening and, oh yes, we know a lot more.

For starters, I am scheduled to have the tumor removed by surgery Friday, August 17. In other words, in less than 48 hours it will be gone - at least for now.

The day began with the trip to see the neurologist in La Crosse. Half way there I realized I'd left my wallet at home - no money, no insurance card and no glasses. The money thing was no big deal, the insurance card thing could have been worse, but I REALLY missed having my glasses.

We got there and were a few minutes early so dashed over to the hospital to get my pictures and reports from previous visits. That went off without a hitch but did make us a couple minutes late for the appointment with the neurologist. He had moved appointments around on his schedule to get me in at that time, so I felt a little bad.

The neurologist showed us pictures from the MRI. Here's one of them that shows the tumor and swelling around it. He explained that the tumor is close to the surface of the brain. In fact, it is basically ON the surface. He used the word "superficial". This is good because it makes it very operable. He also pointed out to us the smoothness of the surface of the tumor. This also is usually a very good sign. Generally, when it comes to tumors, smooth is good, jagged/ragged/tentacly is bad.

One cause for concern - and the main reason for the urgency to remove it - is the swelling/edema around the tumor. This is adding to the pressure on the brain already caused by the tumor itself. As it is now, there has been no midline shift (good) but they want to get it out before that kind of thing starts happening.

After explaining everything, the neurologist said he strongly advised surgery and the sooner the better. He went down (while we waited) to see if the neurosurgeon was available to talk to us. He returned shortly and had one of the nurses direct us on how to get to the Neurosurgery dept. Within minutes we were in an examination room consulting with the neurosurgeon. And not just any neurosurgeon. This gentleman, prior to his time at this hospital, spent 22 years doing similar surgeries at the Mayo Clinic. He operated on Ronald freaking Reagan.

The neurosurgeon agreed that surgery was indicated and the sooner the better. He agreed with the neurologist's diagnosis based on all the imaging (second opinion!). He said he had to see another patient at noon but that he would like to talk with us some more and asked us to come back to his office at 1 pm.

We spent the hour or so in the interim smoking cigarettes, imbibing caffeine, and calling various friends and family. (Very serendipitous that new cell phones came into our lives a couple weeks ago.) At this point we hadn't talked specific timeframe for surgery. I was thinking it would be in a week or so.

When we got back, the neurosurgeon talked with us more about what to expect with the surgery. Thanks to my shiny new microrecording device, I have most of it on "tape". Finally I just asked him "What are we talking as far as timeframe?" He said if I felt it urgent enough, we could do it Friday, but that it would be just as well to do it Tuesday or Wednesday next week. He explained most people in my situation want to get it out ASAP. I asked him if I were his son, would he advise doing it Friday or Tuesday. Without pause, he said "Friday." That's good enough for me.

It was still early enough in the day that we were able to get some of the pre-op imaging out of the way. I thought he was sending me down to radiology to have a brain CT scan done. He was, but I hadn't been there 5 minutes when there he was, too. He came down to make sure everything was just so and that he got everything marked the way it needed to be. In case, you can't tell, I love this neurosurgeon guy. He kept apologizing because he thought he might be pulling my hair as he put his markers on my scalp, etc. Most physicians I've encountered who have risen to his level are at least a little standoffish and distant, if not downright assholes. My guy is not only a superstar in his field, he seems like a quality human being too. I could hardly be happier about this.

It turns out that the crap happening in my arm and face is probably seizure related. So now I'm on anti-seizure medication and CAN'T DRIVE! Ouch! Hopefully this will be very temporary. My wife is a fabulous driver but I don't know if I'm a very good passenger. :) Anti-seizure medication is normal for any brain surgery. If I don't have any real seizures for a couple weeks after the surgery, I think I'll be behind the wheel again.

The surgery is scheduled for 11:30 am Friday morning, but could very well be pushed back to as early as 7:30 am. This will depend on if an OR opens up. The surgery will take about 2 hours. After the surgery I'll go to a recovery area for a bit and then into ICU, where I expect to wake up an hour or so after the surgery. If everything has gone well, I should be able to talk and move everything appropriately. There is a small risk with this surgery that I could wind up with some deficit with either speech or sensation on the left side of my body. I'll probably spend the first night in ICU then be moved to a regular room. It's likely I'll spend 2 nights in that room then go home the following day. With this surgery, like any surgery, there are inherent risks. Things like bleeding, stroke, or infection can happen and muck things up horribly. We'll be hoping for a very routine surgery.

So it's been a helluva day, to say the least. Lori and I are both feeling relatively good. It seems that, considering everything leading up to this, the prognosis could hardly be better. If the tumor is benign and they get it all out and their are no complications from the surgery, I could be back to "normal" in a month or so. Of course we'd be monitoring things going forward, but that will be a relatively happy outcome. If the tumor is malignant - that means radiation and chemotherapy will follow the surgery.

We are in no way out of the woods yet. Today brought a lot of news that feels like good news. We are understandably feeling optimistic. But Friday looms large. I am not a pray-er, but I do believe in positive energy, and if you pray, I wouldn't feel bad at all if you want to direct some our way. Any positive energy/mojo/prayer is welcome - even a lusty "Go TEAM!!" is good.

The outpouring of love and support from my family and friends has been overwhelmingly heartening. To any of you who are reading this now, know that both my wife and I are sublimely grateful.

Here we go.... we're at it again.