Hi Everyone -
My first post......been reading for a while though. I am learning a lot on this forum, but still have lots to learn as well. I was wondering if there are any pre / post op Vermonters (New Englanders) out there that are going through this....Mine was discovered almost 5 yrs. ago. I've been in wait and watch that long. I knew something was wrong because I noticed my balance was off....spoke to GP about this and he thought maybe I had bleeding on the brain since I'm on coumadin (polmonary emboli 12 yrs. ago), had a CS and although the tumor was right there in black and white, radiologists were looking for bleeding, not a tumor (although, I really think the technicians should have seen this tumor), so my Doc sends me a letter in the mail saying, nope, no bleeding, everything looks fine......a few months later, I go into Dr.'s office again and see someone else, I mention my C-Scan and my worries and she says "are you ready to take it to the next level", I say yes, maybe it's a tumor - she says "NO, don't worry"....haha - I'm a big believer in "Know Your Body" and listen to it's signs !!! Went to see nurologist, and says "Yep, somethings not right" - ?? Really ?? - MRI schedule and there you have it - AN ... Saw Dr. in Burlington and then 2nd opinion in Mass General (McKenna) - Wait and Watch !! Every year had MRI's and would get a letter back from GP office saying "minimal growth" or "slight change" or "slight increase in size"........finally I said "What does that mean", how much has it grown from the time it was discovered to NOW !!! Low and behold - almost doubled in size...not sure of the exact size, but somewhere now about 2.5 - 3 cm !! I met with Dr. Barker at Mass General (first questions he asked me was "why did you wait so long"........W H A T !!! I'm not the Doctor here.....I've done what I was told to do.....Anyway, I'm going to have surgery sometime in January - I wanted to have it when it was convenient for myself and my family and my job...still have to make plans on what do I do from here.....I feel really confident about my doctor selection and have read (here on forum) excellent things about Mckenna and Barker...I hope, I've made the right choice, but then again, we really don't know what to expect (nor do they) until we're there....in surgery and then after surgery...I've felt a lot of the emotions that many of you have posted about, it's comforting to know, I'm not alone.....but it's still very scarey reading some of post op problems .....man-o- man - it keeps me up at night !!
