To All,
Now that the final weekend of summer is here (Labor Day), I hope that you all are well on your way to better health (those who have had their procedures done be you postop(recovering from surgery) or postie toastie --just having had radiation) or are researching calmly your options- presurgery or preradiation (for the newbies).
I hope you haven't been as imprudent as I was, who spent the entire summer of 2004 researching!
I literally went from doc to doc 14 times before convincing myself that it was time to stop and have surgery a total of 6 months!
Why am I telling and some of you retelling this tale of frustration? Because I don't want you to travel down the same fruitless road of over researching it as I did! Plus that I didn't want to have a second brain operation you see, I had had 1 already(brain operation) and I didn't want to spend the time recovering from that so I went to the 14th nuerosurgeon who told me that there was an outside chance that I would survive Gamma Knife!
Stuff that the other 13 docs were in disagreement with the 14th doc about. I had detected the tumor too late it was then 3.1 cm. As it turned out I was stopped from having the procedure CT scan done by the fact that the doctor was unfamiliar with the CT scan and had done only 2 previous to mine. I took the travel time back thinking about it. I decided it was time to bite the bullet, I had no choice!
Brain surgery is brain surgery period do not go into it without doing due diligence and by that I mean get at least 3 expert opinions in the same specialty( ie. neurosurgery)
I was going too bear down and have surgery. I am now 8 years out of surgery and am SSD (on my left), I still walk with a cane (for balance) and have a few cognitive issues, I find that I can't walk as fast. Had I to do it again, I would not ignore my balance issues or many falls. I would definitely get it radiated instead
of operated but now that I'm here, I am satisfied with my results.
There is a good side to why I am here, however, and that is to encourage you newly discovered small tumor owners to have radiation. Act while you can. Don't watch and wait too long.
I keep kicking myself because I opened my pool that summer but because I was worried and couldn't sleep spent my time researching and driving my family berserk with my worrying and broadcasting doomsday scenarios for myself!! That summer I closed my pool without swimming in it! D*** it! Of course, I was not aware of the vast research that the ANA did or of the kind posters and moderators here. Thank God for the ANA Forum members who calmed me down before my procedure on June 11, 2012.
If you are at the start of your journey, you have come to a comforting place, where no fear is wrong, nothing is beyond discussion---a safe place, certainly!
I truly believe that without the Forum members, I would have gone stark raving mad.
You newbies are fortunate in that regard....You have a veritable fountain of research right at your fingertips! So be calm and go forward! Pray and meditate.
I hope you have spent your summer doing a mix of research and relaxing a while and not being in such a panic as I was.
Relax we have your back!
Enjoy the final weekend of the summer, kick back have a hot dog or hamburger and a beer. Then get on with your health and get your life back. For some of you consider it an opportunity to slow down some and take stock of your lives and then refocus.
Have a nice long holiday weekend everybody go to a calm place! I will be praying for you!
Mike
