I watched it. I had first heard about his experience not long after my surgery in '05. I have some things in common with Mark, e.g., same size tumor on left-side, and we're both bass players.
What astounds me is that with a growth the proportion he had, there were no symptoms until his precognitive dream which prompted him to get checked. I say this only because I know the hell I went through for at least three years before my diagnosis and treatment. I was stumbling around like a drunk; my head feeling like a lead-lined helium balloon with double, convex vision and deathly fatigue. I felt like I was going to die. But it had started with hearing loss and tinnitus, gradually worsening along with other symptoms such as double vision, horrible neck/headaches, and deathly malaise. I dragged myself around until I had to be carried around—working 4-5 nights a week as a musician if you can believe it! I had been dealing with the illness so long I had actually diagnosed myself. I was telling my doctors (before MGH) I might have an acoustic neuroma.
The surgeries weren't any easier: between the shunt installation and the tumor resection I was in for about five weeks with one in a rehab center to get back on my feet. The first week in the hospital I was afflicted with full-blown double vision and didn't know what was up or down with no depth perception. My head felt like a helium balloon stuck on the ceiling but with no spatial orientation.
Miraculously, I had no issues whatsoever with my facial nerve.
On another note, I recently had my 9th yearly M.R.I. and there is no regrowth. But what's interesting is that the tumor was so big they couldn't get all of it and had to leave a sizable proportion behind. The contrast dye revealed what looks to be at least 2cm still in there! No wonder I'm still a head wreck!
The imaging center where I had the M.R.I done had recently upgraded to a new machine with a much stronger magnet. The scans are the best and clearest I've had to date.
