Put me on the calendar!

[msmaggie]

Hi to all,

I have been keeping a low profile while I sorted things out, but after much prayer and deliberation and a visit w/a neurosurgeon, I will be having my "craniotomy" here in Houston at Methodist Hospital. I saw Dr. Trask yesterday, and he agreed that what I probably have is a petrous meningioma.  I had a great visit w/him and decided that I would stay here to have it done.  I will have a much bigger support group if I stay put. and I know that Trask and Vrabec have treated others on this forum.  Whew!  In 5 weeks I have my turn.  Guess that makes me an official pre-postie, doesn't it?

I am still completely symptom free except for the tinnitus and a feeling of fullness.  I am grateful for that because I have been able to go about the business of teaching school.  I am a little anxious about the surgery now that I know for sure when it is, but am tired of living in uncertainty, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I got my orders for no ibuprofen 2 weeks before the surgery, but what really got me was the no alcohol.  What? No glass of wine w/Thanksgiving turkey?  The fourth grade class I have this year was described by their Kindergarten teacher as her "2 glasses of wine a night" year. They haven't driven me to drink yet, but             how long do I have to wait after the surgery before we can enjoy a celebratory drink?

I know I will have a million questions to ask before Dec. 10, but I definitely know where to go for answers!

Maggie

[Kaybo]

"Ms Maggie"~
I am glad that you have a time & a place!  I know that is a relief.  I had my surgery at Methodist on December 12th - 13 years ago!!  I wonder if Velma (the best nurse ever) is still there??  We always waited for her to come on to ask all of our questions!  I will be there on the evening of the 19th thru the 27th (in Houston, not at Methodist, I hope!  LOL!!) - hopefully I can come see you somewhere!!

K

[leapyrtwins]

Congratulations on making your decision, Maggie.  It sounds like a very wise one; I'm confident things will turn out well for you.

Five weeks will fly by; hang in there.

Jan

[sgerrard]

Hi Maggie,

You have been calendar-ized, so you are now a pre-postie! 

Enjoy some relaxation and some turkey this month, maybe some of that wine. Then sit back and let it happen.

Best wishes,

Steve

[Tamara]

Congrats on your new status.  I would ask about the alcohol - maybe that's just a general rule made so that the livers of surgery patients are in good shape.  I had no such restrictions pre-op and went out and celebrated the night before my surgery, including a beer.  It was fine as long as I didn't eat or drink after midnight - the usual.

Best wishes!
Tammy

[Rivergirl]

Congrats Maggie on your decision, it must be a relief to know you will put this behind you and stop the constant worrying about it and get on with life.

[wendysig]

Maggie,
Congratulations on your decision.  I hope now that thehard choice has been made you will feel more relaxed.  You sound confident in your doctors and I'm sure it helps that K had her surgery in the same hospital.   Like Tammy, I had no restrictions regarding alcohol consumption prior to surgery and had several glasses of wine that week with no ill effects (many lunches and dinners our with friends).  If anything, it probably helped me feel more relaxed -- I guess every doctor has their preferred restrictions in addition to the necessary ones.

Best wishes,
Wendy

[Jim Scott]

Maggie:

Another note of congratulations on your decision.  In many respects, the hardest part of this journey is now over. 

I would honor the Ibuprofen ban but a glass of wine 2 weeks prior to your surgery shouldn't be detrimental to your readiness for surgery, but then, I'm not a doctor so I could be mistaken. Still, I would consider it worth the extremely slight risk and trust us, we'll never tell. 

I had a celebratory drink (a small glass of wine) about a week after my surgery.  My very conservative doctor never proscribed it and I never asked about it because I drink very little alcohol.  It was good.

Jim

 

[calimama]

Hi Maggie,

It is a great relief once you finally decide what treatment to have. I think many of us here found that time between diagnosis and decision (about treatment) the hardest. Then probably comes the waiting/wondering/worrying between decision and surgery, but it seems you don't to wait too long so that is good.

As for the alcohol... I was not told anything like this (although we seem to a lot less instuction about dos & donts in Canada). For sure nothing after midnight, and i recall actually nothing in the 24hrs before surgery, so if yours is early in the morning, it pretty much rules out the whole day before. I was in the hospital for a week and returned home on Monday. I had my first few sips (beer and wine on first friday i was home). It was June here, and hot, and i remember enjoying beer much more than wine (my usual wise) because my mouth was so dry the first few days/weeks, and the beer was really refreshing.

I sit here now, 5 months out, enjoying a glass of red and wishing you all the best.

Trish

[msmaggie]

Bless you all w/all your usual good advice and good humor!  The alcohol thing is not a make or break deal, but we are all getting together at my son and DIL's house for Thanksgiving.  Our usual gatherings include lots of  cooking, sampling, talking, laughing and wine.  I want to enjoy every minute of my time with them.  If I cheat on that day, I will be good the rest of the time .
I am so relieved to have the decision made.  I was almost giddy after calling and telling the receptionist to make the date.  As it turned out, she had saved that day from a previous call I had made to see what might be available.  That was the sign I had been praying for...that and several other things. God is very good indeed.

Maggie

[Trackman]

I had similar instructions: no alcohol 2 weeks prior, but an amusing instruction: no recreational drugs 12 hours prior to surgery. I use neither but found it humorous.

[andrea in slc]

Yay! Congrats MsMaggie! Feels good to get it scheduled, doesn't it! And time will fly between that and the surgery. Good luck with all of it and I can't wait to hear about your experience postie! 

Trackman, recreational drugs? Oh good grief! LOL!

[Cheryl R]

I had to ask the drug question on every admission to the hospital we did.   Also alcohol and you would be surprised how many little old ladies answered to that one.     Sometimes daily.   We did our share of watching for DTs.   
                                          Cheryl R

[msmaggie]

I can definitely pass on the recreational drug issue...and I rarely take ibuprofen, so I'm ok there, too.  Do people actually confess to the drug thing? 

Now the important stuff.   I know this question has been asked many times before, but I am blaming my poor memory on a brain tumor.    Will coloring my hair right before surgery be ok?  I know it sounds silly, but I do have some vanity at the ripe old age of 59 and 10/12ths!

Mags

[JerseyGirl2]

Maggie,

Coloring your hair right before surgery is fine -- otherwise your doctor will probably tell you to wait for about a month post-surgery for any hair treatments. All doctors have different ideas, though, so that would be a good question to ask prior to surgery.

Catherine (JerseyGirl2)