Christine's New Chapter

Ever mindful of my responsibility to find out everything I can about my condition, I did some research yesterday online. Which lead to some YouTube videos of folks who had acoustic neuroma surgery with terrible outcomes.

That of course panicked me. I had to really look hard and realize these folks had tumors that were sometimes three or four times the size of mine and they were in surgery 12+ hours. So of course the surgery was more complex, and they had facial damage. Of COURSE they did. That made complete sense.

When I finally found a video of a man whose tumor was a bit smaller than mine, surgery was under four hours, and six weeks later he was ready to go back to work, I almost wept in relief.

(The scars were gnarly, the bruising (especially around the eyes) startling. If I go that direction, I'll be having hubby take pictures the entire time.)

I also saw videos about the gamma knife radiation procedure. Can you say, Torture? They have to put in a local anesthetic into your head at four places where the screws go into your skull...then you wear this cage like thing on your head for about four hours while they do the MRI and a CAT scan I believe, then merge the pictures and come up with a treatment plan. Then you're in for the treatment.

The helmet thing scares me to death. Especially because I'd be awake for all of it. Seriously? They can't put me out for the four hours? Yeah, I know, radiation doesn't hurt and nothing happens and you eventually fall asleep. And after it's all over, you can go home and go swimming right away. (That was from a video I saw.) Seriously? Seriously.

Sometimes knowledge is evil. Once you know, there is no way to un-know.

I woke up at about 1:30am, due to our neighbor's barking dog. I stayed awake as my brain ran the treadmill of surgery and gamma knife, over and over again. 2:30 came and went, and at 3:30 I took a benedryl. I fell asleep again by 4:30, I'm pretty sure. Slept until 8. Am still feeling underslept and very sore from work...will pamper myself this morning with another nap and then a light workout and a walk.

I don't think I'll be trolling YouTube again any time soon. Enough with the research. On Tuesday we talk to the doctor.

Christine's New Chapter Never look down... DEMON SOUL was released in MARCH, 2011 by Crescent Moon Press. DEMON HUNT will most likely be released 2012. This, then, is my new reality! The tumor has been removed and I'm recovering, so now it's all about the writing...and dealing with the writing.
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Previous Entry :: Next Entry Read/Post Comments (2) Share on Facebook		2010-09-03 8:53 AM YouTube leads to sleepless nights... Ever mindful of my responsibility to find out everything I can about my condition, I did some research yesterday online. Which lead to some YouTube videos of folks who had acoustic neuroma surgery with terrible outcomes. That of course panicked me. I had to really look hard and realize these folks had tumors that were sometimes three or four times the size of mine and they were in surgery 12+ hours. So of course the surgery was more complex, and they had facial damage. Of COURSE they did. That made complete sense. When I finally found a video of a man whose tumor was a bit smaller than mine, surgery was under four hours, and six weeks later he was ready to go back to work, I almost wept in relief. (The scars were gnarly, the bruising (especially around the eyes) startling. If I go that direction, I'll be having hubby take pictures the entire time.) I also saw videos about the gamma knife radiation procedure. Can you say, Torture? They have to put in a local anesthetic into your head at four places where the screws go into your skull...then you wear this cage like thing on your head for about four hours while they do the MRI and a CAT scan I believe, then merge the pictures and come up with a treatment plan. Then you're in for the treatment. The helmet thing scares me to death. Especially because I'd be awake for all of it. Seriously? They can't put me out for the four hours? Yeah, I know, radiation doesn't hurt and nothing happens and you eventually fall asleep. And after it's all over, you can go home and go swimming right away. (That was from a video I saw.) Seriously? Seriously. Sometimes knowledge is evil. Once you know, there is no way to un-know. I woke up at about 1:30am, due to our neighbor's barking dog. I stayed awake as my brain ran the treadmill of surgery and gamma knife, over and over again. 2:30 came and went, and at 3:30 I took a benedryl. I fell asleep again by 4:30, I'm pretty sure. Slept until 8. Am still feeling underslept and very sore from work...will pamper myself this morning with another nap and then a light workout and a walk. I don't think I'll be trolling YouTube again any time soon. Enough with the research. On Tuesday we talk to the doctor. Read/Post Comments (2) Previous Entry :: Next Entry Back to Top