After Brain Surgery

I am still having a hard time believing I had brain surgery. The tumor, roughly the size of a grape, caused bleeding in my brain which then led to swelling. Five years ago, I moved from Tampa, Florida to Maryland to take a job at Johns Hopkins. I’m blessed to have worked at Johns Hopkins and met many wonderful and brilliant people along the way. The surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologistare all world class. I was blessed to have Dr. Olivi who is the Department Chairman of Neurosurgery and Dr.Seiber, the Department Chairman of Anesthesiology, perform their respected duties. Having them there made a scary situation more manageable.

I met with a radiation oncologist last week, and I will get at least one treatment of radiation on my brain. Tomorrow I’ll have the staples removed from my head and then get a simulation test on my brain for radiation. I will get a high-resolution MRI scan of my brain to check for any more spots. Depending on the results of the scan, the radiation will be focused on individual areas of the brain. I was informed that if I don’t have radiation the recurrence probability is 50% to that area. If I receive radiation, the recurrence rate would be roughly 10%. I really don’t like talking numbers because everything I’ve had happen to me is so rare in the first place. I was also informed not to think that because the cancer moved to the brain, doesn’t mean it’s more aggressive. Chemo has a difficult time penetrating the brain. I will continue to have MRIs and CT scans to monitor my brain. The doctors said they will take an aggressive approach, which I’m all for. I have an appt. with my oncologist on June 18 to discuss further chemo. I didn’t lose my hair during the surgery and I might lose a little of it depending on my radiation site.

 My recovery is going well. The tumor caused swelling of my brain, which affected my left leg and arm. My left leg and arm felt heavier than my right side, which made me off balance. Since the surgery, my balance is back to normal and I’m going on nightly walks. I’m still catching up on sleep from being in the hospital. I will take another week off before returning to work.

I wanted to thank everyone for your support, hospital visits, prayers and encouragement. During this scary time, your support helped my family and me immensely.